I don’t know when it became a worldwide consensus that rings represent love. So when did the ring come into existence? Was the purpose of the people who made it for love? The real answers to many questions we may not know anymore, but there are a lot of interesting ideas appearing in the world trying to explain them. We can learn about them together.
The origin of the ring
Where did the ring first appear? This is a question worth exploring. Because records of the ring exist in various countries in the East and West, it is impossible to test where exactly it originated. In Chinese history, the ring appeared as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties more than 2,000 years ago, only that it did not have a clear name when it first appeared. At different times in the development of history, rings represented different meanings. Therefore, the ring did not start out as a symbol of love, but was eventually given the meaning of love through the changing times.
In the modern world, this is still popular – wearing a ring on different fingers means different things. Of course, legends about the origin of the ring exist in other countries as well. It’s not clear how the ring came to be in the West, but it’s interesting to note that the word “beloved” was engraved on rings in Ancient Greece as early as 400 BC. In ancient times, over 2,000 years ago, when transportation was not easy, people in both Western and Eastern countries began to engrave rings, and the rings of this period were symbols of love.
Theories about the origin of the ring
Theory 1
More than three thousand years ago in ancient Greece, rulers would carry seals, symbolizing supreme power and status, to show their identity. Later, they found the seal very troublesome to carry, so they changed it to a ring to wear on their finger. People were then surprised to find that the ring could play a good decorative role when worn on the hand, and gradually, it became a kind of jewelry.
Theory 2
In the ancient tribal period there is such a tradition, if you want to reproduce heirs, you need to go to rival tribes to seize women, bring them back to their own tribes, in order to prevent them from escaping, but also in order to declare that they belonged to their own tribes, they will give these women to wear chains. As time progressed and the status of men and women became more equal, this barbaric method became obsolete, and eventually chains evolved into engagement and marriage rings.
Theory 3
Another theory is that because people in ancient times worshipped the sun so much, they made rings out of jade, just like the outline of the sun. So the ring represented the sun, and wearing the ring meant that one would be blessed by the sun and be able to live a happy life. This is also the reason why the bride and groom would wear gold and silver rings when getting married, which symbolize the fiery red sun and the bright moon, respectively.
These are just three of the more representative of the many sayings, because of space reasons I will not expand. If you are interested, you can find out for yourself. Whether they are correct or not, it is worth recognizing that they have enriched the world’s culture.
Engraving Tools for Rings
As industrialization continues to accelerate and machines allow for the mass production of all kinds of products, handmade products are becoming more and more rare. The same is true for the making and engraving of rings. However, this has made people favor purely handmade rings even more, because of the old saying that things are more expensive than they are rare. Engravers usually use pneumatic engraving machines to engrave rings, so that the rings engraved by hand are very unique and therefore have a high human value.
What are the materials used to make rings?
There are many materials that can be used to make rings, the more common ones are gemstones, metals, and hard textured wood can also be used. The use of metal as a material for making rings is the most popular nowadays, as long as the surface of the metal is inlaid with gemstones of various colors.
The meaning of wearing rings on different fingers
According to international practice, people don’t wear diamond rings on their thumbs. If you are thinking of getting married, you can wear a ring on your index finger; wearing a ring on your middle finger means telling everyone that you are in a relationship. If you are engaged or married, you can wear a ring on your ring finger. Wearing a ring on your pinky finger means you are dealing with a divorce or you are single. These are the commonly accepted and most popular sayings at the moment.
Of course, there may be different sayings in different parts of the world. Some people may wear rings for decorative purposes only, without any special significance. In ancient Greece, there was a saying that wearing a ring on each of the five fingers of the hand had a different meaning. At that time even the meaning of rings on the right and left hands was different. The meaning of the ring on the left hand was related to marriage. The ring finger meant married, the middle finger meant engaged, and the index finger meant unmarried. The rings on the right hand, on the other hand, are about love. The index finger means single, the middle finger means in a passionate love affair, and the ring finger means both intense possessiveness or burning love, so if you don’t want to fall in love and get married, you can wear the ring on your pinky.