In society today, rings are still an important symbol when it comes to a variety of aspects of life. A person might give or receive a ring for a variety of reasons, man or woman. Rings happen to be one of the most common accessories worn by men and women alike, but not all rings are created equal.

One ring might just be a fashion statement while another might symbolize enduring love, or some other sort of special bond shared between two people. A person might also wear a ring to let others know that they are in a special club or organization.

Below, we go over a few of the most common ring types as well as what they signify.

Commencement Rings

When we graduate from high school or college a commencement ring is a common gift we might receive. People often spend a pretty penny on a high-quality commencement ring, which might give a person some amount of pressure to wear it even though they’ve moved on from the old days.

Rings of Commitment

Another common type of ring are wedding rings, which are meant to symbolize everlasting love. Promise rings and engagement rings are also common, each of which have their own implications. Generally, a promise ring is seen as less official than an engagement ring, which happens to be a little less official than wedding bands, for instance.

Wedding ring sets are also available and often include an engagement ring as well as a wedding band, or other types of combinations meant to give some variety and expanded scope to the traditional ring purchase experience.

Promise and engagement rings are generally seen as rings for women, but there are always exceptions to this societal norm. Anniversary rings are another common type of ring that serve the purpose of reminding that supremely special someone that the love you share is still brand new.

Gemstone Rings

Gemstones are popular and often included on rings. Each gemstone is attributed to a certain month of the year, meaning that anyone who has a birthday has a connection to a specific gemstone, which might result in a person buying and wearing a topaz ring, amethyst rings or other jewelry, or a ruby ring, for instance.

Each gemstone has a particular quality or energy to it as well, which might give a certain character to a ring. Rubies generally signify courage and life force, while garnet is said to give a sense of peace and relieve a person of nightmares. Alexandrite is indicative of intuition and imagination.

Secret Society Rings

Another common type of ring is those that are worn by a special group, like the Freemasons. Many rings out there feature the Freemason symbol and are worn by members of this group, perhaps as a way to let others know you’re in the club.

These types of rings are not simply limited to being mens rings, either. There is actually a historical record of secret societies organized by women as well, including The Order of Women Freemasons, who also wear rings to commemorate their membership.

Silver Rings

Silver is one of the more common choices when it comes to men’s and women’s rings. Most run of the mill silver rings are actually made of stainless steel, which is actually a combination of steel and chromium that ends up fending off tarnishing. Sterling silver is found less commonly and is a silver alloy which contains 92.5% silver and 7.5% of other metals (usually copper).

Platinum Rings

Platinum rings are also pretty common out there and are considered to be made of some of the most precious jewelry materials available on earth. As a result, platinum rings are generally going to be more expensive than, say, silver and gold rings. Platinum rings almost have the same appearance as silver, but with a slightly more mellow color.

Titanium Rings

Titanium rings are another type of popular rings, especially for men.  Titanium is lightweight and super durable, which makes it a comfortable and resilient ring. You can get titanium rings in different colors -- like black titanium rings.

After reading this article, you might start to notice rings more often and look at them differently. Rings can often tell interesting stories about people!