Half of what everyone "knows" about jewelry was written by a copywriter, a trade association or a 17th-century lawyer. The other half came from someone's aunt.
We love a good story. We just like knowing where it came from. Six myths, six receipts.
Myth 1: Your ring finger has a vein that runs straight to your heart
Lovely idea. The phrase "vena amoris," the vein of love, first turns up in a marriage-law treatise by the English lawyer Henry Swinburne, published in 1686. He was passing along a much older claim: the Roman writer Macrobius had described a nerve running from the heart to that finger.
The anatomy doesn't hold up. In the 17th century William Harvey showed how blood circulates, and every vein leads back to the heart, including the ones in your thumb.
So wear a ring on your ring finger because you want to. Your pinky is just as connected.
Myth 2: "A Diamond Is Forever" is ancient wisdom
It's a tagline. A copywriter named Frances Gerety wrote it in 1947 at the ad agency N.W. Ayer, for De Beers, and Advertising Age later named it the best slogan of the 20th century.
Diamonds are beautiful, and we'd never talk you out of one. But the line that made a diamond feel mandatory is younger than your grandmother. The ring you love doesn't need a slogan's permission.
Myth 3: Birthstones go back thousands of years
The chart in the mall display case was approved at a jewelers' trade meeting in 1912, and it has picked up new stones as recently as 2016. (We told the whole story here.) Wear the color you actually love. Pistachio, a light green crystal on a swooping gold band, doesn't check your birthday first.
Half of what everyone "knows" about jewelry was written by a copywriter.
Myth 4: If it tarnishes, it's fake
Backwards. Sterling silver is 92.5% silver, usually alloyed with copper, according to GIA. Tarnish is mostly silver sulfide, which forms when sulfur compounds in the air react with the silver, as Canada's Conservation Institute explains. Tarnish is real silver doing what real silver does.
What you can do is slow it down. GIA notes that rhodium-plated sterling is less likely to tarnish, which is why our sterling silver rings, like Galaxy with its clusters of star-shaped crystals, are finished in rhodium, like fine white gold. Store silver dry, and wipe it with a soft cloth.
Myth 5: Plated means cheap
Thin plating means cheap. Plating doesn't.
The FTC's floor for "gold plated" is 0.175 microns, and typical jewelry plating starts around half a micron, per a World Gold Council technical paper. Same two words, a very wide range. The thinnest end is where the bad reputation comes from.
Plating is also where some of the biggest names are heading. As silver prices more than doubled in 2025, one of the best-known names in silver charm jewelry launched platinum-plated versions of its bestsellers.
The real question is how much. Our Heavy Gold+ rings carry 2.5 microns of 18K gold, comparable to vermeil-level thickness, over a silver barrier and under a clear seal. Vermillion, a deep red heart on a slim gold band, is $69 and has every one of those microns.
Myth 6: If it says "gold," it's solid gold
It's supposed to be. Under the FTC's Jewelry Guides, the word "gold" with nothing in front of it means solid 24K gold. Everything else needs a qualifier: a karat ("14K"), a construction ("18K gold plated," "gold filled") or "vermeil," which means gold over sterling silver.
So read the words around "gold." That's where the actual product is described.
Keep the romance
None of this makes jewelry less romantic. A ring you chose because you love it, on whatever finger you like, in whatever color you were born to wear, is a better story than any of the six above.
Love the legend. Buy on the facts.
Shop rings with nothing to hide.
Shop the story
Pistachio Ring
Galaxy Sterling Silver Ring
VermillionQuestions about jewelry myths
Is there really a vein from the ring finger to the heart?
No. The "vena amoris" idea comes from a 1686 English treatise repeating an ancient claim. Veins from every finger return blood to the heart, so the ring finger isn't special.
When was the birthstone list created?
The modern birthstone list was created in 1912 by a US jewelers' trade association, now Jewelers of America. It has been updated several times since, most recently with spinel for August in 2016.
Does real sterling silver tarnish?
Yes. Sterling is 92.5% silver, usually alloyed with copper, and silver reacts with sulfur in the air to form tarnish. A rhodium finish, like the one on Oomiay's sterling rings, makes it less likely.
Is gold-plated jewelry worth it?
It depends on the thickness. Very thin "flash" plating wears quickly, while heavier plating lasts much longer. Oomiay's Heavy Gold+ rings carry 2.5 microns of 18K gold over a silver barrier.
Wink Ring
Spell Ring
Gold Double Hoop Dangle Earrings
Gold Star Bezel Tennis Necklace