As time passed, the popularity of rings went through peaks and troughs. From the Puritans, who believed that the rings were objects of Satan, through to folk in the middle ages, who wrote the Book of Common Prayer and defined Wedding vows and decreed on which finger the ring was to be worn. It was around the same time that the smallest ever Wedding ring was believed to have been made for King Henry VIII’s daughter, Princess Mary, who married to the Dauphin of France. She was just two years old at the time yet she still married a toy boy – he was only 8 months old (it's kind of sweet, but very odd if you know what we mean!)
The finger that today we know as the ‘ring finger’ was not always the finger of choice for the Wedding band. During the 1400’s, in certain European provinces, Wedding rings were worn on the fourth finger of the right hand, and later on, fashion and trend led to ladies in the 16th and 17th century wearing them on their thumbs!
So why do we wear a Wedding Ring on the fourth finger of the left hand? There are three schools of thought here.
Firstly, legend has it that there is a vein connected directly to the heart (the vena amoris) that flows there directly from the forth finger (a story refuted by sad and lonely science boffins), hence its selection as the finger of choice.
The second theory comes from medieval England where a Groom would slide the ring onto the Bride’s thumb, index finger then middle finger reciting ‘in the name of the father, son and Holy Ghost’ before finally placing it upon the next available finger.
Finally, on a more practical note, is the theory that as most people are right handed, then the fourth finger on the left hand is typically the most protected and least used of all our ten digits. Thus, the 'ring finger' is the safe option.
As far as we are concerned, the first story is probably all just mumbo jumbo, but is the most romantic of the three. As such this is the one that we’re sticking to so tell your friends!
The practice of men wearing Wedding rings is a relatively new one. Pre-1940 only 15% of Grooms would receive and wear ring from their Bride, but when World War II broke out, the figure shot up to 60%. The Korean War of the 1950’s resulted in figures hitting 70% and nowadays virtually every Groom will receive a ring with 80-90% of them going on to wear them on a regular basis. War separates couples, and as the Wedding Ring acts as a symbol of marriage and reminder of loved ones, the male Wedding Band quickly established itself as a gesture of love and affection that has been carried on to the modern era.
As time passes, traditions change, but it looks as though the Wedding Ring is here to stay – and we, and jewellers across the nation, rejoice in this news!
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