The Value Of Rings

Rings are strange things to me. They don't really do anything. They just sit on your finger. When I was a kid, it really bothered me why people wore rings because they had no use. 

The first thing that really changed my view was hearing one of the oldest uses for them: transporting wealth. Imagine that you lived in a time before paper money or bank notes. If you wanted to pick and move from one town to another, how would you transfer all of your money there? It would be really heavy to fill a trunk with copper pieces, and so would it attract a lot of unwanted attention. 

What people would do is purchase a fancy ring with a big gemstone in it and in exchange you give everything you weren't going to take with you. When they reach their new town, they can then sell that ring for the money they might need in this new place. 

So rings didn't have to do anything; their value is being a very condensed form of wealth. It is in their portability and simplicity that we can see its value. 

With that in mind, I thought to the wedding ring, or more so the engagement ring. These things are expensive. And some people feel like the more expensive it is, the more it means. Originally, they were a form of payment or dowry. The giver of the ring showed how much he cared for and valued the woman by offering this attractive and valuable ring to her. As times change, some people care about the exchange rate of the ring, but others care more about the story of it (did it belong to somebody important? was it purchased together on a special day?)

In all cases, one simple thing becomes clear about rings: the value of rings is based on what it represent, not what it does. And being able to walk around with an item of great value wrapped around your finger at all times is admittedly pretty awesome.