Promise Ring Meaning - What Does It Mean To You?

Generally speaking the promise ring meaning is that of taking the first serious step in commitment between two people. While in most cases this relates to love and relationship, it can be any other sort of commitment as well.

Maybe the most important aspect of giving and receiving a promise ring is that both people know what exactly has been promised and it is accepted as such. If you give a promise ring to your girlfriend, make sure that she fully understands the meaning of what she is getting - and what she is getting into.

Here are are just some of the meanings of a promise ring. It truly doesn't have to be all about the first steps towards a marriage.

* I will return (from war, college, etc)
* I will be always faithful to you
* I will be your best friend
* I will always be there for you
* I will follow a particular religion

As long as the promise is between two people, the ring can be given and accepted as a symbol of the promise made. However indeed, the most common occasion for a promise ring is as a pre-engagement ring.

Regardless of the meaning, however, you have to explain the reason why you give the ring. Never expect that the other person will know exactl your intentions. You have to spell them out clearly.

A definitely yes! You can give a promise ring to a man. For example if the commitment is towards a relationship, the ring can be easily worn as a pre-engagement ring, which is perfectly ok.

The only difference is that the man's ring will be a bit larger.

For example this ring is a beautiful promise ring for a man that you can give to your soon to be fiance. It is a strongly 'male' type of ring that noone will find too macho ever. The ring is made of tungsten carbide and is 8mm in width. Perfect for giving it to a man as a promise ring that indeed promises something.

Usually the promise ring is worn on the left ring finger (the third finger on the hand) especially when it is a romantic relationship. Then once the engagement (or wedding) ring has been received, the promise ring is transferred to the right hand ring finger.

For a friendship commitment, the ring should be worn on the right hand, because the finger on the left hand is mostly associated with an engagement ring or a wedding ring as in committing to a relationship.

You can see from the image that the woman is wearing her promise ring on her left hand, third finger. It is an elegant ring that doesn't distract too much from itself, and it looks gorgeous on any finger. The ring shown here is the Three-Stone Diamond Promise Ring in Sterling Silver, and it costs just a bit over $50, which is a great price for a ring that will be topped later by an engagement and a wedding ring.

The history of the promise ring dates back to thousands of years, going to the ancient civilization. One of the earliest mentions of something similar to promise rings is the betrothal ring. The betrohal was quite a serious business. The betrohal was officially announced with a contract following it.

It was part of this entire ceremony that the young man would give his soon to be bride a betrothal ring, which practically sealed the deal. The ring symbolized his promise to marry her. There was no way out of a contract once one has been made.

Eventually though around the 18th century the custom of giving a promise ring was replaced by giving engagement rings. Only recently, in the 1990s this ancient tradition has been once again made popular, especially in the Christian religion.

So based on this, a promise ring is the first to be given or exchanged by the couple, and this usually means that the wedding will take place sometimes within a year. At some point the engagement ring is also given, and finally the wedding ring is the third one that seals the marriage.

There is an awesome book that goes quite into detail on promise rings and the whole wedding tradition which is called A Bride's Book of Wedding Traditions. It's worth reading for learning more about this interesting tradition that goes so far back in history.

A Turkish promise ring is something really cool. You HAVE to watch the video below to understand it better. First time I've seen it, I was in awe and I practically had my jaw on the floor.

Basically a Turkish promise ring is also called a Turkish puzzle ring simply because you have a set of 4 or 6 bands that you have to interlock in the right way to create the final ring. I love puzzles and this ring really caught my interest!

How did such an intricate ring come to be? One of the myths (or maybe it was true?) around the Turkish puzzle promise ring is that the ring is usually given by the father of the bride to the groom in the morning before the ceremony, while the bride gets herself all dressed up. Usually the groom has a long wait ahead of him, and the stomach is all knotted up in anguish (and anticipation). So this ring keeps the groom occupied until the bride is ready to take the step to the altar.