Only 1 more day until Valentine's Day so don't delay, come visit Alter's Gems at 3155 Dowlen Road, Beaumont, Texas. We're open Monday through Saturday from 10 am until 6 pm. Here is a brief history about valentine's day, in case you thought it was just an idea thought up by corporate America to get you to spend money. While the history is debatable, but that's what makes it interesting. One of the primary theories of where Valentine's Day came from is that the ancient Catholic church wanted to replace a pagan holiday, that of Lupercalia. This was a spring festival of cleansing, likely to have predated the Roman Empire, that was to get rid of evil spirits and held typically between February 12-15^th. This is believed to derive from the Roman god, Lupercus, an anthropomorphic wolf creature and is associated with the Greek god Faun. Ironically, given the European tales of devious wolves and sheep, Lupercus was a god of shepherds. Through history the festive rites progressed, until about the late Republic of Rome in which they climaxed with sacrificing two goats and a dog on the alter, men wearing the skins of goats, running around the city walls, and lashing young women and girls to ensure fertility, aid them in childbirth and prevent sterility. Later the Roman Catholic Church was convinced that young women's names wold be drawn by lot to be selected for young men. The following point has been debated by researchers, but a popular theory, regardless of the particulars of the festival, is the Roman Church-- at the direction of Pope Gelasius in 496 A.D. declared February 14^th to be St. Valentine's Day in order to replace the festival of Lupercalia. Now the dedication to St. Valentine's Day has permeated our western culture and is unlikely to stop in the next century. Starting in grade school with the dramatic Valentine card exchange and the barely edible yet ever popular box of heart-shaped message candy and for those who are a bit older with some disposable income, exchanging jewelry, chocolate, flowers and other gifts demonstrating love. Don't worry, as near as we can tell, there isn't any law written that you have to propose on Valentine's Day, so if you're not ready to pop the question, but still want to show her how much she means to you, consider the very impressive Hearts on Fire collection. What makes an HOF diamond special (and a registered trademark)? A true HOF diamond will only be round or square cut and will demonstrate perfect symetry that can be seen as a ring of 8 perfect hearts on the bottom and a symmetrical Fireburst® on top as seen clearly in this engagement ring from the Lorelei collection.

We just wanted to show you that so you could see what makes the HOF diamond different, but like we said, this holiday isn't all about engagements. Here are some other unique and stunning designs, first from the Lorelei collection...

… then from the Copley Collection, which was inspired by the Italian designers first few weeks in Boston. This set is yellow gold and platinum combined for an exquisite two-toned art deco feel.

However, if you are ready to propose marriage then Alter's Gems has several variations on the classic diamond bridal set. For example, the three stone diamond ring represents the past, present and future that you have together.

To really get a feel for our engagement ring selection visit us in person and we'll be able to educate you on your diamond purchase that will give you peace of mind. We hope to see you soon, especially to help you pick out the Valentine's Day gift since there isn't a lot of time left, so don't dilly-dally!