The First Diamond Engagement Ring

By Mirliton2018 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, httpscommons.wikimedia.orgwindex.phpcurid=89298821

I thought this might be some fun information. Although engagement rings go way back to Ancient Egypt (and it’s possible they show up even earlier in history), the first diamond ring anyone knows about happened in the Fifteenth Century. I find the story interesting. Of course, I’m a jeweler so I would, right? Well, you tell me what you think after you read about it. Fair enough?

The first recorded diamond engagement ring was a gold ring set with tiny diamonds that formed the letter M. The M stood for… well, it could have stood for Maximilian, the groom, or Mary, the bride.  Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave the ring to his betrothed, Mary of Burgundy, in 1477. Today, the ring is in the Museum of Profane Treasury, which is part of the Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna.

The ring's publicity started a trend among European nobility, which led to increased diamond mining and production. It may or may not have been the first time a man gave a diamond engagement ring but it’s the first one history can point to and say it happened. Nobles often gave jewelry to their brides-to-be, but Maximilian's ring set the style for engagement in particular. 

Mary of Burgendy was the daughter of Charles the Bold and their marriage is one of the most significant in all human history. The union solidified the power of Maximilian’s family and after conflict and intrigue, gave them a great deal of power. If you want to set aside all of the intrigue, though, there’s plenty of sweet romance.

Maximilian and Mary corresponded through interpreters and the story goes that Mary fell in love with Maximilian because of his letters.  Of course, there’s plenty of evidence that Maximilian had a significant advantage because the other suitor was a boy dauphin thirteen years younger than her. Can you imagine being a nineteen-year-old under pressure to marry a six-year-old for political reasons. Legend says the ring was made from gifts of gold and diamonds handed to Maximilian by his subjects as he traveled to see Mary. That’s probably not true but it’s a beautiful picture isn’t it?

From that first diamond engagement ring spawned a standard and today, the vast majority of engagement rings are diamond rings. Are you in the market for one? If you need an engagement ring in San Diego, give me a call.  You can also drop by the showroom. You’ll discover like countless of other San Diegans that Bert Levi Family Jewelers is the place to go for wedding jewelry.

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