The earliest Valentines were simple ones. In America around 1760, it became the custom to give prettily written and decorated letters to one's sweetheart, instead of an expensive present. The suitor spent his free time designing and painting endless knots of love. The verses were usually composed by the young suitor. By the 1840's the manufactured or printed Valentine had gradually replaced the handmade ones. The design for the Lover's Knot or Endless Knot of Love is a very popular one. It required that the suitor use careful, minute handwriting, scrollwork decoration, watercolor illumination, and endless messages of love twisting around every loop of a labyrinth. It doesn't matter where the reader starts because the loving, tender thought meanders around and around, never ending.

These love knots were primarily an expression of love; however, they were also used as proposals of marriage. The suitor would deliver the love knot to his sweetheart's doorstep. If she accepted his proposal of marriage, she kept the love knot. If per chance she rejected him, she returned the love knot to him. These pretty crystal knots are reminiscent of the Lover's Knot. About 3/4 of an inch in diameter, you may use them to accent your hairstyle and reaffirm your endless love. They come in a set of six.
Lover's Knot , No. N053 | Price: $49.00