_The Diamond Ring: The Engagement Ring_ The engagement ring is, in all probability, a young woman’s first important ring. There is, for this, hardly any choice other than a diamond. The gem, however, may be variously set. Usually it is a single stone, the solitaire, in a plain band of gold or platinum. The diamond may be brilliant cut; this is conservative but in impeccable taste. It should be set in thin high prongs of the chosen metal, so as to give fullest play to the light from all its facets and to take full advantage of its irradiating brilliance. Among other cuts that are favored for the engagement diamond are the square, the emerald, and the pear-shaped. For shorter or thicker fingers, a highly effective cut is the marquise. This cut is named in honor of the Marquise de Montespan, an elegant, beautiful and sensible woman who was mistress of Louis XIV. Aware of the somewhat short length of her fingers, she ordered the crown jeweler to have her ring diamonds cut in the form of an oval pointed at both ends. Because it resembles a boat, this cut is sometimes called the navette, but now more often the marquise. Making the fingers seem longer and more slender, it at once became a popular diamond style. When testing the appearance of a stone on the finger, it is well to look at a marquise-cut diamond. While the solitaire is still the most popular engagement ring, there is a youthful jauntiness in combinations of diamonds which has made the use of several stones a current vogue. Almost any newly betrothed maiden would feel keenly disappointed if the ring did not have as its center stone the large solitaire. But this may be pleasantly flanked by smaller stones of different cut, such as two baguettes lying close along the band. _The Wedding Ring_ The obvious symbolism of the wedding ring, as it is often told today, marks the subjection of the woman to the will of the man, her pledge to continue to love, honor _and obey_. Some supposed thinkers in the field of folklore go farther, and tell us that the ring is placed on the left, the inferior, hand to denote that the woman is “inferior.” These ideas are manifestly advanced by men. Two facts at once put them out of joint. In the first place, the wedding ring for long periods of time was worn on the right hand. In the second place, for equally long periods of time, both bride and groom had a ring put on in mutual bondage.