Here’s an interesting story: in the 1960’s, De Beers were forced to buy a large stock of Russian diamonds so that they could maintain their control on the diamond market. They had successfully marketed diamonds as THE symbol of eternal love in engagement and wedding rings, but these were larger stones. What to do with all these small stones?
That is how the De Beers ten-year anniversary ring came into being. This was a solid band set with diamonds that was to symbolize the love still strong in the marriage at the 10th anniversary. Having been an important element in the popularization of the diamond engagement ring, as well as wedding bands set with diamonds, the company approached the marketing of this new product with fervor.
In actual fact, eternity rings, which are the same design as anniversary rings, were in existence as far back as the time of the Egyptians. They symbolized eternal love and commitment with an unbroken circlet set completely with diamonds. The original rings were “flush” mounted, set directly into the metal. This made the rings comfortable to wear.
Today the channel setting is very popular for anniversary or eternity rings. The stones are held in place by “channels” metal, creating an even surface that is easy to wear without hurting the adjoining fingers. Diamonds set with prongs could be extremely uncomfortable, so the design of some anniversary and eternity rings evolved so that only the front half of the ring was set with stones.
New designs and settings have improved the comfort factor of the pronged setting so that a band fully set in pronged diamonds is now a viable choice.
De Beers marketed these rings as a tenth anniversary gift, but today they are used to commemorate the birth of a child, or any other important event in a couple’s life. They are very popular in place of traditional wedding bands as part of the bridal set.
There is no set way to wear an anniversary or eternity ring. You can use it in place of a wedding ring, or combine it with your existing set. If the new ring does not match the engagement and wedding ring in size or complexity of design, you might choose to wear it on your right hand instead of left. Your choice of how you wear your anniversary or eternity band will be dictated by the style of the existing rings, and how comfortable they feel. It would certainly be a bad idea to think you are fated to wear an uncomfortable eternity ring for…well… eternity, just because a fashion dictated a particular style.
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