The traditional 10 year anniversary gift is tin or aluminum, and the modern alternative is diamond jewelry. British lists give tin alone. No other year has a wider gap between its two lists, from one of the cheapest metals to the most prized of gems, and that gap leaves room for almost any gift you have in mind for a first full decade.
What is the 10 year anniversary gift?
| List | 10th anniversary gift |
|---|---|
| Traditional (US) | Tin or aluminum |
| Modern (US) | Diamond jewelry |
| British | Tin |
Aluminum is an American addition; Debrett's and older British lists give tin only. In British spelling the metal is aluminium.
Pick a year in the tool to compare the lists and see ideas at three price levels.
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Why is tin the tenth anniversary gift?
The tin wedding is one of the oldest entries on the list. According to TIME, an American almanac of 1859 gave paper for one year, wood for five, tin for ten, silver for twenty-five and gold for fifty. In Britain, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable recorded in 1895 that "the 10th anniversary is called the Tin wedding."
Emily Post kept it in the eight anniversaries she listed in Etiquette in 1922, and she was frank about it: paper, wooden and tin wedding presents "are seldom anything but jokes." Crystal, at fifteen years, was in her view the first gift likely to be taken seriously. So the humble material is no accident. A tenth-anniversary present was meant to be light-hearted.
The usual explanation today is that tin is pliable and does not rust, like a marriage that has learned to bend without breaking. That reading is modern. The old logic is simply a scale: the longer the marriage, the more precious the gift.
Why is the modern gift diamond jewelry?
The list usually printed as the modern one grew out of work by American jewelers. TIME reports that the American National Retail Jewelers Association discussed adding to the common anniversaries at a meeting in 1922, where one member pointed out that wooden and tin anniversaries came far ahead of golden ones. The uniform list the trade produced over the following years put heavy emphasis on precious stones and metals; 1937 is the date usually given for it.
Diamond jewelry at ten years is the clearest result. It replaced a joke gift with the most valuable one, and it is fair to know that when you choose between the lists. The traditional name "diamond wedding" still belongs to the sixtieth anniversary, or in Post's list the seventy-fifth.
Gift ideas by budget
Prices vary too much to list, so these are grouped by level.
Budget-friendly
- A tin filled with ten handwritten notes, one for each year.
- A vintage-style tin of their favorite tea, coffee or cookies.
- A tin or aluminum key ring, bookmark or wallet card, stamped with a date.
- A tin sign for the kitchen, garage or garden.
Mid-range
- A photo printed on an aluminum panel, which gives sharp color and lasts.
- An engraved flask, a hammered tin cup or a keepsake box.
- A tin lantern or a set of tin candle holders.
- Small diamond studs or a slim band with a single small stone.
Splurge
- A diamond pendant, a pair of earrings or an anniversary band.
- A watch, a bicycle, a laptop or a camera with an aluminum case or frame, for the spouse who would rather have equipment than jewelry.
- A ten-day trip, one day for each year.
If you are buying a diamond, ask for a grading report from an independent laboratory, and ask whether the stone is natural or laboratory-grown. Both are real diamonds; the seller should tell you which you are getting.
Ideas for her, for him and for the two of you
- For her: a diamond-accented ring to stack beside her wedding band, an aluminum print of a favorite photo, a tin of letters, or the bike she has been looking at.
- For him: a watch, an engraved tin or aluminum case for cards, a band with a small inset diamond, or a set of aluminum camping gear and a trip to use it.
- For the two of you: new rings, a vow renewal with the people who were at the wedding, or a time capsule in a tin, to open at twenty years.
If neither tin nor diamonds suit them
- Another gem. A diamond is not required. A colored stone with meaning for the two of you, such as a birthstone, does the same job.
- Silver-colored anything. Tin and aluminum are both pale gray metals, and a gift in that color nods to the theme.
- An experience. Ten years is a milestone worth a party or a journey.
The Gemological Institute of America lists diamond as the tenth-anniversary gem, while noting that no single authoritative list exists. Diamond is also the April birthstone; our guide to diamond explains color, clarity and care.
What to write in a tenth anniversary card
Three short examples to adapt:
- "Ten years. We have bent a few times and never broken. Happy anniversary."
- "A decade of you, and I would not trade one day of it."
- "Ten down. Tin now, gold later. I'm staying for all of it."
Before this came pottery, for the ninth anniversary; next is steel, for the eleventh, and the next of the old milestones is crystal, at fifteen years. The whole chart is in gifts for every anniversary year.