11 Feb 10 Find Distinctiveness and History in Vintage Diamond Engagement Rings
Why go with the old? Many of the vintage diamond engagement rings are the classic solitaire diamond ring still fashionable today except they are placed in beautiful settings designed and produced in past decades. These rings hold historical value and uniqueness that new rings just don’t have. Most of today’s jewelry is mass-produced by machines while vintage rings were commonly hand crafted dramatically reducing their commonality. There are hundreds if not thousands of identical twins of new rings hitching a ride on the hand of humans. As styles change some of these vintage diamond engagement rings will be destroyed for use in new jewelry adding to the uniqueness of those remaining rings.
The past eras have yielded a large selection of vintage ring styles. Thankfully, a fair number of today’s rings are similar in design of the vintage ring styles. The eras covered here will be the Victorian, Edwardian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Retro.
Victorian Era 1837 to 1901 – The Victorian Era provides a large variety of styles, providing a nice selection of unique vintage diamond engagements rings. Named after Queen Victoria of Great Britain this era lasted for over 60 years from 1837 to 1901 and was broken up into the Romantic Period, the Grand Period, and the Aesthetic Period. The Romantic Period styles were a product of the Queen dictating the proper etiquette for which gems use and gold becoming scarce. Methods such as piercing and engraving were used to give the appearance of greater mass with minimal gold. The Grand Period began as a consequence of Victoria’s husband passing away. Vintage rings of this period will have a more serious design with darker stones. The last period, the Aesthetic Period, designs had a more fun style and included dragons, moons, and stars in many designs.
Edwardian Era 1901 to 1910 – Although a short era for vintage diamond engagement rings this era was the beginning of significant changes. Much of these changes were a result of flourishing wealth among the upper and middle class and women moving up in society. Vintage ring styles, along with clothing styles, of this era become lacy, light, and flexible. Platinum became popular and its strength allowed for tiny gem prongs creating an invisible setting. The improved prosperity allowed platinum to increase in popularity while platinum’s strength permitted smaller prongs giving setting an invisible look. Diamonds, pearls, and amethyst become popular along with jewelry with lace style filigree.
Art Nouveau / Art Deco Eras 1895 to 1935 – Vintage diamond engagement rings from these two eras are often grouped together. They both were the result of major society changing events. For Art Nouveau it was the Industrial Revolution and for Art Deco it was World War I. Basically these two styles can be summed up, and differentiated, by a few simple concepts. The vintage rings of Art Nouveau will include natural styles mimicking flowers and insects while geometry and symmetry are more reminiscent of the Art Deco style.
Retro, Vintage 1930s-1980s – This is the era where you will find the largest number of vintage diamond engagement rings. Although diamonds were relatively unpopular during this era it is the most recent vintage era. As for many materials, World War I caused a shortage in precious metals. This caused jewelry to focus on the metal aspect of the ring as opposed to the gem. Yellow and pink, or rose, gold were the two most commonly used metals. When gems were used they were often large less precious bright gems or clusters.
Alan Brenner enjoys learning and writing about history. Vintage era rings help bring history to life. To learn more more about or to see a collection of Vintage Diamond Engagement Rings please visit OldEraRings.com.
Tags: antique jewelry, antique rings, Diamond Vintage Engagement Rings, engagement, Fashion, Vintage Diamond Engagement Rings, Vintage Engagement Ring, Vintage Engagement Rings, vintage jewelry, vintage rings
