Every girl dreams of a perfect wedding with a stunning ring, an exquisite dress, bridesmaids dressed in matching gowns, with a gorgeous bouquet of roses, and all this jazz. At least, this is the picture of a stereotype wedding that glamorous magazines and romantic movies have been planted for decades. However, real life is different from popular culture. Diamonds, despite being a girl’s best friends, are not always a pleasant surprise for extraordinary ladies. Some prefer more provocative, outrageous, and startling jewelry, even when it comes to engagement rings. Maybe it’s time to drop prejudice and set foot on the uncharted territory of skull jewelry for wedding?
History of Skull Wedding Rings
Are you sure that skull wedding rings are an invention of this day and age? If you think so, you couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, the tradition to decorate wedding and engagement rings with skulls and skeletons is several centuries old. The 17th century created fashion for so-called memento mori rings. These are rings with various engravings in Latin as well as death images called to remind a wearer that humans are mortal. With time, memento mori rings and the death symbolism they carried influenced wedding bands. When exchanging such wedding rings, spouses kept a promise to be loyal, humble, and devoted in the face of death that cannot be avoided.
At the same time period, fashionistas flaunted so-called gimmel rings. Such designs consisted of 2 or 3 bands joined together. They symbolized that each ring is individual but when they are together, they make a whole new meaning. These intricate jewelry pieces featured an element of memento mori as well. Among the most popular designs were images of a skeleton and a baby as symbols of life and death, as well as eternal life in the other world.
What Does a Skull Mean at All?
Whether it is a wedding or a regular ring, a skull signifies a lot of things, sometimes even the opposite ones. In many ancient cultures, a skull is associated with death. For ancient people, death wasn’t the end, it was the start of something new. The end of life in this world meant a beginning in the afterlife. Life can’t exist without death, they go hand in hand and are inseparable. Therefore, the concept of life, especially eternal life, is closely tied with the concept of death.
In the ancient world, death wasn’t something unusual and frightening. Now we can live to 100 years old but thousands of years ago, a 30-year-old man was considered an elder. People saw death every day and were not afraid of it. On the contrary, they revered it and pleaded it for help during all kinds of rituals. At first, skull ornaments were ritual attributes but later they spread to regular jewelry. Thus, the image of a skull entered into everyday life.
Besides associations with death and life, a skull has many other meanings. Since our knowledge, mind, and conscious are stored in the brain, and the brain is accommodated in a brainpan, a skull was given the importance of a vessel of wisdom and intelligence.
According to the Mexican tradition, a skull is one of the symbols of the death goddess Santa Muerte. She looks like a beautiful young girl with a flower crown on her head and a skull for her face. Beauty, youth, and integrity are some of the unexpected yet truthful interpretations of skulls. Every girl, especially a bride, wants to be irresistible on her wedding day, therefore an exquisitely made skull ring will become a symbol of her beauty and charm.
Who will be Crazy about a Skull Engagement Ring
A skull ring is not for everybody. If your bride-to-be enjoys popular culture, she follows popular ‘Instagram-inspired’ trends, and she likes mainstream stuff, them skull jewelry for the special day is probably not for her.
On the other hand, if your loved one sticks to informal clothing style, she can’t imagine her life without tattoos and rock’n’roll, and she already has some trinkets adorned with skulls, a skull engagement ring will really hit the spot. Skull jewelry is extremely popular among Goths and bikers, so if your girlfriend gravitates towards these aesthetics, your engagement ring will make a splash.
Skull Engagement Ring Designs
Paying tribute to Gothic, fashion designers create skull wedding rings in the monochrome color palette. Normally, they are made of silver, platinum, white gold or rhodium-plated gold. For a more dramatic effect, rings may carry contrasting elements such as blackened engraving, enamel, or black stone inlays.
Speaking of inlays, there could be diamonds or other clear stones (such as topaz, crystals, or CZ stones), white stones (pearls, corals, moonstones, etc.) or black stones (onyx or black pearls). Along with that, Gothic designs often blend a pop of color to add an eye-catching detail. It can be introduced with colorful stones (for instance, with red rubies or garnets) or enamel.
A skull is not necessarily the main hero of skull wedding rings. It may side by side with common wedding symbols such as hearts, wings, cupids, holding hands, as well as vows and commemorative inscriptions.
