There is a modern belief that in early colonial New England, where Puritans shunned ornaments and jewels, a thimble substituted for both engagement ring and wedding ring; and some women would remove the tops of the thimble in order to create a ring [REF].
During the Age of Enlightenment both the gimmal rings and posie rings were popular, although the latter was more often used as an expression of sentiment than to indicate a formal engagement [REF].