Engagement Ring !NEW!
Purchasing an engagement ring is one of the most exciting and potentially stressful moments of your life. Whether your bride prefers a simple band with a solitaire diamond or an alternative design that reflects her one-of-a-kind style, Helzberg helps you find the perfect ring with ease!
engagement ring
Few things compare to the brilliance of a natural diamond. However, if you're searching for a cost-savvy alternative, moissanite is a stunning choice. Similar to natural diamonds in color and hardness, these dramatic gems offer the most fire and sparkle. The Helzberg moissanite rings selection has uncompromised brilliance and unsurpassed craftsmanship that's ready to help you propose..
In favor of flavor, your bride may prefer a dramatic or alternative ring design with one or more colorful gemstones. From rubies and sapphires to emeralds, opals, pearls and aquamarine, Helzberg provides a full spectrum of stone options for their timeless piece.
A ring setting should highlight the beauty of a gemstone while reflecting the inner glow of the one who wears it. Helzberg crafts custom engagement rings based on your personal preferences. Create your own design or make an appointment to consult with one of our specialists.
For a ring to bear the TACORI name, it must be fabricated with materials that meet our exceptionally high standards. The diamonds chosen for our engagement ring settings are hand-selected and matched for color and clarity to ensure a consistent brilliance. These diamonds must meet at least a G color grade and a VS clarity grade.At TACORI, we formulate all of our premium metals in-house with a proprietary, best-in-class, and entirely nickel-free formula. We offer 18kt yellow gold, 18kt rose gold, and 18kt white gold engagement rings, but we specialize in platinum. TACORI platinum engagement rings have a purity level of 95%, which is significantly higher than the industry standard of 90% purity. This exceedingly high platinum purity level means that the natural white color will not fade over time. And because platinum is 25% denser than gold, it will never lose its weight. If your platinum engagement ring is scratched, it will not flake away or lose volume.Read our engagement ring and wedding band personalization guide to learn more about our precious metals.
An engagement ring, also known as a betrothal ring, is a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, especially in Western cultures. A ring is presented as an engagement gift by a partner to their prospective spouse when they propose marriage or directly after a marriage proposal is accepted. It represents a formal agreement to future marriage. In most Western countries, engagement rings are worn mostly by women, and rings can feature diamonds or other gemstones. The neologism "mangagement ring" is sometimes used for an engagement ring worn by men. In some cultures, including Northern Europe, both partners wear matching rings, and engagement rings may also be used as wedding rings. In the Anglosphere, the ring is customarily worn on the left hand ring finger, but customs vary considerably elsewhere across the world.[citation needed]
Historically, engagement rings are blessed and then worn during the betrothal ceremony of a couple,[1][2] but neither the engagement ring nor any other ring is worn at the time when the wedding ring is put by the groom on the finger of the bride as part of the marriage ceremony, and sometimes by the bride onto the groom's finger.[3] After the wedding, the engagement ring is usually put back on and is usually worn on the outside of the wedding ring.[3] In the present-day, the giving of the engagement ring "constitutes the subarrhatio".[4]
Although the ancient Egyptians are sometimes credited with inventing the engagement ring, and the ancient Greeks with adopting the tradition, the history of the engagement ring can only be reliably traced as far back as ancient Rome.[5][6][7][8][9]
In many countries, engagement rings are placed on the ring finger of the left hand. At one time it was believed that this finger contained a vein (the vena amoris) that led to the heart. This idea was popularized by Henry Swinburne in A treatise of Spousals, or Matrimonial Contracts (1686).[10] The story seems to have its origin in the ancient Roman book Attic Nights by Aulus Gellius quoting Apion's Aegyptiacorum, where the alleged vein was originally a nervus (a word that can be translated either as "nerve" or "sinew").[11]
In the second century BC, the Roman bride-to-be was given two rings, a gold one which she wore in public, and one made of iron which she wore at home while attending to household duties. At one time Roman citizens wore rings made of iron. In later years senators who served as ambassadors were given gold seal rings for official use when abroad. Later the privilege of wearing gold rings was extended to other public officials, then to the knights, later to all freeborn, and finally under Justinian, to freedmen. For several centuries it was the custom for Romans to wear iron rings at home, gold rings in public. During this period a girl or woman might receive two engagement rings, one of iron and one of gold.[13][14]
The mid-7th century Visigothic Code required "that when the ceremony of betrothal has been performed, ..., and the ring shall have been given or accepted as a pledge, although nothing may have been committed to writing, the promise shall, under no circumstances, be broken."[15][16]
In 860 AD, Pope Nicholas I wrote a letter to Boris I of Bulgaria in reply to questions regarding differences between Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox practices. Pope Nicholas describes how in the Western church the man gives his betrothed an engagement ring.[17][18][19] At the Fourth Council of the Lateran in 1215, convoked by Pope Innocent III, the banns of marriage was instituted, prohibiting clandestine marriages and requiring that marriages be made public in advance.[20] Some[who?] legal scholars have seen in this a parallel with the engagement-ring tradition described by Pope Nicholas I.[citation needed]
The first well-documented use of a diamond ring to signify engagement was by the Archduke Maximilian of Austria in the imperial court of Vienna in 1477, upon his betrothal to Mary of Burgundy. This then influenced those of higher social class and of significant wealth to give diamond rings to their loved ones.[22]
In South Africa, diamonds were first found in 1866, although they were not identified as such until 1867.[26][27] By 1872, the output of the diamond mines exceeded one million carats per year.[28] As production increased, those of lesser means were able to join in on this movement. However, diamond engagement rings were for a long time seen as the domain of the nobility and aristocracy, and tradition often favoured simpler engagement bands.[citation needed]
In 1938, the diamond cartel De Beers began a marketing campaign that would have a major impact on engagement rings. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the price of diamonds collapsed.[30] At the same time, market research indicated that engagement rings were going out of style with the younger generation. Before World War II, only 10% of American engagement rings contained a diamond.[31] While the first phase of the marketing campaign consisted of market research, the advertising phase began in 1939. One of the first elements of this campaign was to educate the public about the 4 Cs (cut, carats, color, and clarity). In 1947 the slogan "a diamond is forever" was introduced.[32] Ultimately, the De Beers campaign sought to persuade the consumer that an engagement ring is indispensable, and that a diamond is the only acceptable stone for an engagement ring.[33] The sales of diamonds in the United States rose from $23 million to $2.1 billion between 1939 and 1979.[34]
Law professor Margart F. Brining links the surge in engagement ring sales in the USA after 1945 to the abolishment of the "breach of promise", that had entitled a woman whose fiancé had broken off their engagement to sue him for damages.[35] This rule of law was especially important for many women who had been sexually intimate with the fiancé, but were socially expected to be virgins in a new marriage, therefore lost "market value". After the gradual abolishment of that law action in all states the expensive engagement ring rose to popularity as a new financial security in case of a break-up, since it was custom for the women to keep the ring (partly only under the condition that the break-up was not seen as her fault).
In the 20th century, if he could afford it, the typical Western groom privately selected and purchased an engagement ring, which he then presented to his desired bride when he proposed marriage. In countries where both partners wear engagement rings, matching rings may be selected and purchased together.[38] In the United States and Canada, where only women traditionally wear engagement rings, women also occasionally present their partners with an engagement gift.[39]
Like all jewellery, the price for an engagement ring varies considerably depending on the materials used: the design of the ring, whether it includes a gemstone, the value of any gemstone, and the seller. The price of the gemstones, if any, in the ring depends on the type and quality of the gem. Diamonds have a standardized description that values them according to their carat weight, color, clarity, and cut. Other gemstones, such as sapphires, rubies, and emeralds have different systems. The jewellery may be chosen to honor a family tradition, to use family heirlooms, to have an unusual style, to have socially responsible characteristics (e.g., a style that is not associated with blood diamond controversy or the pollution caused by gold mining and cyanide process), to fit the individual's stylistic preferences, or to manage cost. Synthetic diamonds and diamond substitutes such as cubic zirconias and moissanites are also popular choices that are socially responsible and reduce cost while maintaining the desired appearance.[citation needed] 041b061a72