Popular lore explains that, at that time, servants first began to create rings from the cutlery. The servants couldn't afford to buy 'proper' engagement rings when they wanted to get married. Instead, the legend goes, they would steal a flatware piece from their master's home, and shape it into a ring to give their beloved for a marriage proposal. Thus, the earliest spoon rings served as symbols of love and commitment, in defiance of strict social and economic barriers.