Diamond rings have come to symbolize love and deep commitment and are most often given as a promise of marriage and lifetime commitment to another person. In 1477 the Archduke of Austria gave a diamond ring as a token of love to Mary of Burghundy and this is the first recorded instance of the beginnings of this tradition.
Diamonds were considered to have magical powers and the gift of a diamond ring between husband and wife was believed to strengthen and deepen the ties of love. Eros was believed to carry with him diamond tipped arrows with which the Love God pierced the hearts of his victims with. Adamas, the Greek word for diamond, means indestructible and these stones are the hardest known to man.
In ancient Egyptian times the wearing of the engagement ring upon the fourth finger of the left hand became a firm tradition. The Vein of Love was believed to connect this finger to the heart and wearing a ring on this finger not given with the purest intent and true love would cause pain, alerting the wearer that their intendeds heart was not true.
The beauty and internal fire of the stone had a hand in creating an association between it and magical powers of a supernatural nature. These special stones were associated with extreme wealth, great power, heightened spirituality and of course, true love. Their rarity gave them a special allure that did not diminish once they became more accessible to the general public.
Today these stones are freely available and come in an endless array of beautiful settings. This versatile gem can be paired with any metal and is equally attractive whether set in platinum, titanium, silver, rose gold, white gold or yellow gold. The colors can vary and they are available in black, pink, yellow and even blue shades.
These precious gems were believed to descend from the heavens as the tears of the Greek Gods and as such they were attributed with magical powers. Warriors who were fortunate enough to have these stones in their breastplates were generally avoided by those who did not, as it was believed that they enjoyed divine protection from the Gods.
The gemstone industry enjoys global success and each year Americans invest over six billion dollars in the industry, purchasing beautiful rings of all shapes and sizes. There are a great variety of ways to cut these gems to produce a variety of different effects.
A princess cut will produce a very different looking stone to, say, a brilliant cut. Generally the jeweller will take the unique properties of the into account before selecting the proper cut to bring out its inner lustre. Each stone is treated as a unique entity but the quality of the cut will forever affect the beauty of the stone.
The gems are graded according to their level of clarity and of course, on the level of color present in the gem. The most sought after stones are those with little or no color and these will receive a much higher grading. The same can be said for the clarity of the stone and those diamond rings with the least occlusions will receive a higher grading. Adriana A Noton
