vintage engagement rings : Another theory talks of the dowry and/or bride price. Once upon atime, marriages were arranged...for a price. This much is a fact,there are documents (marriage/sale agreements or contracts) that speakof this exact practice. A number of them list the exact terms of theagreement and include the livestock, fabrics and other items that weretraded for the bride. You can occasionally find some of these on Ebayif you are truly interested. It's thought that a ring may have beengiven as part of a bride price or dowry. Some of the documentsmentioned above do include jewelry, rings and/or gold. Yet adetermination of validity can't be based on this alone, especiallywhen you consider that it is the bride that receives the ring. Whichbrings us to another theory. A ring may have been given to bride,either as a symbol of unity or perhaps as a bribe...Roman rings have been found as well. Things are a bit clearer in thiscase. The earliest examples of Roman engagement rings might have beenrings with a carved key. There are two theories behind this particularstyle. The romantic version states that this key was a symbol thatallowed the bride to "unlock her husband's heart". This is romantic,but doubtful. The second theory is much more likely. A woman receiveda share of her husband's riches when they married. Most sources saythat it was 50%. Supposedly, the key allowed her access to her shareof the goods. Not as romantic, but certainly more practical andlogical...
vintage engagement rings : Throughout history, diamond engagement rings did enjoy popularityamong those who were wealthy and those who were royalty. Many sourcesmention that Archduke Maximillian of Hamburg and Mary of Burgandy madethe wearing of diamond engagement rings popular in 1477. It is highlydoubtful that Maximillian and Mary started the trend of diamondengagement rings, though it is possible they started the trend amongthe wealthy or those who were royalty. After all, they were ratherexpensive and could not become common if the "common-folk" could notafford them. A true trend involves more than just a small section ofthe society and this is why I find the possibility highly doubtful. Asa matter of fact, diamond engagement rings were not to become"traditional" until hundreds of years later.The De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. was created in 1888 in order toprotect the investment of diamond mine investors. A new mine wasdiscovered in South Africa in 1870. Since only a small amount ofdiamonds had been found prior to this, the discovery flooded themarket and cut into the profits of investors. The De BeersConsolidated Mines, Ltd. was created in order to regain control of thesupply of diamonds. After they gained control of the supply, they thenneeded to control the demand for diamonds.
vintage engagement rings : This attempt began when Harry Oppenheimer (son of the De Beersfounder) visited New York in order to meet with Gerold M. Lauck.Gerold was the president of N.W. Ayer, which was a leading advertisingagency at the time. You see, diamond sales had declined since 1919 by50%, and something had to be done to increase the demand for them.The year of the advertising campaign was 1939. That's right, thetradition of diamonds as THE engagement ring...as the only correctoption, started slightly over 60 years ago and was the main result ofan advertising campaign. While the diamond did enjoy periods ofpopularity in times prior to this (Victorian era for example), thiswas the factor that made the diamond engagement ring the ONLY choicethat was acceptable.SWMNBN dislikes diamonds (most diamond miners are slaves or very closeto it, and having just returned from Africa when we met, she was tunedin to that). Her ears are not pierced, either (not big on bodymodification at all). Neither of us have tattoos. We met when shewas very young, but she had some pretty strong opinions for an18-yr-old. Months later, when she agreed to marry me (through themail, no less), she specified that she had no interest in a diamond,and that she saw it as a badge of ownership. Similarly, she didn'ttake my last name (fine with me, I don't like it much, anyhow). Infact, we have long since lost our wedding rings (I have never wornmine, seeing as I dislike jewelry). I may get us new ones next year(for our tenth anniversary), and there are some places online you canget cool ones (that don't cost a fortune). I doubt, however that Iwill ever wear one much (even if I have one). I won't even wear awatch.
vintage engagement rings : Instead of some diamond ring (I didn't need to buy one, I had severalpeople in the family to offer me one to give her), she and I decidedto buy a new car together (the INS specified that we needed to makejoint purchases and have a joint account). It was a good littleToyota, and it was our pride and joy until we had our first kid andneeded a four-door (and had to trade it in).Our wedding was essentially free. The judge (who reluctantly agreednot to use the word "God" in the ceremony at any time) waived thecourt costs, as he knew my family so well. We threw a party for ourfriends (no presents, no registry, no fleecing of the community) thatI paid nothing for (I know the owners of a restaurant), and a grandtime was had by all. We had no interest in taking part in the weddingindustry at all. They make the folks in the funeral business lookhonest by comparison. At least you can only die once...Recently, we got home owners' insurance (when we bought the house -duh). The agent asked us a BILLION questions about what we owned, andit doesn't amount to a hill of beans. No silver, no china, noantiques, no jewelry, no guns, no expensive clothes, no heirlooms,nada...after a while I could tell the lady was embarassed for us, butwe are so happy to be simple with our needs. Who needs all that sillycrap? Certainly not us. The most expensive stuff we own are myguitars (which are off the rack - not vintage) and her personal copiesof her dolls. I am currently embroiled in a long seige against thebudget for a new guitar. I found a used Tele for $250...
vintage engagement rings : The custom with engagement and wedding rings is to wear them all the timefor the rest of your life (or at least for the duration of the marriage).If your girlfriend loves the ring, she will be happy to wear it so often.If she doesn't, whenever it catches her eye she may feel disappointed, eventhough she is happily married.(I've been happily married all my adult life. I actually don't want to wear_any_ ring all the time, and neither does my husband, so we agreed thatneither of us would wear wedding or engagement rings. This has never causedany problems, either between us or socially. My husband has given meseveral nice rings over the years for birthdays and Christmas, which havememories attached, but none of them are wedding or engagement rings.)Anyway--in order to sell rings, gowns, flowers, cakes, dishes, linens, hotelrentals, and a myriad of other things, the wedding industry has pumped upthe bride's selection of these items into a REALLY BIG DEAL. Some women, ifthey have the time and money, spend an entire year shopping for theirweddings. In fact, some become obnoxious and temperamental about "theirday," insisting that everyone (including the groom) do whatever they wantnot only at the wedding but for months beforehand. I hope your girlfriendis more mature. But even so the days when the man bought (or inherited) thering by himself and the woman was thrilled to get it no matter what itlooked like, are over. (I've been in jewelry stores where female customerswere shopping for the rings by themselves or with their mothers, telling theclerk they planned to buy and stick the fiance with the bill later.)
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