Engagement Ring Finger

Engagement Ring Finger: A Matter of Faith and Tradition

Many young lovers must be wondering exactly which finger makes for the best engagement ring finger and the choice in general usually boils down to the fourth finger on their left hand which is very convenient and thus is most often chosen to hold the engagement ring. In fact, in Western cultures the engagement ring finger will almost always be the fourth finger on a person's left hand since it has always been a tradition for this finger to hold both the wedding and engagement ring.

Love, Devotion and Surrender

The importance of the engagement ring finger lies in its ability to convey to the partner a commitment of undying love, devotion and surrender. It also means that if an outsider views another sporting a ring on the engagement ring finger, and then that person is not available for love.

In addition, the fourth finger on a person's left finger is supposed to be one in which veins connect straight to the person's heart and thus both tradition and etiquette require that this finger be chosen for holding the engagement ring.

However, the fourth finger is usually considered the engagement ring finger mostly in countries such as the United Kingdom and also in the United States. In other countries including France, Spain and Germany the engagement ring finger is generally one of the fingers (fourth) on the right hand. It has always been an ancient custom in these European countries where the left hand was meant to signify negativity while the right hand is associated with positivity and thus the engagement ring finger in European countries is the finger of choice on the right hand.

In fact, the particular hand chosen to hold the engagement ring is also dependent on various religions such as for Jewish couples, the custom is to wear the engagement ring on the left hand especially after the wedding has been solemnized, while in the Greek Orthodox Church, the custom is to use the right hand.

In any case, once you are sure about which finger, on which hand is to serve as the engagement ring finger, you must then find out how to find a ring of the right size for this finger. When you visit a jeweler you will find that they keep a ring size chart as well as have tools with which determine the proper size of the engagement ring. In any case, you should choose the size that is on the larger size rather than on the small size since it is possible to resize a larger ring than do anything about a small ring.