Ring (jewellery)

A ring is a round band, usually in metal, worn as an ornamental Jewellery around the finger, or sometimes the toe; it is the most common current meaning of the word "ring". Strictly speaking a normal ring is a finger ring (which may be hyphenated); other types of rings worn as ornaments are earrings, bracelets for the wrist, armlets or arm rings, toe rings and torc or neck rings, but except perhaps for toe rings, the plain term "ring" is not normally used to refer to these.

Rings are most often made of metal but can be of almost any material: metal, plastic, stone, wood, bone, glass, or gemstone. They may be set with a stone or stones, often a gemstone such as diamond, ruby, sapphire or emerald.

History

The custom of giving and receiving finger rings dates back over approximately 6,000 years. Tracing the exact history of this practice is difficult.

Ancient Near East

The Hittite civilization produced rings, including signet rings, only a few of which have been discovered. People in Old Kingdom Egypt wore a variety of finger rings, of which a few examples have been found, including the famous scarab design. Rings became more common during the Egyptian middle kingdom, with increasingly complex designs. Egyptians made metal rings but also made rings from faience some of which were used as new year gifts. Native styles were superseded by Greek and Roman fashions during the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Ring

Ring may refer to:

Arts and entertainment

Film

Games

Literature

Music

Science and technology

Astronomy

Jewellery

Jewellery or jewelry (/ˈdʒuːᵊlᵊri/) consists of small decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes, and the term is restricted to durable ornaments, excluding flowers for example. For many centuries metal, often combined with gemstones, has been the normal material for jewellery, but other materials such as shells and other plant materials may be used. It is one of the oldest type of archaeological artefact – with 100,000-year-old beads made from Nassarius shells thought to be the oldest known jewellery. The basic forms of jewellery vary between cultures but are often extremely long-lived; in European cultures the most common forms of jewellery listed above have persisted since ancient times, while other forms such as adornments for the nose or ankle, important in other cultures, are much less common. Historically, the most widespread influence on jewellery in terms of design and style have come from Asia.