The History of the Eternity Ring

An eternity ring is a circular band ring set with a continuous row of gemstones, usually of the same size and cut. Designed as an unbroken loop with no clear beginning or end, it signifies eternal commitment and forever. It is jewellery in its most romantic form. Its history runs from ancient Egypt through Georgian queens and Hollywood stars to the jewellery boxes of couples today, who gift and wear one to mark an anniversary, the birth of a child, or simply a love worth celebrating.

A Victorian ouroboros ring

Early Rings & the Georgian Keeper Ring

In ancient Egypt, the circle was used in jewellery to signify the unbroken continuity of life. Rings were crafted in braided reeds, carved bone, and, for those who could afford them, precious metal. Greek and Roman cultures developed their own interpretations of this idea through the ouroboros, a serpent devouring its own tail, which came to represent eternity. During the Medieval and Renaissance periods, lovers exchanged posy rings engraved with secret messages hidden inside the band, reinforcing the ring’s association with love and devotion.

Queen Charlotte’s Keeper Ring, 1761, Royal Collection

The modern eternity ring developed much later, with the earliest known form developing in 18th-century England as the keeper ring. Originally a plain band worn alongside a wedding ring, its job was to guard the wedding band against slipping off or wearing down.

By the middle of the 18th-century, wealthier clients had begun commissioning keepers set with a single row of matching gemstones. The fashion received royal endorsement in 1761, when King George III presented Queen Charlotte with a diamond keeper ring on their wedding day to safeguard her engagement ring from damage or loss. Charlotte's keeper was designed as a gold band set with a single row of diamonds and is widely regarded to be one of the first examples of an eternity ring. During the Victorian era this style fell out of favour, replaced by the half-hoop ring.

A selection of our Art Deco eternity rings

Art Deco Eternity Rings

The Art Deco period was the true golden age of the eternity ring. The form had existed for nearly two centuries by the 1920s, but it was the jewellers of the interwar years who gave it everything it had been missing. Simple bands were made with geometric precision and a colour palette bold enough to match the excitment of the era. The result was a generation of rings that, nearly a century on, remain among the most desirable ever made.

A stunning baguette cut eternity ring with a three stone ring

The style took its name from the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, but its visual language had been gathering force since the late teens, with the clean lines and symmetry of design reflecting the fascination with the machine age. Developments with platinum allowed jewellers to set stones in finer, more delicate mounts than gold allowed, with the metal effectively disappearing behind the stones and leaving only a continuous ribbon of sparkle around the finger.

Eternity rings were designed as slim platinum bands set with hand-cut old European diamonds, finished with millegrain edges and delicate foliate engraving running along the shoulders of the band. Or set with striking coloured gemstones such as rubies, sapphires and emeralds, either alone or paired with diamonds. The newly fashionable calibré cut, in which small coloured stones are precision-cut to slot together seamlessly along the band, allowed jewellers to create a continuous line with no visible setting between the stones.

French workshops became particularly celebrated for the technique, and platinum eternity rings set with calibré-cut rubies or sapphires from this period are now among the most collectable of all Art Deco jewels. As the era favoured geometric, step cut and baguette cut eternity rings were also popular. This gave the effect of modern and unfussy rings that were both timeless and extremely wearable.

Celebrity Endorsement

In 1934, when Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark married Prince George, the Duke of Kent, she chose three eternity rings of diamond, ruby, and sapphire, signifying the colours of the Union Jack. Vogue caught the mood neatly in 1938, asking, 'What better emblem of unending devotion than eternity rings?'. In 1956, Prince Rainier III of Monaco proposed to Grace Kelly with a Cartier eternity band of alternating rubies and diamonds - the colours of the Monaco flag.

The Cartier ring was used as a placeholder, and Rainier later commissioned her iconic emerald-cut solitaire diamond engagement ring. Elizabeth Taylor also famously wore multiple eternity bands throughout her marriages; the most well-documented is the diamond eternity ring from Mike Todd in 1957.

Carolyn Bessette showing off her eternity ring

By the 1960s, De Beers had poured its considerable marketing budget into popularising the eternity ring, for reasons less romantic than they appeared. The company had quietly agreed to absorb enormous quantities of small diamonds emerging from newly opened Soviet mines, part of its long-running effort to control the world's diamond supply through a single channel. Most of these stones were under a quarter of a carat, too small for the solitaire engagement rings, but exactly the right size for an eternity band. This was sold to couples already married, given to celebrate a special occasion, such as an anniversary or the birth of a child.

Four decades later, in 1996, Carolyn Bessette married John F. Kennedy Jr. wearing a ring that pushed the eternity band back into fashion. Her engagement ring was a platinum eternity band set with alternating diamonds and sapphires, sourced by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's longtime companion, the diamond dealer Maurice Tempelsman. The piece was reportedly modelled on one from Jackie's own collection, the 'swimming ring' she wore in the water in place of more precious jewels. In an era still dominated by the solitaire, Bessette's choice was quite radical and perfectly suited her minimalist, understated style.

What You Should Know About Eternity Rings

Eternity rings come in three forms. A full eternity ring set with stones all the way around the band, which cannot be resized, a three-quarter eternity ring covers around three-quarters of the band and gives the same effect as a full eternity but has a little more flexibility to resize, and a half eternity ring set with stones across the front of the finger only, leaving a plain shank behind. It can be resized easily and provides a different look to a full eternity.

When it comes to choosing a stone, diamond remains the most popular choice. Coloured gemstones are also a beautiful option: sapphires and rubies are excellent for everyday wear thanks to their hardness, while emeralds, though stunning, are softer and require a little more care. Furthermore, the setting affects both the look and the longevity of the ring so it is also important to consider. Popular settings include claw, rubover and channel setting.

Many wearers stack two or three eternity rings together or alongside a wedding band, accumulating them over the years to mark anniversaries, the birth of a child, or other milestones. There is no rule about when to give one or how many to own, so it is open to personal interpretation. Worn alone, an eternity band can mark an important occasion, and worn together, multiple bands can tell the story of a life, one milestone at a time.

Their timelessness is precisely what makes eternity rings so prized today, they are antique pieces, yet entirely at home on a contemporary hand. At Thomas Glover, we have one of the largest collections of Art Deco eternity rings in the country, with a wide range of gemstones, cuts and finger sizes.