Where did the puzzle ring originate? Who was the first to create these playful little finger puzzles? The answer to these questions is a puzzle unto itself. Although the true origin of the puzzle ring is not known, there are various beliefs as to where it came from. Some say it was the ancient Egyptians who were the first to craft the puzzle ring. Others believe that the puzzle ring was first designed in China over 2000 years ago and then slowly made its way to the lands of Anatolia, now Turkey.

Some believe that originally puzzle rings were used as wedding bands that Arabic chieftains and Sheiks gave to their wives to ensure fidelity. The stories go that the men would not tell their wives the solutions to the puzzle rings and so, if the wife decided to be unfaithful and took her puzzle ring off it would fall apart – and not knowing how to reassemble the puzzle ring, the husband would discover the wife’s infidelity.

It is also said that the puzzle ring is not a Turkish wedding ring; rather, the belief is that it is given as a gift by the father of the bride to the groom on the day he is to be married, which is supposed to calm the groom’s excitement by keeping him busy until the evening trying to reassemble the puzzle ring.

In Europe, puzzle rings were used for weddings and called Gimmal rings (from the Latin ‘gemelli’ – twins) – divisible but not separable. Around 1600, two clasped hands were added to the puzzle ring for the faith, to these symbols was added the heart.

Another theory as to where the puzzle ring came from is that during the Renaissance period, people used puzzle rings as ‘memory rings’ and wore them with one or more bands loose – as a reminder of a task to be done. Others say the puzzle rings were made by the Turkish people so the US military troops would buy them and send them home to their loved ones.

Many beliefs have surfaced as to where the puzzle ring came from but the true origin remains a mystery. We may not know where the puzzle ring originated, but what we do know is that the puzzle ring is an elegant piece of jewellery that was created by innovative jewellery designers somewhere back in the history of time.