When it comes to fashion and jewellery between the 1920s and 1960s we usually think of Vintage, yet this term is used quite generally and is somewhat non specific. After all, Vintage includes the flapper styles of the 20s and 30s, the war time fashion of the 40s and the Rockabilly style of the 50s. For jewellery, the best term to use in describing engagement rings from the mid 20s to the late 30s is ‘Art Deco’; an artistic movement which covered architecture, design, fashion and film as well.
For interior design art deco meant geometric shapes, bold squares, semi circles and triangles. For buildings art deco means sweeping smoothed corners, pointed ceilings and elaborately bordered doorways. For jewellery however, and more specifically the engagement ring, art deco meant delicate understatement and classic silver and diamond designs. Usually set on a plain, thin silver (although often a platinum or white gold too) band it wasn’t uncommon to see multiple colourless stones set into the metal (whether diamond or not), serving as a frame for modest 1 or possibly 2 carat diamond. These stones weren’t, as a rule, either circular or square, but the smaller stones coming off of the central stone were typically laid out in an oval shape and made to look as if they were twisting on a ribbon. Alternatively these surrounding stones were square and tiered.
Art deco rings can be found in just about any jewellery store which sells older pieces today. This is advantageous to the buyer as it’s likely that the ring has already been valued by a gemologist or jewellery expert and the price details etc. will already be available for setting up insurance. Alternatively, art deco engagement rings can also be purchased online for customers to customise the ring. Some websites offer the chance to buy the ring band and stones separately and to have them set after purchase to get some variation in style. After all, no two brides are the same and a ring is an incredibly personal sentiment that has to be perfect.
Art deco engagement rings radiate a classic style which matches pretty much any clothing style and will go with almost any other type of jewellery worn with it. It’s not difficult to find a wedding ring that matches an art deco engagement ring and that is one of the main reasons why this style of ring is still so popular 70 years on from when the style first became popular.