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| Diamond jewelry has become the go-to gift for Valentine's Day |
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Valentine's Day was established in 500 CE in honor of Saint Valentine and has been associated with romantic love since Geoffrey Chaucer's time. Celebrated on February 14, the holiday is still a popular festival of love and romance that couples – or people hoping to be part of a couple – mark with presents of chocolates, flowers, and jewelry.
On Valentine's Day in 1400, a High Court of Love was founded in Paris to address issues of love contracts and betrayals. Women selected court judges on the basis of poetry reading, a theme that lives on today in the form of rhyming greeting cards – which were first mass-produced in England in the early 19th century.
By the second half of the 20th century, the holiday in the US had expanded far beyond paper valentines to include all sorts of gifts, with an emphasis on romantic presents like flowers and chocolates – which candy manufacturers package in heart-shaped red and pink boxes.
The success of other gifts prompted the jewelry and diamond industries to set their sights on Valentine's Day. What better way to express a lasting love than to present the object of one's affections with a diamond necklace – or, even better, a diamond engagement ring? (It should be noted that US courts have ruled that rings presented on Valentine's Day can be seen as holiday gifts and do not have to be returned if the engagement in broken off.)
Valentine's Day marketing proved so successful that the holiday is now one of the major events on the retail jewelry calendar. While diamonds, especially in rings, sell particularly well, jewelry companies put out Valentine's Day collections to fit every price point, featuring popular Valentine's themes – hearts, arrows, cupids, and keys (as in giving one the key to one's heart.)
Valentine's Day jewelry comes in a range of styles, from contemporary to traditional, and materials – from inexpensive metals to top-end precious metals set with diamonds and colored gemstones.
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