Wedding Traditions: The Diamond Engagement Ring

Photograph by Corinna Hoffman Photography

The glow of candlelight fills the room. Empty plates from a delicious homemade dinner by your loved one sit on the table. You walk out onto the balcony and smell the salt air. When you look to your right, your loved one is down on one knee with a stunning diamond ring. This beautiful scene or one similar to it happens 2 million times a year! So why the diamond ring?

The first recorded diamond ring was in 1447. The Archduke Maximilian of Austria presented a ring with flat pieces of diamond in the shape of an M to Mary of Burgundy. Diamond rings became more popular in the upper class. Then it began spreading to all. In 1886 the famous “Tiffany Setting” was introduced by Tiffany & Co. that featured 6 prongs to maximize the diamonds brilliance. Later that decade diamond engagement rings became more affordable and appeared in mail order catalogs, like Sears. Around the great depression diamond prices fell and the diamond engagement ring was going out of style with the younger generation. That is when De Beers created the campaign “A diamond is forever”. This slogan spurred more sales as it supported the American ideal of marriage being forever.

The diamond is still the most popular gem used in engagement rings today. 70% of brides in America have a diamond engagement ring. The diamond signifies strength and purity. What a beautiful symbol to represent the beginning of a marriage.