What is a promissory ring

When a couple becomes engaged to get married to each other, they often exchange engagement rings. These rings signify a kind of promise to spend the life together and also display love and loyalty to each other. Very often an engagement is interchangeably referred to with a promissory ring. But the promissory ring is different from an engagement ring. Here are a few characteristics of a promissory ring which make it different from an engagement ring.

Firstly, a promissory ring need not always be exchanged between two people who are going to get married sometime in the near or distant future. There are many other relationships which can cause promissory rings to be exchanged. A person can present another friend (even of the same sex) a promissory ring as a promise of lifelong friendship and loyalty. Promissory rings are often given by parents to their children also, to signify a promise to take care of and love the child all his or her life.

There is no rule which dictates so, but it has almost become a norm that an engagement ring has to have a diamond in it. A promissory ring can be less ostentatious, and not even have a diamond in it. They could be made using less costly gemstones, or they could be a simple metal band as well. Many people get their promissory rings made of only metal and put in some pertinent symbol like an infinity symbol.

The metal band of an engagement ring is also usually one of the costliest. Usually only 18k gold or high quality sterling silver are used, and some people also go in for costlier options like platinum. But a promissory ring, on the other hand, can be made with lower quality metals as well. It is the promise and the commitment that is more important, rather than the stone or the metal.