The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1895-03-01
ABOUT RINGS

seal rings were worn by all classes
of ancient Egyptians, aud they remain
todava favorite form Of this ornament.
though not possessing the significance
of former times. Rings with keys
attached have been found in the cata-
combs, and we know that the Roman
ladies in this way carried the keys Of
their jewel caske's. But even IN our
craze for aesthetic we have scarcely
reached the acme of luXurouncss
achieved by this people. who even
went SO fan as to have rings suited to
the season. heavy for winter and light
for summer The wedding ring is
thought to have originated with the
Romans and to have sprung from the
custom Of using rings in making agree
ments, but, unlike the wedding rings
Of today, they were made Of iron. this
being supposed to typity the enduring
nature of the contract.
Gems are precious in proportion to
their scarcity and lustre, and it is on
this account that the diamond ranks
first. Next comes the emerald. and a
stone but little known called AleNan
drite. so named after the Gar of
Russia. The gem is Of dark green
color by day and dark red at night.
To rank as first water a diamond
must be perfectly limpld. like drop
of distilled water, perfectly colorless
but rejecting and throwing off CLEANS
of Int from ITS many faces. Diamonds
have long been he chosen gems for
court aud ceremonial wear with nearly
all nations.
For many Years the diamond has
been considered the only jewel worthy
of being set in the betrothal ring, but
now the ruby, topaz and opal strive
with it for precedence. For some time
the opal was under bar on account of
the unfavorable superstitions connect
ed with it, but the prejudice seems
dying out. Queen Victoria especially
affects the opal and bestows it on those
who she wishes to honor and by
whom the refusal to wear it would be
considered not onl y a decided breach
of etiquette, but markedly disres-
pecttul. Contrary to modern belief.
the Romans thought the possession of
this stone a sure precursor of good
fortune.
A style Of ring designed especially
as a gage d'amour is composed of two
slender golden circles interwined and
PARALLEL, with ornamental ends ap-
preaching each other, but never touch
ing. One of the ends is set with
diamond, the other with an opal.
An old fashion revived is the ring
in which jewels are set in such way
that the initial letters of the stones
spell the name of the fair recipient, or
some other word. such as dove "frien-
ship" or regard For the latter the
ruby, emerald. garnet, amethyst and
diamond are used with good effect, set
in the form of Il heavy horseshoe and
mounted on a heavy tapering gold
circle.
In diamond rings there are several
favorite styles Of setting. One much
liked is massive with the stones sunk
in the top: another is to have the ring
round and solid, like vine the gems
set in some fancy shape. A trefoll
with three diamonds isvery handsome.
Like the d almond the stone cameo
and mosaicare always in style.
A very desirable style of ring for
gentleman has heavy tapering shank
set with Inc black ONYX with instead
of being cut has on it all initial Of
chased gold set with six small dia
monds. New rings show unique de-
signs and the verdict seems 10 be
the more odd the more genteel'', and
several gems are often used in combi
nation, as rhinestones and saphires,
ruby diamond and sapphire, tiger eye
and pearls, pearl and turquoise. etc.
The fashionable wedding ring is Il
revival of the old style, flat OH the in
side and rounded on the outside, made
Of Is carat gold and extremely heavy.
Few of the fiat band rings are used at
present.-New York AdUe7tiscr
PRO TEHT THE EYES