The meaning of an engagement ring
In the post-Soviet space, the tradition of giving an engagement ring to a girl was borrowed from the heroes of Hollywood films. At the engagement party, the groom comes to his beloved with a bouquet of flowers and a box with the treasured ring.
In the best traditions of Hollywood, he should get down on one knee, and having proposed to his chosen one to become his wife, present her with a ring.
By allowing a ring to be put on her finger, a girl demonstrates her consent to get married. From the moment of a positive answer until the wedding, she wears the ring without taking it off. It is customary among the Slavs to schedule a wedding within six months from the moment of engagement.
In the USA, Canada and some European countries, the wedding day is set a year or even two years from the date of engagement. Over such a long period of time, lovers may change their minds about starting a family.
If a girl initiates a break in the engagement, then it is customary to return the ring presented to her. When the wedding is disrupted on the initiative of the groom, the girl keeps the ring.
There is a belief that the loss of an engagement ring will lead to the loss of the man who presented it. If this happens, then you need to go to church and ask God for help, and for yourself the strength to maintain this relationship.
In our country, an engagement ring
is treated as a sign of the seriousness of a young man’s intentions .
In pragmatic Europe, the cost of the ring determines the well-being of the future son-in-law. From ancient times to the present day, the rule has been that the cost of an engagement ring should be equal to two salaries of the groom.
What should engagement rings look like?
The founder of the Tiffany & Co jewelry house, Charles Tiffany, personally designed the Setting solitaire ring, intended for engagement, and which later became a classic. Solitaires are products decorated with one large stone.
People call such rings single rings. The name emphasizes that the product has only one large stone, but it can be set off by a scattering of small stones.
Setting looks at the same time laconic and sophisticated - a faceted diamond is fixed on the smooth surface of the ring with six claws.
The author's revolutionary approach was that the stone is not hidden in the frame, but rises above it. In this way the beauty of the stone cut was emphasized. Jewelers all over the world began to develop this design for engagement rings.
A ring presented to a girl on her engagement day can be made of different materials: silver, platinum, gold of various shades - white, yellow, red and pink. It can be decorated with precious and semi-precious stones of various cuts.
The stone can have a variety of shapes: square, rectangular, oval and round. The most romantic option is a heart-shaped pebble.
Gold game: white and lemon rings
For many years, jewelers from all over the world have been combining different types of precious metals in one piece of jewelry and even creating sets from different golds.
Back in the middle of the last century, this was considered unacceptable, but today stylists see a special chic in the fact that yellow and white wedding rings are combined with gold rings and bracelets of other colors. In such mixes you feel a certain lightness and freedom. With gold in different colors, your look will never look boring! There are no strict rules for combining wedding rings with other jewelry. You can wear them however you like. For example, not all brides wear a ring on their finger. Carrie Bradshaw preferred to wear the ring as a pendant on a thin gold chain. This is a very original and new solution. Why not follow such a delightful example from time to time?
Company information
The Moscow Jewelry Factory was founded in 1920 and is part of a group of companies that carries out a full cycle of operations - from processing raw materials to selling finished products, and also has its own retail network. During its existence, highly qualified specialists of the MYZ have accumulated vast experience in creating jewelry, which is passed on to the younger generation to preserve traditions and a unique style using modern technologies. In 2021, MUZ was recognized as the best federal chain of jewelry stores based on the results of an international competition.
The MYZ chain has more than 300 stores, which are represented in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Voronezh, Saratov, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Kazan, Ufa, Krasnodar, Stavropol, Vladimir, Nalchik , Ulyanovsk and other cities of the Russian Federation.
Types of wedding rings
For many years in the post-Soviet space there was a tradition that the smoother the wedding ring, the smoother the family life of the newlyweds. Nowadays young people strive for self-expression in everything, including wedding rings.
The following main types of rings purchased for marriage can be distinguished:
- Classic models with a smooth ring surface and no decorations. They are made mainly from gold, but also from silver. They differ in width and profile - the cross-sectional shape of the product. The most common profiles include: rectangular, round, oval, with a convex inner surface.
- Rings made from a combination of gold of different colors. The Cartier rings presented in the Trinity collection are considered classics of this type of engagement jewelry. The engagement rings consist of three thin rings made of pink, white and yellow gold. Jewelers offer a huge number of products with various combinations of several shades of gold.
- Rings with stones. Wedding rings can have a large stone surrounded by smaller stones, or three stones of the same size, symbolizing love, fidelity and friendship - the components of a strong family. Often, channel fastening of stones is used along the entire circumference of the ring or only on one side of the product.
- Rings with a textured surface. Jewelers offer different surface options for rings. The most popular options include diamond cut, matte surface and imitation waves.
Among the stones, clear diamonds have been the leader for many years in a row, and in recent years black diamonds have become popular. Depending on temperament, eye color, horoscope sign and other factors, newlyweds prefer sapphires, emeralds, rubies, agate and other stones.
Newlyweds who strive for originality purchase designer ring designs or order products based on their own sketches.
Engagement ring and wedding ring: what is their difference?
The traditional engagement ring is made of gold and adorned with a small diamond. Although today you can choose many variations of this jewelry. Everything is limited only by the imagination of the future spouse and the financial component. Luxurious products are allowed to be presented as a gift to the chosen one, as well as more modest accessories. The diamond can be replaced with any other stone; however, you can even purchase engagement rings created using mixed media (silver, gold and precious stones).
What is the difference between a wedding ring and an engagement ring, which design is preferable? A wedding ring is worn after marriage and must be worn constantly. Traditionally, wedding rings have a smooth, even surface and are not encrusted with precious stones. There should be no ornate patterns on such a ring. The smooth smooth surface of the product symbolizes an even and calm married life. Today's newlyweds sometimes don't adhere much to traditions. Future spouses are happy to purchase wedding rings with engraving and various design solutions. Modern rings can be decorated with stones. However, there is a law thanks to which a pair of rings will look harmonious: the wedding jewelry of the spouses must be created in the same style.
What is the difference between engagement rings and wedding rings, except for the time of wearing and the external design of the products? At least in that engagement rings can be worn either in pairs (bride and groom), or only the bride wears the ring. But both spouses should wear wedding bands, in this way demonstrating to others that they are one.
What to do with the ring after the wedding?
An engagement ring is perceived as a symbol of the desire to get married. Therefore, the groom puts it on his beloved’s ring finger of the hand on which he eventually plans to put an engagement ring. She wears it until her wedding day. What to do with it after marriage is not strictly regulated by anyone.
The following options are possible:
- After marriage, it is worn on the ring finger of the other hand .
- Worn on the middle finger of the right hand.
- At the wedding ceremony, the wedding ring is worn over the engagement ring.
- Worn to important events like regular jewelry.
- Worn on a chain like an amulet.
- After the wedding they never wear it, believing in the omen of widowhood.
Which option to choose is up to you to decide.
How to combine engagement and wedding rings?
When your loved one has proposed to you, and the treasured ring shines on your ring finger, hundreds of options immediately begin to scroll through your head, how and with what you will wear this very ring, what the image of the bride will be and, most importantly, which wedding ring to choose for the engagement ring. These pleasant thoughts and searches for “that very” option (hundreds of options) cannot but please and excite. What unspoken rules exist, what jewelry etiquette says, and what fashion stylists (and folk superstitions) say - there is so much to consider and, most importantly, time to make the perfect choice. Stop! Don't panic. Let's figure it out together.
From time immemorial
The first diamond engagement ring in history was presented by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I to his beloved Mary of Burgundy in the 15th century. This touching event and true love (which was rare in dynastic marriages) marked the beginning of the romantic tradition of marriage proposals that we know today. Mary of Burgundy's engagement ring was decorated with diamond plates arranged in a monogram "M", symbolizing the first letter of the groom's name. The same ring became an engagement ring.
According to legend
Centuries have passed since those long ago, and the precious moment of betrothal has acquired even more symbolism, subtleties and variations.
Today, the traditional engagement is a touching moment when the guy asks his beloved if she agrees to become his wife, and gives a ring with a beautiful stone. On the wedding day, the groom puts a second ring on the bride’s hand - an engagement ring.
A wedding is a very touching and important moment, and therefore is shrouded in an aura of traditions and beliefs. Everything that precedes the wedding happens during and immediately after it has acquired firmly rooted signs and superstitions. So the engagement with the engagement ring did not go unnoticed.
It is believed that the larger and more expensive the stone, the stronger the love will be, and the wealth of the family will be stronger and more abundant. The engagement ring symbolizes the strength of feelings and seriousness of the groom's intentions, and, of course, his ability to provide for his future family. If a girl accepts the ring, it means she gives her consent to get married.
Matched
From a design point of view, the ideal engagement ring is one that matches any look of its owner. For example, if a girl loves classic clothes or wears mostly smart casual, a ring with an abundance of decorative elements, engravings, interesting prongs and several stones will be more suitable for her. And if the chosen one is closer to sporty chic or minimalism, then it is better to choose a laconic ring, with a neat insert.
Engagement and wedding rings are usually worn on the ring finger. For some, it is more convenient to put both rings on the ring finger of the right hand, for others - the engagement ring on the middle finger, and the wedding ring on the ring finger, and for others it is generally more convenient to wear these rings on different hands. There are no clear rules or ominous signs here. The main thing is that both decorations are in harmony with each other. And here an identical design or the rule “the more complex one ring, the simpler the second” comes to the rescue.
For two
Some couples want their wedding rings to match. The specifics of male and female design of wedding models take into account both anatomical and gender features, so “making masculine and feminine friends” can be difficult when it comes to some original ideas. For example, combining metals, engraving, using inserts, applying surface finishes. But how can this carefully selected pair also be combined with an engagement ring?
- Firstly, you can take the color of the metal and the shape of the tire as a basis.
- Secondly, you can try to play on the contrasts of red and white (or plated) gold.
- Well, or the third option is to find a special series of wedding rings, where each piece of jewelry is created for each other. This is very rare, but if you look hard enough, anything is possible.
