All About: Promise Rings

The first type of promise ring was called a posy ring, which originated in England in the 16th century. They were named as such because they were engraved with lines from romantic poems or other short, sweet messages. An example of an inscription on discovered posy rings are “united hearts death only parts”. A couple of centuries later, during the Victorian era, acrostic rings became popular. The gemstones in these rings were arranged to spell out words, almost like a secret message. For instance, putting lapis, opal, verdelite, and emerald together on a ring spells the word “love” – the first letter of each stone’s name creates the acrostic. 

If a couple was not in the best place financially to buy a home or start a family, they would display their intentions of marriage with a promise ring. Also, if a man could not afford an engagement ring, he would often offer his partner a promise ring as a placeholder. Women did not start giving promise rings to men until around the 20th century. Nowadays though, what is the true promise ring meaning?

The meaning of promise rings can symbolize a variety of ideas. These days, what a couple chooses for their promise ring to represent is extremely personal. Exchanging promise rings can signify a variety of things depending on what the couple chooses. More often than not, the meaning of a promise ring symbolizes a promise to one day become engaged. 

Choose a Precious Metal

The most common choices for promise ring metals are white gold, yellow gold, and rose gold. Of course, these all come in 14k and 18k varieties. Sometimes people will choose to give platinum, but usually lean more towards gold for a promise ring because it is slightly less expensive. To get a sense of what type of precious metal your partner would prefer, try to pay attention to the jewelry they wear. If most of their jewelry if yellow gold, for example, they will most likely prefer a yellow gold promise ring. 

Select a Style

What’s your partner’s style? Are they minimalist and understated or glitzy and flashy? Do they love nature? Are they more whimsical and romantic? If you’re unsure, try to take a look at the types of clothes they tend to wear most often. This should give you some clues as to the style of ring they would prefer… classic, modern, nature-inspired, or maybe even a combination of those. 

Add a Personal Touch

Adding a small personal tough into your significant other’s promise ring can mean a lot. Incorporating aesthetic elements that have a lot of sentimental significance for you as a couple can be a really special way of making sure it’s something they treasure forever. For example, you can maybe put in the gemstone representing the month you first met, or you can engrave a meaningful phrase or date. 

Find Ring Size

Figuring out the size of the promise ring you select depends on which finger your partner will be wearing the ring on. Traditionally, promise rings are worn on the ring finger of the left hand (the ring finger that you one day will wear an engagement ring on). Sometimes though, people choose to wear their promise rings on a completely different finger and save their wedding ring finger for their engagement ring someday. Make sure to measure their ring size accordingly!

Email us and we can help you out with this, or refer to our blog on How to Secretly Find Out Her Ring Size.