1920 was the beginning of the Art Deco era, which lasted for about ten years. At this time, fashion really took evolution with new dance styles and attractive and creative jewellery design.
Women had a shift in their lifestyle – clothing and jewellery use during this time. This radical change is much felt in jewellery design and engagement ring styles.
The decadence of the 1920s
During this era, the cocktail ring and engagement ring became very popular. The engagement ring styles were inspired by cubism, modernism and futurism.
The theme of Art Deco was geometry, bright colours and symmetry, but especially in the jewellery industry engagement rings reflected this epoch with a clear geometric look. The engagement ring styles then were also inspired by two design periods before the advent of Art Deco, Art Nouveau and the Edwardian era.
Art Deco vs Edwardian style
The early Art Deco engagement rings adopted Art Nouveau design and later had geometric and symmetrical patterns. The Edwardian style influenced Art Deco jewellery designers in their use of platinum and diamonds for engagement rings. Comparing the Art Deco engagement rings to Edwardian rings, Art Deco engagement rings were less conservative and more geometric.
In the structural makeup of Art Deco, the engagement rings of the 1920s had straight lines and very obvious geometric shapes while the Edwardian style had curved lines patterns.
Although the era of Art Deco was shortlived, its influences are still en vogue today. It had a lasting influence on jewellery design and trends in engagement rings.
1920s Engagement Ring Trends
Some of the unique features of the antique engagement rings style in the 1920s are Platinum, Diamond, colour contrast, filigree design, and more.
Platinum Rings
During the 1920 era, Platinum was more used because of its malleability, lustre and strength. Jewellery designers can make a defined shape on engagement rings, and there was the discovery of a huge deposit of platinum in South Africa at that time.
But after the world war, the world economy was very weak and platinum because a bit expensive, making designers to use white and yellow gold as alternatives.
Diamond Rings
In the Art Deco period, diamonds were mainly used in making engagement rings. The main challenge of the jeweller is that diamond rings cannot be cut in precise proportions due to the hand cutting techniques used at the time.
Yellow diamonds were also common, and since they were usually used at night, the yellowish hue of the gemstone was obscured by the soft lights.
The Filigree Design
In the 1920s, jewellery designers and couples are mean about the design of the engagement rings. People want to wear something that’s classic and creative on their fingers and designers just have to do that.
The malleability and strength of platinum made jeweller develop designs on engagement rings without compromising the safety of the gemstones. These filigree rings take up the influences of Art Déco and are characterized by small, intricate cutouts and geometric lines.
Conclusion
Art Deco is one of the most enduring movements in jewellery design that has inspired many engagement ring trends. Most modern engagement rings are inspired by the Art Deco era.
Some couples prefer antique engagement rings, while others have adopted modern styles with Art Deco influences. Engagement rings from the 1920s, with their geometrically shaped gemstones to halo patterns, are still irresistible to an about-to wed couple in this 21st century.
The Art Deco era proved to be a source of inspiration for jewellery designers till today. There’s still much influence of the old patterns in today’s engagement ring styles. Many of them are characterized by a halo, a double halo, filigree settings, unconventional gemstone shapes and geometric lines.
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