What are the popular styles of engagement rings for 100 years?

For 100 years, what popular styles have the engagement ring?

Engagement rings date back to 1477. At that time, Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave Mary of Burgundy a ring with the letter M set with diamonds.

In the hundreds of years since, engagement rings have been used as a symbol of love, witnessing countless legends. Its style has also changed over the course of history. Especially in the past 100 years, with the development of industry and times, engagement rings have long broken out of the traditional diamond ring category and have been born in various styles and shapes.

1920年~1940年

The classic solitaire diamond ring was a favorite at the beginning of the last century. The most common diamond ring style popular 100 years ago was a round old European-cut diamond set in a six-prong 14K yellow gold base.

In 1920, the popular style gradually transitioned from the intricate floral style favored during the Edwardian period to the Art Deco style. At this time, the engagement ring, while having a romantic lace hollow base, began to appear lined.

At that time, the diamonds on the ring, mainly old European cuts, can be clearly seen from the diamond table.

By 1930, the style of engagement rings began to favor clean lines, stylish patterns, and modern geometric designs. Inspired by great architecture, people began to choose large gemstones as the center stone for engagement rings.

Coupled with the advancement of gemstone cutting, emeralds and baguettes began to appear in rings, and people’s choice of center stones was no longer limited to colorless diamonds, and colored diamonds and colored gemstones began to be selected.

Of course, colorless diamonds were still the mainstream of engagement rings at the time.

1940年~1960年

In the late 1930s, the outbreak of World War II dramatically changed the world and also changed the style of engagement rings. Platinum was restricted as a reserve for war, karat gold gradually became a precious metal for engagement rings, and although diamonds were still the most needed gemstone for rings, budget-conscious people began to turn more to rubies and sapphires.

But the trend changed with one woman: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. Elizabeth, who was still a princess at the time, officially announced her engagement to Prince Philip, and her engagement ring was set with diamonds that Prince Philip had taken down from his mother’s crown.

It may be because of the celebrity effect, or it may be that people have limited money in their hands after the war, so simple design is back in vogue. People began to choose to set small diamonds next to the center stone of the engagement ring to create the effect of “big diamonds”.

The three-stone design was very popular at the time. Above, Van Cleef & Arpels designed a three-stone ring in the 1940s, with an emerald centerstone.

By the 1950s, as the economy recovered and people gradually had little money, engagement rings returned to styles set with large gemstones, and platinum returned to the jewelry market again, becoming a popular choice for engagement rings along with karat gold.

Above, a ring made by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1950 features an emerald center stone surrounded by diamonds.

1960年~1980年

By the 1960s, the growing interest in fancy-shaped diamonds, combined with the star effect of the time, made emerald, pear, heart, and other shapes popular.

Among them, the more famous is an Ascher-shaped diamond weighing 33.19 grams obtained by Elizabeth Taylor from Richard Burton in 1968.

Another well -known celebrity engagement ring, from Jacqueline Lee Buville, her “Toi et Moi” emerald and diamond engagement ring was customized by US President Jack Kennedy from Van Cleef & A.

In the 1970s, marquise-shaped diamonds became popular.

1980年~2000年

The 1980s were considered by many to be a decade of fashion disaster, but the fashion of engagement rings was turned around by Princess Diana.

Princess Diana chose an oval Sri Lankan sapphire ring as her engagement ring from the jewelry made by Gerard, and since then, she has led the trend of choosing colored gemstones as engagement rings for nearly 10 years. The style of this ring is also affectionately called “Daifei style”.

Prince Andrew, the second son of the late Queen of England, chose an engagement ring when he proposed to Sarah Ferguson in 1986, and the center stone was an oval Burmese ruby ring, and since then, ruby sales are said to have become very high.

From the 1990s, the fashion aesthetic began to favor a simple, refined and elegant style, and the princess-shaped diamond with clean lines began to show its beauty in the spotlight.

At this time, the engagement ring style also returned to a simple style that highlighted the center stone.

2000-2022

After entering the 21st century, colored diamonds and gemstones have become more and more popular with the increasing understanding of gemstones, coupled with aesthetic diversification, celebrity effects and other factors.

For example, in 2018, Princess Eugenie of the United Kingdom announced her engagement, and her engagement ring featured a padparadscha sapphire surrounded by 12 diamonds.

Singer Jessica Simpson and actor Eric Johnson got engaged in 2010. At jeweler Neil Lane, Johnson customized a three-stone ring for Jessica: a ruby center stone and two 5-carat diamonds.

In 2012, Harley Berry, the first black actress in Academy Award history and the first black “Bond girl” in “007”, was engaged to French actor Oliver Martinez. Her engagement ring is simple and tough, hand-forged by renowned French jeweler Robert Mazio, with a square emerald centerstone.

In December 2019, Dave McCarry, the boyfriend of Oscar actress “Stone Sister” Emma Stone, posted a photo of the two on social platforms and announced their engagement. In the photo, Emma Stone is smiling brightly and happy, wearing a very sweet pearl ring on her hand.

The ring comes from the New York jewelry brand Catbird. The main stone is a Akoya pearl with a 37 -point small diamond inlaid around it. The shape is as elegant as snowflakes. The key is that the price of this ring is only $ 4780, which should be considered unique among Hollywood stars with “pigeon eggs”.

Although more and more celebrities are choosing colored gemstones as the center stone of engagement rings, round diamonds are still the mainstream of engagement rings. However, in terms of style, in addition to traditional styles, more and more people are beginning to choose fancy-shaped diamonds and quite design styles to create their own engagement rings.