Lindsay Lohan Engagement Ring

Lots of rumours flying around at the moment about Lindsay Lohan. Her on off relationship with Samantha Ronson seem to be back on once again. Lindsay has also been seen wearing a diamond engagement ring and if you put 2 and 2 together - this is what you get!

Read what the Daily Mail have to say about Lindsay Lohan Engagement

Where Do Engagement Rings Come From?

by Gary Ingram

Since the beginning of early civilisation, man has used rings as a way to indicate betrothal and as a sign of commitment between partners. Over time the ring has evolved to create the modern engagement rings we recognise today, but still the underlying sentiment of fidelity, honour and love have remained a constant.

During the Roman era when this custom started to become more common practice, there was no separate engagement and wedding ring. The one band would be used to represent the engagement period and would then be moved to a different finger once the union had taken place.

Originally the band was made of iron because the metal was more readily available and represented strength and fortitude but by the 2nd century A.D. this had become gold. The first acknowledged occasion of a diamond engagement ring being used is in 1477 by Archduke Maximilian of Hamburg presented to his lady love, Mary of Burgundy. While similar examples appeared after this date, becoming increasingly more lavish and ornate from the 1700s, it was really the preserve of the wealthy as diamonds were incredibly rare at the time and therefore hugely expensive.

This began to change when in the late 1800s a huge deposit of diamonds was found in South Africa. The company that owned the mines, De Beers, set about making the diamond engagement ring accessible to all and with a massive promotional campaign began to extol their virtues to the general public. With the engagement ring price range now starting at a much more reasonable level, thousands upon thousands flocked to buy an engagement ring. Sale of the diamond solitaire as the only true representative of this union was compounded by actresses and stars such as Grace Kelly, who was given her very own emerald cut diamond engagement ring from Prince Rainer.

Intertwined with this development was that of the change in "Breach of Promise to Marry" statute. Previously men could be sued for compensation if they had proposed marriage to a woman and then renege on the deal because of the perceived damage to her reputation. Women were still expected to be pure on their wedding day, but during the engagement period many would lose their virginity. It helped to ensure men were not getting engaged for the "wrong" reasons. However from the 1930s the rule started to be phased out and so brides-to-be needed something to take its place to give them reassurance of their beau’s fidelity.

Today, engagement ring designers create more than just the traditional solitaire and with the growth of online jewellery stores the choice is literally limitless for modern couples. So when it comes to doing your own engagement ring search, it pays to scan the Internet to find not only the widest selection of rings but prices up to 60 percent less then the high street.

Small Weddings are in Fashion

Luckily enough for the families of some of the Bridezillas out there, small weddings are now the latest fashion according to Intimate Weddings. So if your Bridezilla is fashion conscious, then you may be in luck - whomever is footing the bill.

Yes, what with the credit crunch small is the new big, cheap is the new expensive, intimate is the new wedding.

I have never understood people getting married inviting hundreds of people that they dont even know. You do wonder sometimes who´s getting married, and normally its the Mother or Mother-in-Law of the Bride.

I know loads of people who had huge, expensive weddings costing a bomb and then a year down the line, getting divorced. Its such a waste. Making a wedding is stressful and that then puts pressure on the relationship before you´ve even got married.

I have found this fantastic website all about weddings, how to plan, about small locations, and the most important factor of how to choose people and how to leave people off your list.

I love this website and the blog too. www.intimateweddings.com

PS, remember girls - the less you spend on your wedding the more you can spend on your Diamond Engagement Ring!!!

Who Keeps The Engagement Ring When The Relationship Breaks?

I seem to be hearing lots of debate at the moment about what should happen to engagement rings when a relationship breaks up. Should the wearer keep the ring, or should it be returned to the person who paid for it?

Some say that an engagement ring is an unconditional gift, and that a woman is not obliged to return it if the engagement is broken. It is like any other gift, which once given belongs to the person who has received it - no matter how much it cost, or how upset the person who paid for it is!

However, there are those that believe an engagement ring is not like any other gift, but is actually conditional upon the marriage of the two partners. Therefore, if the marriage doesn't take place, the ring should be returned to the person who gave and paid for it.

In the US, the law regarding this subject varies between states. Some, such as New York, treat the engagement ring as a conditional gift, whereas others, such as Montana, believe a gift is a gift, and it's tough luck if the relationship doesn't work out!

There are those that believe that the person who calls off the engagement is the one who forfeits any right to the engagement ring. However, this is getting into murky territory as relationship break-ups are never straight forward in terms of blame and responsibility, so the person who actually calls off the engagement may not necessarily be the person responsible for the break up in terms of their behaviour.

I personally think that there is no black and white answer to the question of who should keep the engagement ring. What may be right for one couple, will not be for another. For example, in the case of one party behaving very badly, such as having an affair or affairs, i think they should forfeit any right to the ring, and the innocent party should at least benefit in some way from either selling the ring or having the satisfaction of throwing it into the sea! In a 'friendly' break up situation, the ring wearer may decide it is fair to return the ring, or the two of them may decide to sell it and give the money to charity, for example.

If a woman has behaved badly towards her partner, and insists on keeping the ring for either financial reasons or simply because she likes the piece of jewellery, then this, i believe, is unforgivable. She should return the ring!

Coleen McCloughlin Wedding Ring

After finally tying the knot, pictures have been released of Coleen and Wayne's gorgeous diamond wedding rings.

Apparently, Coleen was involved in the design of the rings, and i have to say that they look great! A lot of thought has gone into the design, which involves a total of three rings for Coleen - the engagement ring, wedding band and a third band, which is wayne's wedding gift to her. Together, the three rings join to look like one stunning ring. Wayne's ring has also been designed to match Coleen's rings.

The white gold rings are encrusted with 18 carat diamonds, and were produced by New York jewellers, Jacob & Co.

Scarlett Johansson Engagement Ring

Another Engagement! You know Summer is on the way when everyone starts getting engaged and all you can see is bling bling bling!

Scarlett Johansson & her Boyfriend Ryan Reynolds are engaged, and what a big engagement ring you have Scarlett!

Is Mariah Carey Engaged?

Mariah Carey has been spotted wearing a gorgeous (and enormous) diamond ring on her wedding finger, sparking rumours that she's engaged to current boyfriend, Nick Cannon.

Neither Mariah nor Nick's PR reps have confirmed the rumours, so we'll just have to wait and see if this is an engagement ring, or whether Mariah has simply decided to treat herself to a bit of bling!

Either way, it's a stunning piece of jewellery to show off.

Brad & Angelina To Get Married On A Boat

Apparently Brad & Angelina will finally be getting married this summer on a luxury yacht, off the coast of France.

The boat belongs to a friend of the couple, Paul Allen, who is one of the co-founders of Microsoft.

Brad & Angelina will be in France for the final three months of her current pregnancy, and plan to marry after the birth. It will be an intimate wedding, with only closest friends and family present.

Brad designed the engagement rings and wedding rings for his first marriage to Jennifer Anniston, so it will be interesting to see what he comes up with second time around!

Ashley Simpsons Engagement Ring

Its just been announced that Ashley Simpson is Engaged to Pete Wentz.

Ashley is just 23 years old and Pete is 28. Ashley is the sister of Jessica Simpson if anyone out there didnt know. You know the one that did a reality TV Show about her marriage and being a newly wed and now....well they are divorced.

Cant wait to get a good look at that engagement ring.

Beyonces Engagement & Wedding Ring

So what is going on? Are they arent they?

Beyonce and Jay Z -They apparently got married at the weekend, just a low key wedding with a family and a few close friends like Kelly Rowland and Gwyneth Paltrow...low key!

Do you ever wonder what life is really like with these celebrities...like when they wake up, what do they really look like?

If you are a Beyonce Fan then check out her website www.beyonceonline.com

Christina Aguilera - New Face Of Jewellery Campaign

London based jeweller, Stephen Webster, has just launched an advertising campaign for his latest jewellery collection, featuring Christina Aguilera in a series of Hitchcock inspired images.
The new collection is called "Shattered", and features over 50 styles of rings, cuffs, pendants and earrings with gemstones such as jade, chalcedony, goldstone, hematite and white agate inlaid in silver. The collection is supposed to resemble bits of broken stained glass from Gothic church windows.

Stephen Webster also created Christina's diamond engagement ring, which features an impressive round centre diamond.

Christina looks great in these images, although i think some of the images have had too much touching up! When you have a natural beauty like christina, why make her look unrealistically "perfect"?

Jamie Lynn Spears Engagement Ring & Wedding

Jamie Lynn Spears is the sister of Britney - 2 sisters that are making the headlines non stop at the moment.

Jamie Lynn announced that she was pregnat a few weeks ago and is only 16 years old! Apparently by her "Long Term Boyfriend" shes only 16, how long term could it be? Jamie Lynn works on The Kids TV Channel Nickelodian by young kids who look up to her and she is their idol. Even more Kids will think its ok and cool to have sex at a young age and have babies. Great!

So you have 1 sister whos pregnant at 16 and the other whos a mum of 2 and in and out of rehab, although Britney apparently is doing ok at the moment in a sitcom.

But these 2 girls are people that 100s of 1000s of girls look up to and want to be like...thats not great news!

Jamie was apparently seen with a big sparkly engagement and plans to get married. Hope to have pictures of that Engagement Ring soon!

Carlas Engagement Ring Coronation Street

So Tony (the nutter) has asked Carla to marry him over dinner with Liam, Maria, Michelle and Steve.

He brought out a big diamond engagement ring and popped the question. She said YES!

OMG he is a complete nutter and have said so all along...could the story turn into another Gale storyline with the murderer for a boyfriend.

Then you have Gale lying in hospital because of her nutcase son David.

When is there going to be something good? Its all so depressing.

Is your Engagement Ring insured?

I was just looking through some news stories and found an interesting and slightly scary report from Abbey Home Insurance.

They are claiming that around 58% of all engagement rings are not insured!

This is scary stuff! Engagement rings on average ( UK ) now cost a whopping £1200 and as we all know jewellery is somehting that can easily be lost or stolen.

The other problem is under insurance.... prices of gold and platinum have gone through the roof in the last few months and many rings will cost a lot more to replace. This is especially relevent if you have a ring that is over 5 years old.

So...my advice...revalue your rings and make sure they are covered on your house insurance!

If you have purchased a ring through the Diamond Store then you can always download or ask for a copy of the free insurance valuation that they provide!

Full Insurance Article here...