Today, many people take wedding bands in

Today, many people take wedding bands in addition to engagement rings for granted, and even though give these beautiful items of jewellery with integrity and love, they are often given with no real knowledge of the meaning behind them.

Both wedding bands and even engagement rings are very special components of jewellery; in fact, they are more than just jewelry - they are the symbols of many emotions and promises such as:

But exactly where - and why - does these popular and sentimental pieces of jewellery stem from?

These items of jewellery have a history that spans many centuries and passes through many places from all around the planet. Below, you will find a brief history of the wedding and gemstone, as reported from country to country.

The now-famous

is considered to have originated in Ancient Egypt, where it is said that plant sections have been fashioned in to circles to signify never-ending and immortal love. It was thought that the fourth finger (which we have now know as the ring finger) secured a special vein that was connected directly to the heart, and therefore this became the official finger for the wedding band.

The Romans also agreed with the Egyptians based on the wedding ring finger and its meaning, but instead than offering wedding bands as the symbol of love, they awarded these people as a symbol of ownership. Both roman men would "claim" their lady with the giving of a ring.

Puzzle rings were a complex type of jewellery that had been once popular in Asia, and the jewels had the charming knack of being able to fall apart and put back again again - if you knew how to do this, of course. Wealthy Middle Eastern men then began to use these bands as wedding bands for their wives, who were often forced to wear some sort of puzzle ring when their spouse was away. The husband would know upon his return whether any of the wives had been disloyal by removing the ring whilst he was away, because the ring was designed to collapse on removal and could only be put together once again if you had the skill and knowledge required.

Several centuries ago, the Europeans became rather taken with what we would class as an engagement ring, but was then called a Poesy Ring. This kind of ring was given to a loved one to be a form of promise, and signified faithfulness and love. The Poesy Band was offered as a pledge involving eternal togetherness, much as present engagement rings are offered as a guarantee of eternal marriage.

During Colonial time times, all items of jewellery in the states were prohibited due to their apparent moral worthlessness. Instead, a more practical thimble was given as a token of love and as a pledge of eternal togetherness. However, after they were married, the ladies tended to remove the bottom of their "engagement thimble" to form a type of ring.

The particular engagement ring of today also has its own mixed and interesting history, some of which is without a doubt explored below. Engagement rings happen to be known by many different names, need symbolised a variety of different things and have never been made of precious metals and magnificent gems!

The ancient Greeks are thought to have been the forerunners inside the rising of the traditional engagement ring. Provided as a token of care in addition to affection, the rings used by the particular Greeks were known as betrothal wedding rings and were given before marriage. Yet, the giving of these rings has not been always a pre-requisite to relationship and was often given in similar to the way as a friendship ring might be offered today.

As seen by their technique wedding ring, ancient Romans weren't the best sentimental of people, and the early version of their "engagement ring" were considered to have carved keys on them. It is often debated that this could have been to symbolise the woman's right to access and individual half of everything following marriage. Nevertheless, the more sentimental like to think that the real key may have been a key to her husband's heart.

Engagement rings as we know them today - stunning gems encased within precious metals - became popular in around the fourteenth or fifteenth century, when the affluent and the royals began to exchange and wear these jewels. However, these items were so expensive that nobody other than the royals and the rich could afford to exchange all of them. It was to be many centuries before these engagement rings would become more well-liked or traditional.

The purpose of engagement rings and wedding bands is to present deep emotions of eternal really enjoy, eternal happiness, eternal commitment, together with eternal togetherness. In fact, these wedding rings signify eternity - between the giver and the recipient. A ring, of course, is known as a complete circle with no break with no end or beginning, which means that it just goes on and on - it is everlasting.

And, since folklore has it the fact that fourth finger of the left hand provides a vein leading directly to the heart, it is only natural that both engagement and wedding party rings would be worn on this particular finger, which was once reputed to be a direct route landscaping	in Colorado Springs to the heart.

In short, it is clear that the giving of a ring inside honour of a union, betrothal, in addition to marriage has been going on since ancient times, and although it may not always have been seeing that glamorous and romantic as it is currently, it was still a way of exchanging an agreement of betrothal or marriage.

Luckily, today's wedding bands and involvement rings are not made of hair, turf, plants or twine as they could have been in ancient times, but of beautiful alloys set with stunning gems, such as platinum, titanium, white gold, gold, sapphires, diamonds, rubies and emeralds. These incredible items of jewellery are likely to remain as popular as ever as the decades go by, and even as the rest of the country advances in to a futuristic and technical age, it's hard to imagine every day where a beautiful diamond engagement ring won't melt the heart of its recipient.