Ring (finger)

A ring is a round band, usually of metal, worn as an ornamental piece of jewellery around the finger, or sometimes the toe; it is the most common current meaning of the word "". 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.

Although tracing the exact history is difficult, the custom of giving and receiving finger rings dates back over approximately 6,000 years.

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 Native styles were superseded by Greek and Roman fashions during the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Archaic Greek rings were to some extent influenced by Egyptian rings, although they tended to be less substantial and apparently weren't for the most part used as working signet rings. A lack of locally available gold meant that rings made in the eastern colonies tended to be made from silver and bronze while Etruria used gold.

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