The Simplicity of Tradition: Wedding Bands

Wedding Bands are a timeless tradition, often overlooked by those who focus on the engagement ring. But here’s the thing, an engagement ring celebrates a brief period of time, while the wedding band celebrates the long stretch of time that follows the union of two people.

The tradition of a wedding band predates that of an engagement ring. Engagement rings, as lovely as they are, were only en vogue after De Beers controlled most of the diamond trade in the 1880’s and snatched the lucrative idea of selling diamonds to every would-be groom, using peer pressure from the fiancee (and all her friends) to secure the sale.

Although let’s be clear, the history of wedding rings is not all romance and poetry either. The ancient Egyptians exchanged rings, with perhaps the purest romance in mind. They wore rings on the left ring finger to show the connection of one person’s heart vein to the other person. Both partners wore rings for the duration of their love.

In a Roman arrangement, only the person considered property wore a ring, gold in public, and “ivory, flint, bone, copper [or] iron” at home (Kreienberg). These daily-wear wedding rings were to serve as a reminder of the contractual obligation between the owner and the owned rather than an expression of mutual love and respect.

Fast forward to the mid 20th century and most grooms wear rings and most brides wear diamond rings. But even these recent traditions are changing. Millennials increasingly choose to skip the diamond and instead opt for bands, or more environmentally friendly and more affordable stones.

Herein lies the move to embrace the simplicity of tradition; the long-lasting wedding band.

At Pendant and Ring we too, embrace older traditions, like that of the wedding band. In our stores, you will find a number of silver and gold bands with different hammered and smooth finishes to choose from.