What does the wearing of a commitment ring
imply?
The wearing of rings goes back to the earliest
recorded history. Ancient rings have been discovered by
archaeologists investigating the remains of many ancient
cultures. While engagement rings and weddings rings have been
well-known for generations, over recent years new kinds of
rings have been coming into fashion. It has become popular to
buy matching rings to indicate a strong bond between two
people. These may effectively be pre-marriage rings or they may
be unrelated to any romantic intentions but rather indicative
of a wish to recognize and preserve a close friendship.
Sometimes a ring of this
kind will be called a commitment ring because of the commitment
it serves to demonstrate. They are also frequently referred to
a friendship rings since they give proof of a firm friendship,
and they may also be called as promise rings because of the
promise two people make to maintain their faith in each
other.
The term commitment ring can also be used in a
completely different context. For example, some Christian
groups encourage their teenage members to wear commitment rings
to signalize their commitment to abstain from physical
relationships prior to marriage. Another use of the commitment
ring concept gives it an ethical context.
Irish commitment rings carry a traditional
design of two hands clasping a heart with a crown above the
heart. This design is frequently referred to as a claddagh ring
since it is claimed that it was invented by a goldsmith in the
town of Claddagh in Western Ireland at the end of the
seventeenth century. The hands are said to symbolize friendship
while the crown symbolizes the commitment to stay loyal to each
other that the buyers of these rings enter into.
During the Medieval age the giving of
friendship rings with clasped hands was popular, while
wealthier people began to have costly jewels set into their
rings. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries poesy rings
were introduced, with poesy referring to a style of poetry
where short lines on the themes of romance or faith were
engraved on rings. These rings were commonly given as what we
would call engagement rings. Similarly designed rings are still
sold today in a number of online stores and other outlets.
Whatever the motivation behind your deciding to
buy commitment rings you are going to have no difficulty
finding rings of a design you find attractive and at a price
you can afford.
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