What did your Diamond Engagement Ring Used to Mean?

Diamonds have been captivating humans with their beauty for thousands of years, and the worship bestowed on these precious stones has led to age-old superstitions about its otherworldly beauty. The word ‘diamond’ originally comes from the Greek word ‘adamas,’ which meant unalterable and invincible. This described any particularly hard mineral or material in Ancient Greece but seems particularly appropriate for the diamond as the hardest gemstone.

While your diamond engagement ring might have got its name in Ancient Greece, the story of diamonds starts even earlier. It is suspected that the earliest diamonds known to man were discovered some three thousand years ago in India, in the Golconda region of Deccan. Since then, diamonds have become embedded in the soul of India, with Hindus believing that diamonds were created when lightning bolts struck rocks. They even placed diamonds in the eyes of their revered statues. It is said that the Indian deity Krishna gave his love Radha a great diamond – believed by some to be the stunning Koh-i-Noor – to reflect her beauty as it shone in the moonlight. Thus we have the first associations of diamonds with love.

However, the ancient Greeks and Romans believed diamonds were the tears of the gods, splinters from falling stars and even slivers of moonlight. Diamonds were also once again linked to the idea of everlasting love, as it was widely believed that Cupid’s arrows were tipped with diamonds. Can you think of a more romantic explanation for your diamond engagement ring? Plato, on the other hand, believed that diamonds were the purest part of gold condensed into a transparent mass, as well as considering them to be living beings, embodying celestial spirits, which led to later ideas that diamonds were capable of mating and breeding.

The awe-inspiring strength and durability we take for granted in a diamond engagement ring came to signify valour and virility, invincibility and good fortune, while its unearthly light was deemed to symbolise a higher power and spiritual illumination. Thus, it is unsurprising that throughout history diamonds have been enthralling kings and cardinals, princes and potentates, moguls and movie stars. In Western Europe, during the early Middle Ages, diamonds were so in demand due to their rarity and supposed powers that sumptuary laws decreed they were only to be worn by kings and royalty.

This lust for diamonds has continued into the 21st century, with a diamond engagement ring being the universal symbol of wealth and eternal love. As the Roman author and naturalist, Pliny the Elder, stated in the first century A.D, the diamond is the rarest thing on earth, with a greater value than any other human possession.

Frederick Holm writes for the F&L Designer Guides, which hosts a thriving community of independent engagement ring designers in the UK. Inspired by their journey of discovery in search of a distinctive, one-of-a-kind diamond engagement ring, F&L now celebrates the works of their favourite designers and helps promote the notion of "Go Bespoke" as a more imaginative and interesting alternative to the limitations of High Street shopping.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.