Diamond Anniversary: Celebrating Eternal Love

Anniversaries are important milestones in a relationship. They allow us to celebrate all that we’ve been through with our partners while also reaffirming our commitment to our future together. There are many different ways to celebrate an anniversary: a night on the town, a romantic weekend getaway, or even just a quiet evening at home. 

Anniversary gifts are another way of showing our affection to one another on anniversaries, and jewelry is a commonly exchanged item. This makes perfect sense. After all, couples are celebrating their wedding day, the day that they first exchanged wedding vows and placed rings on each other's fingers as a symbol of commitment until death do us part. Years later, reliving the memory of that day and all the days since, exchanging anniversary gifts serves as a symbolic way of recreating those first moments of your union and the promises you made.

And what is more representative of the strength, resilience, and beauty of that commitment than a diamond?

In this article, we will explore the art of commemorating anniversaries with diamonds and other symbolic gemstones, exploring the rich tradition behind this practice and the symbolism woven into each precious stone. We’ll also take a look at some of the unique ways people have used carbon-extraction and lab-grown diamonds to further capture some of the most important moments and items from their relationship and transform them into beautiful symbols of love and devotion.

What is the Diamond Anniversary?

While diamonds and other precious gems are common gifts between couples on their anniversary, did you know that there are traditional marriage milestones associated with particular jewelry?

One particular tradition, known as the “diamond anniversary,” marks a rare and remarkable milestone—60 years of marriage. Diamonds have long been associated with enduring love due to their strength, brilliance, and longevity. As the hardest natural substance on earth, diamonds epitomize the unbreakable bond between two people that has stood the test of time for six decades. 

The tradition of wedding anniversary gemstones likely originated in medieval Germany, where husbands crowned their wives with a silver wreath on their 25th wedding anniversary and a gold wreath on the 50th. Over time, anniversary traditions evolved, and the mystery and strength of the diamond came to represent the 60th milestone. 

Other Traditional Anniversary Gifts

While diamonds mark the 60th anniversary, other gemstones, materials, and gifts have traditionally held symbolic meaning for a variety of major relationship milestones:

15th Anniversary: Crystal

Crystal is chosen for its clarity and brilliance, symbolizing the transparency, sparkle, and delicate dignity of a fifteen-year relationship.

20th Anniversary: China

China is associated with delicacy and refinement, symbolizing the beauty and grace that come with two decades of faithful marriage.

25th Anniversary: Silver

The lustrous sheen of silver represents harmony after a quarter century together. Originally given as a wreath crown to adorn the wife’s head, silver has come to signify that a couple’s love has been refined through time.

30th Anniversary: Pearl

Pearls symbolize wisdom acquired through experience and time, making them a fitting representation of 30 years of marriage.

40th Anniversary: Ruby

For the 40th anniversary, red rubies evoke a depth of passion and vitality of the heart. The fiery glow of a ruby commemorates a flame that continues to burn brightly.

50th Anniversary: Gold

For 50 years of marriage, gold represents a golden jubilee celebration. More precious than silver, gold symbolizes a relationship tested by time. Its radiance and durability mirror the tried and true bonds of marriage.

Why Living Diamonds Are the Perfect Gifts for Wedding Anniversaries

Lab-grown diamonds serve as an eco-friendly alternative to unsustainably mined diamonds. They boast identical optical, chemical, and physical attributes as their mined counterparts, without the ethical issues that often accompany diamonds sourced from around the world. 

A common myth about lab-grown diamonds is that their creation requires carbon from human or pet ashes. However, no cremation is necessary. While ashes are an excellent source of the carbon needed to grow a diamond, there are a variety of other organic and inorganic materials that contain a sufficient amount of carbon as well.

The process of growing diamonds requires a small amount of carbon to provide the foundational atomic structure. This carbon gets subjected to intense heat and pressure that mimics conditions beneath the earth’s surface. After complex chemical reactions, the carbon atoms crystallize into diamonds.

While the physical properties of lab-grown diamonds are identical to mined diamonds, the materials used to create them can hold so much more significance. The selection of the source materials can add additional layers of personal meaning that can make these unique diamonds an even more powerful and individualized symbol of one’s love and commitment over the years.

Lab-Grown Anniversary Diamonds from Personal Materials

Clothing with Sentimental Value

Certain pieces of clothing can hold a lifetime of memories. For example, fabric from a couple’s wedding attire can be used to grow a diamond that is infused with the euphoria of their special day. Or perhaps fibers from well-worn pajamas or robes that invoke tender moments spent over a 60-year marriage. Diamonds made from such special and intimate clothing capture the depth and texture of a life built together.

Meaningful Paper Items

Everything from love letters to diary pages to concert tickets from a first date can be turned into diamonds. Transforming cherished paper goods like these special photographs, postcards, or drawings injects a relationship’s history into the diamond being created. Whether symbolizing early courtship or recent adventures, paper-sourced diamonds reminisce on romantic memories.

Natural Materials 

Organic elements like rose petals, leaves, or bouquets honor a marriage’s timeline. Special plants, cherished trees, and beautiful flowers signify growth, celebration, and the cycles of life. The botanicals that accrue personal meaning over years of holidays, anniversaries, or time spent nurturing a garden together get preserved within dazzling diamonds, commemorating a lifetime of special moments together.

The Hair of a Loved One

Of all organic source materials, hair from a loved one enables the creation of the most intimate custom diamonds. Hair’s continual growth serves as a timeline, documenting life’s seasons. Transforming locks clipped over time into a brilliant gem eternalizes a couple’s journey from first kiss to final caress. Beyond the memories they preserve and represent, hair diamonds also conserve traces of your partner’s DNA in an everlasting stone.

The Symbolic Power of Lab-Grown Diamonds

Lab-grown diamonds hold symbolic meaning extending beyond the source materials used to create them. As engineered gems, they represent humankind’s power to reshape the future for the better without relying on outdated and often exploitive practices. Lab-grown diamonds forego the negative environmental and ethical impacts associated with mined diamonds. Their sustainable and compassionate origins only add to their symbolic value.

Living diamonds transcend the bounds of time through innovative growth processes that take mere months in a lab instead of eons beneath the ground. They crystallize enduring passion using modern alchemy, infusing the personal with the celestial. In addition, their eco-conscious and conflict-free origins represent a commitment to the natural world. By opting not to tear open the earth in search of diamonds, couples contribute to a sustainable planet so future generations might also enjoy the beauty of nature—and love.

The Test of Time

Diamond anniversaries testify to lifelong commitment between partners. The gifted diamonds hold within them personal tales of love, life, and endurance. Custom-crafted from resonant source materials, these diamonds infuse a sacred relationship into dazzling gems bursting with significance. As innovative symbols of sustainable values and responsible living, they light the way towards a future where ethics matter but romance still reigns.

So, whether you have six brilliant decades of partnership to celebrate or you just want to create something special for whatever time you’ve spent committed to one another, consider commemorating your next anniversary with a beautiful living diamond from Eterneva. Let our innovative craftsmanship entwine your singular stories into a brilliant and unique stone, encapsulating your love’s endurance for all time.

Get Started

Congratulations on reaching a remarkable milestone! Our team is always engaged and ready to support you with any questions you might have regarding our process as well as to help you plan your perfect eternal diamond. If you're planning to gift an Eterneva Diamond for an upcoming 60th anniversary, please keep in mind that this is a bespoke process filled with exciting updates takes that twelve months to complete. Get in touch with an Eterneva Team Member today (info@eterneva.com), or order your interactive Welcome Kit to begin an incredible journey of reflection and joy.