The 1920s was the period of Art Deco, and as it was a reaction against very strict, sometimes garish, sometimes overly-flowery Victorian/Edwardian Age, the furniture, art, and even the jewelry of the 1920s sought to make use of a lot of symmetry, geometric designs, and eloquent understatement. The floral motifs and heavy use of curves of the earlier age also gave way to bold colors and drama in the designs.
These ideals made their way into the diamond engagement rings of the 1920s. So did something else: newly discovered technology enabling more work to be done in platinum than ever before. In the 1920s, rings often had a composition of colorful gemstones and a diamond or diamond to embody the drama and the bold coloration the times so loved. Platinum or white gold would be used for the ring itself, to highlight those traits even more. The most popular of these other gemstones were: onyx, emerald, ruby, turquoise, sapphire, and coral.And yet more technological advancement led to some new diamond cuts.
The Marquis Cut is opinion to have been first developed in 18th century France when King Louis Xiv commissioned a new diamond cut shape to mimic his mistress' sexy smile. A marquise stone gives a unique visual illusion: due to its mass being concentrated in its top face facet, the shape often makes it seem to be a larger stone than it well is. This allowed drama to be more affordable.
Emerald Cut stones are one distinction on the step cut--so, the stone's facets appear to the eye like steps carved into the gem. This singular distinction is a long rectangle with just slightly cropped corners. Emerald cut diamonds were oftentimes used in composition with other, colorful gemstones to reflect and offset their reflected and refracted light.
Pear Cut diamonds are also called teardrops or pendeloques, and have one side of the stone being rounded while the other side tapers to a fine point. These were used, and have become very popular in use today, as solitaire diamond ring settings. Any way they were and are also used in knot settings, with the pear cut dwarfing the other stones that surround it.
People who are turning back to the old rings or replicas of the 1920s today want flash with style and a composition of simplicity and sophistication. They may also see their rings as representing better, vanished times when there was no war (for the time being) and habitancy partied with successful good times.
1920s Engagement Rings
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