The thought of purchasing an antique ring appeals to many different people. Some people enjoy the thought of owning a piece of history, of holding a relic that has been around for hundreds of years on their finger. Others enjoy the tradition of a family heirloom, having something with great sentimental value to pass down through the family. To some people it’s more about owning a more elaborate ring while paying less than they would for a modern piece of jewellery. No matter what your reason is there’s much to consider when shopping for antique rings.

 

 

 

Even with antique rings there are many different styles or eras to cover. The first and oldest era would be the Victorian era. The Victorian era covers from 1835 to 1900. Much happened in this time period that affected how a ring was made and crafted. The advancement into the industrial revolution offered a breakthrough in diamond mines, granting jewellers a large quantity of diamonds to use on the ring. Because of this sudden find, jewellers started adorning their rings with smaller gems along the band, using an extra facet on the bottom, often referred to as a Mine Cut. Unlike modern day diamonds people actually preferred diamonds that had a tint of colour to them, favouring slightly yellow or even rose coloured diamonds.

 

The next era is the Edwardian era, which covers from 1900 to 1920. During this era one of the most important tools to jewellers was invented, the oxyacetylene torch. Rings from this era have a more prominent piercing shape, the bands adorned with more scrollwork and finer detail than in the past. Also in this era jewellers began using platinum for the bands, finding that when combined with brightly coloured sapphires they could make a stunning ring.


The last era is the Art Deco era, which covers from 1920 to 1930. The Art Deco era is one of the most popular topics when discussing antique rings, with various styles of rings all stemming from different cultural influences. This era was influenced by society’s sudden interest in the arts, having heavy influences from the public’s interest in other cultures such as Egypt, Africa, Asia, and various Native American cultures. During this era people favoured highly contrasting gem sets, using various colours that weren’t seen much in past eras. This era also brought forth the more geometric cuts that we see around today, which gives the gems the glistening streamlined look.

When discussing a high quality ring the price is often a determining factor. Most people don’t realise that you’d actually save money buying an antique ring than if you were to commission a jeweller to craft a modern day ring to look like one. When antique rings were crafted jewellers didn’t have today’s scientific advancements to check the internal quality of a ring, meaning that there’s more chance for flaws in the gems, which will often decrease the overall price of the ring. Even with today’s technology jewellers can’t conduct on the gems without removing them, which most of the time will destroy the band and ruin the ring.

 

No matter what kind of antique ring you’re purchasing there’s always a few key traits that you should look for, these traits are often referred to as the four C’s of a ring. The first of the four C’s is colour. A diamonds colour is measured on a scale from D to Z, where D is the most colourless and Z is slightly yellow. There are gems that are coloured and yet ranked above D in value, these gems are referred to as fancy coloured gems. The second C is cut, which a lot of people will assume means the shape of the gem. When jewellers talk about the cut of a gem they’re actually referring to the way the gem was faceted. A ring that has a good cut will take the light that enters it and reflect it back out towards the viewer, making the gem stand out and ‘sparkle’. Gems with bad cuts will reflect light out of the sides and at times down into the band itself. The third C is clarity. Clarity measures the overall flawlessness of the gem. A lot of times gems will have small pockets of air within them, which will lower the clarity and value of the gem. The last of the four C’s is carat. Carat is a measure of how big the stone is, the larger the carat the larger the stone is.

 

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