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Vintage diamond engagement rings are typically solitaire diamond rings still trendy today only placed in settings designed and fashioned in past eras. Today’s rings do not have the historical value or uniqueness captured by vintage rings. Much of today’s jewelry is machine produced in large quantities while older eras hand crafting the rings dramatically reduced the redundancy. Even today’s most expensive rings have hundreds if not thousands of identical twins. As trends come and go these vintage diamond engagement rings will become even rarer as some rings will ultimately get melted down to make new jewelry.

Over the years the eras have changed allowing a variety of ring styles. Thankfully, a fair number of these designs have are making a come back in today’s rings. Some of the more recent and popular eras include 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. As the clothing styles become more flexible, light, and lacy so did the jewelry styles follow. The increased wealth allowed platinum to grow in popularity and platinum’s strength allowed for tiny prongs making setting nearly invisible. The improved prosperity allowed platinum to increase in popularity while platinum’s strength permitted smaller prongs giving setting an invisible look. Popular gems included pearls, diamonds, and amethyst.

Art Nouveau / Art Deco Eras 1895 to 1935 – Although these two are actually two different eras, vintage diamond engagement rings from these two eras are often grouped together. They both started as a result of major society changing events. This was the Industrial Revolution for Art Nouveau and World War I for Art Deco. Basically these two styles can be summed up, and differentiated, by a few simple concepts. For Art Nouveau the vintage rings will include natural styles mimicking flowers and insects while the Art Deco style is based more on geometry and symmetry giving a more streamlined look.

Retro, Vintage 1930s-1980s – This is the era where you will find the largest number of vintage diamond engagement rings. Although diamonds were somewhat “out” during this era it is the most recent vintage era. World War II, as with many materials, 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 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. Owning an antique ring can bring that history to life. To learn more more about or to see a collection of Vintage Diamond Engagement Rings please visit OldEraRings.com. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service