The Amish & Rings (Video)

I wrote about instances of Amish women wearing rings back in October, sharing two photos taken by Jim Halverson. Amish generally don’t wear jewelry, but there are exceptions.

I cover the topic again in the video below, which includes some additional commentary from Jim, as well as reader Andy Weaver, on the matter. After the original post, Jim added this info, on a visit to a Swartzentruber Amish family in Michigan:

In October we stopped and visited for a short time. After we left, my wife said one of the girls (probably in her 20’s) was wearing a ring. I didn’t even notice that. But yesterday, I did notice one on the daughter-in-law I was talking to. She was probably in her 30’s.

I asked about the ring and she said they sometimes wear rings. It’s not a wedding ring or one worn for health reasons. It appears that some of the Swartzentruber women in the area wear rings for no particular reason.

Andy Weaver added this interesting anecdote on the original post:

I grew up in a Swartzentruber Amish setting. Copper rings amongst the youth were very common in our circles. We did not view “finger rings” (as we called them) as jewelry. Even though that is the real reason we wore them.

I remember us boys polishing our rings during church services by rubbing them against our rubber shoe soles. . Some families didn’t allow them. But I don’t remember the issue ever being a controversial one.

Watch below or check the link at top if you missed it the first time and prefer to read about it. Runtime: 4:00.

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    One Comment

    1. RomainS.

      Here in Alsace

      Here in Alsace, among the Mennonites, people over 70 (whose grandparents were still Amish) do not wear jewelry either. But I know some ladies in their 60s who wear very discreet earrings but no necklaces or bracelets. Among the younger ones, it is shared, we start to see larger earrings and exceptionally a ring. But on the whole the Amish heritage still remains. On the other hand, the wearing of the wedding ring is widespread.
      Erik, you probably didn’t see two e-mails I sent you on December 15th and November 5th… 🙂