{"id":1511,"date":"2013-03-12T10:56:53","date_gmt":"2013-03-12T15:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.25karats.com\/articles\/?p=1511"},"modified":"2013-03-12T10:56:53","modified_gmt":"2013-03-12T15:56:53","slug":"a-brief-history-of-diamond-engagement-rings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.25karats.com\/articles\/a-brief-history-of-diamond-engagement-rings\/","title":{"rendered":"A Brief History of Diamond Engagement Rings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Diamond engagement rings are one of the most coveted pieces of jewelry on the planet \u2013 just watch any TV show or open a magazine, and you\u2019ll see a glossy spread on the season\u2019s latest collection of engagement rings and wedding bands.  With the imagery of diamond engagement rings more popular than ever before, it\u2019s easy to see why many people believe <a href=\"http:\/\/www.25karats.com\/engagement-rings\">diamond engagement rings<\/a> have been around for centuries.<\/p>\n<p>But diamond engagement rings have only been a recent introduction to society, particularly in America.  Let\u2019s take a look at a brief history of diamond engagement rings and how they\u2019ve evolved to what they are today.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.25karats.com\/enr\/style\/view\/8344-cathedral-channel-set-diamond-engagement-ring-0-31ct-tw-.html\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.25karats.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/enr8844-collage.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"enr8844 collage\" width=\"3142\" height=\"1561\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1514\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>The DeBeers Campaigns of the 1920s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While the exchanging of rings had always been a tradition dating back several centuries, diamond engagement rings weren\u2019t introduced into mainstream society until the 18th century.  Even then, these rings were only a hit among nobility \u2013 until the DeBeers advertisements of the 1920s changed all that.<\/p>\n<p>These advertisements insisted that men had to spend at least two months\u2019 salary on a diamond engagement ring.  The ads ran so often (and women certainly enjoyed the consequences) that it started to become ingrained into popular culture.  It also answered a crucial question that many potential grooms had previously struggled with: how much should be spent on a diamond engagement ring?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Breaches of Contract<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Diamond engagement rings didn\u2019t always have romantic notions attached to them.  In fact, diamond engagement rings were often given as a contract, in which the women would be promised the ring should the man break off the engagement.  While this is sometimes common practice today, this tradition had very sexiest roots.  When a man and a woman became engaged, it was often assumed that the woman was a virgin.  The proclivity for pre-marital sex often meant that the women was seen as \u201cdamaged\u201d if the man broke off the engagement.  Although it makes for a poor consolidation prize, the diamond engagement ring was meant to provide the woman with some sort of economic reparation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Diamond Engagement Rings Today<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the 21st century, diamond engagement rings are as unique and beautiful as the women who receive them.  Many women love the looks of traditional diamond rings, while others prefer more personalized and individual looks.  Today, diamond engagement rings of all shapes and sizes can be found \u2013 and not all of them are meant for just women.  <\/p>\n<p>We hope you enjoyed this brief \u2013 yet revealing! \u2013 exploration into the history of the diamond engagement ring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Diamond engagement rings are one of the most coveted pieces of jewelry on the planet \u2013 just watch any TV show or open a magazine, and you\u2019ll see a glossy spread on the season\u2019s latest collection of engagement rings and wedding bands. With the imagery of diamond engagement rings more popular than ever before, it\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"iawp_total_views":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[52,121,172,272,457,458,524,527],"class_list":["post-1511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-engagement-rings","tag-antique-engagement-rings","tag-classic-engagement-rings","tag-diamond-engagement-rings","tag-gemstone-engagement-rings","tag-promise-engagement-rings","tag-promise-rings","tag-three-stone-engagement-rings","tag-traditional-engagement-rings"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Brief History of Diamond Engagement Rings - 25Karats Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.25karats.com\/articles\/a-brief-history-of-diamond-engagement-rings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Brief History of Diamond Engagement Rings - 25Karats Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Diamond engagement rings are one of the most coveted pieces of jewelry on the planet \u2013 just watch any TV show or open a magazine, and you\u2019ll see a glossy spread on the season\u2019s latest collection of engagement rings and wedding bands. With the imagery of diamond engagement rings more popular than ever before, it\u2019s [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.25karats.com\/articles\/a-brief-history-of-diamond-engagement-rings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"25Karats Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/25karats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-12T15:56:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.25karats.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/enr8844-collage-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1272\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"naz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@25karats\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@25karats\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"naz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.25karats.com\\\/articles\\\/a-brief-history-of-diamond-engagement-rings\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.25karats.com\\\/articles\\\/a-brief-history-of-diamond-engagement-rings\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"naz\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.25karats.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/06a05893ce3055f4896c8182c76680d2\"},\"headline\":\"A Brief History of Diamond Engagement Rings\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-12T15:56:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.25karats.com\\\/articles\\\/a-brief-history-of-diamond-engagement-rings\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":428,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.25karats.com\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.25karats.com\\\/articles\\\/a-brief-history-of-diamond-engagement-rings\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.25karats.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/03\\\/enr8844-collage.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Antique engagement rings\",\"classic engagement rings\",\"Diamond engagement rings\",\"Gemstone engagement rings\",\"promise engagement rings\",\"Promise rings\",\"Three Stone Engagement Rings\",\"traditional engagement rings\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Engagement Rings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.25karats.com\\\/articles\\\/a-brief-history-of-diamond-engagement-rings\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.25karats.com\\\/articles\\\/a-brief-history-of-diamond-engagement-rings\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Brief History of Diamond Engagement Rings - 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