On the 14th, couples all across the globe will celebrate Valentine's Day. Some give gifts of candy, cards, jewellery - or perhaps a fancy dinner out on the town (or at home, as the case may still be for many world territories!) But did you know Valentine's Day has had a long, historical road to get where it is today?

According to History.com, some 'trace Valentine’s Day origins to a Christian effort to replace a pagan fertility festival that has been dated as far back as the 6th century B.C...During the festival of Lupercalia, Roman priests [would instruct] women [to] put their names in an urn and be selected to be paired with a man for a year.'

Well, that certainly bears little resemblance to how we know Valentine's Day now! Many holiday traditions we now celebrate in the West have taken on a whole new life in the centuries since their original inception.

Maybe you've wondered, as we did, how something like the tradition of giving our loved ones chocolates for Valentine's came to be?

'The Valentine’s Day tradition of giving a box of candy was started in the 19th century by Richard Cadbury, a scion of a British chocolate manufacturing family. With a new technique recently established at the company to create more varieties of chocolate, Cadbury pounced on the opportunity to sell the chocolates as part of the beloved holiday.' (History.com)

And of course, it isn't just chocolates handed out this time of year - you can add flowers, gift certificates, and for that really special someone...jewellery.

No better time to remind that Lark & Berry is getting into the spirit this year with our Valentine's Gifting Sets. Right now, you can create a gift set of two or more fine jewellery items for your loved one and receive 15% off the whole set - plus, you'll get a free fragrance! (Fragrance can only be sent to UK and USA customers).

There's over 70 items to choose from here, featuring pieces from several of our award winning cultured diamonds jewellery collections (also known as lab grown diamonds, grown diamonds, created diamonds or man made diamonds).

Here are just a few of the included items, and click here for the whole collection:

Alicia Burnt Orange Sapphire Lariat Necklace

Blue Dune Charm Necklace

Clean Cool Cultured Hinged Bangle

Dune Diamond Hoops

Veto Sapphire Small Hoops 10mm (Pair)

Veto Multi-Coloured Elongated Earrings

What would Valentine's Day be without Cupid firing arrows of love into us, his unsuspecting victims?

Did you know that Cupid actually began his legend as a Greek God? This, from History.com:

'The chubby baby with wings and a bow and arrow that we call Cupid has been associated with Valentine’s Day for centuries. However, before he was renamed Cupid, he was known to the ancient Greeks as Eros, the god of love. Eros, the son of Greek goddess Aphrodite, would use two sets of arrows—one for love and another for hate—to play with the emotions of his targets. It wasn’t until stories of his mischief were told by Romans that he adopted the childlike appearance that we recognize today.'

Hope you enjoyed this Valentine's history lesson! We're all still in a tough time where if you have a significant other, it's hard to go out and celebrate this year. And if you don't, it could be because it's been hard to meet people! But we love Gifting ourselves, too, and you should consider it - you deserve it for hanging in there with the rest of us!