Engagement ring has embodied both love and status
From ancient Egypt to Hollywood, the engagement ring embodied Each autumn, as the season turns colder and cosier, the jewellery world enters what retailers call, engagement season – a period stretching until Valentine’s Day when proposals peak and demand for diamond rings rises. Earlier this year, two high-profile engagements captured the public imagination and galvanised the market: Cristiano Ronaldo’s fiancée was gifted a very large brilliant-cut diamond, while Taylor Swift’s partner opted for an old mine cut. Same tradition, different expressions. To explore both the symbolism and the substance, we sat down with historian and jewellery specialist Kathia Pinckernelle. Kathia teaches the Advanced History of Jewellery Course held at SSEF in Basel. Already the ancient Egyptians wore amulets and rings as symbols of protection and affection. Jewellery accompanied both daily life and spiritual belief. In Greece, too, jewellery carri...