the.com/eternity ring
A diamond-encrusted promise that the relationship, unlike the warranty, never expires.
means A ring set with a continuous band of stones (often diamonds) given to symbolize unending love, typically to mark an anniversary or the birth of a child.
from The 'eternity' comes from the ring's design itself: a full circle of identical stones with no beginning or end, unlike a solitaire that sits at one point. The circle-as-eternity symbolism is ancient — rings generally have carried the idea of endlessness since antiquity, simply because a loop has no stopping point. 'Eternity ring' as a jewelry-trade term for this specific all-the-way-round style is a modern commercial coinage, popularized through 20th-century jewelry marketing, though the circular eternity symbolism it leans on is far older.
- origin
- popularized by De Beers in the 1960s, naturally
- design
- stones circle the whole band, no gaps, no excuses
- symbolism
- often given after a first child, not just marriage
- etiquette
- worn stacked with engagement and wedding rings, never alone