There are some specific elements of tradition that merge with almost all cultures across the world embrace and these traditions become icons mainly due to their appeal and what they signify or stand for. This is especially true when it involves love, engagements and ultimately marriage where a diamond engagement ring and the wedding ring says it all and have become the most important icon.
Almost all humans recognize the significance of the diamond ring regardless of cultural or religious background and it is accepted by all that the diamond ring symbolizes the engagement between two individuals. However, very few people know about the roots of this tradition mainly because there are different versions of how and where it all started – some based-on facts, some based on logic and others based on myth revolving around why diamonds became the chosen gem that are used for engagement rings.
The Genesis of the Diamond Engagement Ring
What most people are not aware of is the fact that diamonds historically were not used for jewellery initially when they were first discovered in India thousands of years ago. They were used mainly for decorative purposes or used as talismans by ancient priests to fend off evil spirits and the ancients also believed that diamonds were able to “cure” certain illnesses.
It was not until about millennia ago that diamonds found their way into jewellery pieces and in the 15th century the first ever diamond engagement ring made its debut when the Archduke Maximilian of Austria proposed to Mary of Burgundy with a diamond studded engagement ring to be his wife. This was how the tradition kicked off in the upper class or the elites of Europe and eventually become a custom that has been embraced by almost every other culture.
The custom of proposing with diamond rings however remained expensive until lately with the arrival of lab grown diamonds which are as beautiful and of the same quality of natural diamonds. Some are claiming that lab grown diamonds are superior to natural diamonds at a fraction of the price of natural diamonds which has basically rendered diamond engagement rings as affordable to even the middle-class consumer category.
However, it must be noted that the use of the diamond ring by Archduke Maximilian of Austria who asked Mary of Burgundy to be his wife was the first documented case of the diamond engagement ring; it does not mean that he invented the tradition.
The reasons as to why the diamond was the chosen gem for engagement rings is quite obvious. Diamonds are beautiful and the high price to purchase natural diamonds, especially a century ago, was seen as a reflection of the proposer’s commitment to the relationship.
The hardness of diamonds, and the fact that they took billions of years to form fuelled the significance of a diamond as a symbol of love that was built to last. In the current era where diamonds are cheaper mainly due to the arrival of lab grown diamonds, although the prices of lab grown diamonds are lower, its significance as a commitment to a relationship remains as solid as ever – diamonds are forever!
