Victorian Wedding Rings

Victorian wedding rings were made during the reign of Queen Victoria of England, who reigned from 1837 to 1901. Wedding rings evolved from the posy ring (the word posy being derived from 'poesy' or poetry) which were gold bands with engraved love messages. These rings originated in the Middle ages and the messages were originally on the outer edge of the band, in later years changing to the inside of the band and leaving the outside of the band plain.

The wedding rings of Victorian times were usually a yellow gold band, which may be either plain or engraved with a pattern such as leaves (foliate). Many of these patterns were quite ornate in their appearance. Other more unusual designs include a ring band in the shape of a belt with buckle.

In addition to the highly popular yellow gold, rose gold was also in use at this time, although it was not used as extensively as the yellow variety. The wedding ring would often be worn with a 'keeper' ring which was set with gemstones or enamelled.

The function of the keeper ring was to keep the wedding ring on the finger to prevent losing it. They are also known as guard rings. A pair of keeper rings were sometimes worn, one in front of the wedding ring and the other behind it.

Victorian wedding bands would sometimes be set with gemstones such as diamonds, either singly or in groups of stones. The diamonds tended to be quite small.