There are many traditions that we share across the generations, and in many cases different cultures around the globe share certain customs. The engagement ring tradition is one of them, and it is a fascinating one indeed.

It seem that around the beginning of the thirteenth century Pope Innocent III decreed a mandatory waiting period between the time a couple became engaged and when they were actually allowed by the church to become betrothed. The tradition of the engagement ring came out of this. A man who proposed would give the object of his affection an engagement ring as a gift so that other prospective suitors could see that she was spoken for and awaiting the time when the marriage could take place.

During the first few centuries after the custom was adopted, few people could afford expensive stones for their engagement rings, so only the wealthy were able to give diamond engagement rings or engagement rings adorned with other precious stones. The more common folk gave very modest bands as gifts, and there are several countries in Europe that still do so, even if they can afford precious stones.

Here in America and in Great Britain and many other countries, we share the tradition of wearing the engagement ring on the left “ring finger,” as we call it. This practice stems from back in the classical era when it is said that people believed that the fourth finger of the left hand held within it the vein of love, or vena amoris. However, there are countries whose engaged couples traditionally wear their engagement rings on the fourth finger of the right hand, Ukraine and Poland among them.

Are engagement rings strictly for women? The answer is no. There are cultures where it is quite common for both a man and woman who are getting engaged to exchange the gift of an engagement ring. The practice is in fact taking place more often here in America as well, though it is still far from commonplace.

There is a unique legal aspect to the gift of an engagement ring in some states here in America that is very interesting to those of us who are fascinated by the quirks in the law. Traditionally, when someone gives a gift to another person, the gift becomes the legal property of the recipient. The giver of the gift cannot legally lay claim to it as his or her property once it has been given to somebody else. But an engagement ring is different. When you give someone an engagement ring it is legally considered a “conditional gift” in certain states, meaning that there is a legal implication that the gift belongs to the recipient only if she (or he in rare instances) follows through on the “condition” of getting married.

Like all customs and traditions, the giving and wearing of an engagement ring by women (and some men) who are planning to wed is long standing and very interesting to research. It looks like any woman who is floored by receiving the perfect diamond wedding ring has none other than Pope Innocent III to thank!