According to records, it was stated that Pope Innocent III was responsible for the creation of two of the most important rings that we are aware of today: the wedding and engagement rings. It was him who insisted that there should be a waiting period between engagement and marriage. Since both of these events were treated as contracts, the rings were symbolically used in order to seal the deal legally. Prior to the 13th century, it was only the engagement ring that was given in Europe, though the history of wedding rings are far older than we are aware of.

Almost five thousand years ago, the Egyptians used reed or hemp rings as representations of eternity, a circle that has no beginning and no end. During those periods, they generally did not give emphasis on gem cut types like the princess cut as much as we give importance to such feature today. During the biblical periods, betrothed couples were given valuable dowry gifts. It was therefore assumed that rings, especially those that are considered as precious metals, were substituted for expensive dowries.

In the Roman period, rings were used for two primary purposes""to seal deals and to insinuate ownership. Gold rings were reserved for the use of high ranking officials, while iron rings were made available for the used of ordinary citizens. The rings worn by ordinary citizens at that time were similar to the large rings that held the keys to the household. Hence, it has been inferred that if an ordinary Roman groom gave his bride an iron marriage ring, he was giving her the key to his house and was giving her access to all his material goods.

It was during 16th century England when the wedding ring was officially moved from the right ring hand to the left hand. It was speculated that this change was done in order to justify the position of a woman in the society, considering that the right hand was deeply regarded as the hand of power. The placement of the wedding ring on the third left hand finger was rooted from the idea that such finger was supposed to be the place where the love vein or vena amoris is situated; therefore, as the ring is symbolic of love, it was officially worn in the third left hand finger as it is directly connected to the heart. Today, wedding and engagement rings are both widely worn on the left hand; however, there are some countries that traditionally wear their engagement rings on the right hand such as Poland and Ukraine.

For Puritans, rings were considered as agnostic, which they believe is inappropriate to use during wedding ceremonies; hence, instead of using rings they used wedding thimbles for their marital vows. Meanwhile, the Victorians practically embraced the custom of wedding rings and further embellished them with twin hearts and flower designs. On the other end of the spectrum, the Edwardians embellished their rings with leaves and other ornamental arts, which in turn paved way for the rise of art deco rings. From here, the use of gemstones on rings were incorporated and so were the stone cut types such as the princess cut, emerald cut and step cut to name a few.

Men in general never wore wedding and engagement rings until World War II. The first men to wear such rings were the soldiers going off to war; they used the rings as reminders of their waiting wives and partners. Currently, marriage ceremonies are also regarded as double ring ceremonies. Meaning to say, both the bride and the groom wear wedding rings to show their commitment and love, though the engagement ring is still limited among women.