Their History
The origin of eternity rings can be traced back over 4000 years to ancient Egypt where a ring depicting a snake swallowing its own tail was given to a loved one as gift representing eternal love. The symbolic gesture of a snake swallowing its own tail captured the ‘endless’ love between the giver of the gift and the loved one receiving the ring. As in ancient Egypt in the 18th century eternity rings remained a luxurious and rare gift, the style of the rings however had changed. Snakes had been replaced by paste gems such as rhinestone and white topaz of alterative gemstones that were available at the time.
The style of eternity rings changed again during the 1960s when diamond eternity rings rose in popularity due mainly to a marketing campaign which played on eternity ring’s symbolic meaning of endless love and ran with the strap line “"She married you for richer or poorer. Let her know how it’s going".Today eternity rings are used to mark any special occasion, from a wedding anniversary, or to the mark the birth of a child, the symbolic gesture of eternal love and the promise to love forever has remained even if the style of eternity rings has changed.
Today
A range of different styles and designs of eternity rings exist today. The 1960s marketing campaigns seemed to have worked with diamonds by far still the most popular choice amongst those purchasing not only eternity rings, but any type of jewellery. A transition in style that has taken place in the last decade or so is with the precious metal that eternity rings are made from. Traditionally yellow gold had dominated the market, however in recent year’s white gold and the luxurious platinum have risen in popularity and reputation with several celebrities including Adele and Megan Fox wearing this type of eternity ring.
Symbolic Gesture over Style
When purchasing any sort of luxurious gift at a price the style and design has to be your exact taste, or at least matching the taste of the person receiving the gift, it is because of this that we examined the most popular choices in 2012 however eternity rings differ slightly from other pieces of jewellery because of their symbolic and sentimental meaning. With over 4000 years of history, in which eternity rings have remained a symbol of endless love between lovers the giving of such a significant gift is a moment which will live with you both forever.
