In other forms than posies, rings carry the language of love. They may, of course, in engraved letters or letters shaped of stones, give the initials or the name of the beloved. Or letters may record a significant event in the course of the courtship, as when a cryptically boastful Frenchman set a ring with the letters L A C D, which pronounced in French sound “Elle a cédé”—“She has yielded!”
More subtly and more sentimentally such announcements may be made, moments recorded, or feelings expressed, through the initial letters of the gems. Thus a beloved named Adele might be given a ring with stones set in the following order: amethyst, diamond, emerald, lapis lazuli, emerald; the first letters of the names of the stones spell her name. A favorite such token is one arranged so that the initial letters of the stones spell “Regard Love”; hence, these have sometimes been called regard rings. Rings have been used to express sentiment less soft, as well; politically minded Irish, in Revolution times, were wearing rings that spelled Repeal.
For those with the enthusiasm and the funds, almost an entire alphabet of gem stones can be used. Omitting duplicates, one may run along, to spell one’s message, with amber, bloodstone, carnelian, diamond, emerald, fluorite, garnet, hyacinth, indicolite, jasper, kunzite, lapis lazuli, moonstone, nephrite, opal, pearl, quartz, ruby, sapphire, turquoise, variscite, willemite, zircon. This fashion of conveying one’s sentiments has never grown obsolete and is continually renewed.
The Nuptial Ring
When courtship reaches the more definite stage of betrothal, rings are still the order of the day. As early as the second century B. C. the Romans, whose marriages were not love matches but family affairs, gave formal engagement rings. A study of Shakespeare reveals forty-five references to rings and jewels, eleven being of Queen Elizabeth’s favorite, the pearl. For example, betrothal rings are exchanged by Troilus and Cressida; and such an exchange builds the sunrise comedy scene at the close of The Merchant of Venice. For friends, the fede (faithful) ring developed, a band of gold representing clasped hands. For lovers, the gimmal or gemmal, the twin ring, was popular; this consisted of two rings intimately intertwined, which ingeniously came apart so that each lover could wear half of the pair.
Climax of the deft pursuit and fond allure, the wedding ring has always been a treasured symbol. An early ecclesiastic told why: “The form of the ring being circular, that is, round and without end, importeth thus, that mutual love and heartfelt affection shall roundly flow from one to the other, as in a circle, continuously and forever.”
Although the wedding ring for a long time was invariably of gold, fashions in recent years have been changing. Our grandmothers were proud to wear a plain wide band. After the First World War, when gold gravitated toward Fort Knox, the bands grew narrower and platinum wedding rings were introduced. The gold itself, instead of a plain band, might be drawn as though the ring were fashioned of strands, or hammered into tiny bars with corners around the circle, in various modernistic patterns. The practice also began of using diamonds in wedding rings; never one large brilliant, outthrust like the happy engagement solitaire, but a row of smaller stones inset, almost flush with the band. Today the plain wide wedding band is circling back into favor, along with the olden practice of putting a ring on the finger not only of the bride but of the groom. It is a mutual compact.
In ancient times, much more elaborate rings were used for the ceremony, sometimes so large that immediately after the wedding they were put aside, replaced by smaller rings, and put on again only at the burial day. Among the Jews the ring might have an adornment in the shape of a tower, and be inscribed with the Hebrew words for Good luck, Mazul-tov.