Couples Are Saying ‘I Do’ to Antique Diamond Cuts

The trends coming back in contemporary engagement rings are also seeing a revival in antique and vintage styles: solitaires, European and transitional-cut diamonds, and the Big Three colored gemstones — sapphires, emeralds and rubies. This turn toward classicism with a nod to personalization taps into the maxim of having “something old” for the bride’s special day.

Celebrities have been helping inspire the solitaire trend, often combining old-cut diamonds with a modern edge. A recent example is actress Kate Bosworth’s ring from Los Angeles-based Platt Boutique. The estate jeweler designed it with an antique mine-cut diamond in a chunky, low-profile yellow-gold setting.

“Solitaires have been trending, with a renewed interested in old cushion- and European-cut diamonds set in yellow gold with low-prong settings from the Victorian and Edwardian eras,” says Elizabeth Doyle, co-owner of New York antique jeweler Doyle & Doyle. “These are becoming harder to find, but when we do, they get snapped up quickly by our future brides.”

For a simple yet romantic design, customers who prefer white metal are gravitating toward Art Deco through late-1930s prewar solitaires in platinum or white gold, often with a feminine filigree pattern on the shank or gallery, according to both Doyle and Benjamin Khordipour of Estate Diamond Jewelry in New York.

“Old-cut diamonds in minimal mountings have become favorites this year,” affirms Emily Duffelmeyer, owner of Jean Jean Vintage in Lansing, Michigan. “For us, this translates into Victorian styles with old mine-cut diamonds, and early 20th-century platinum solitaires with European cuts.”

Doyle’s sales include vintage Tiffany & Co. solitaire rings from the ’40s and ’50s with brilliant-cut diamonds. Although these are “not as popular as earlier periods, our couples are looking for styles that provide sustainability, [with] diamonds that were mined from 50 to 100 years ago,” she says.

As for colored gems, Doyle saw a rise in emeralds last year, but has found that “sapphires have taken over again.” Khordipour consistently sells emeralds from different periods and says he’s “seen an increase in both halos and more intricate 1920s styles.”

The most relevant traits in single-stone and colored-gem vintage rings today seem to be character, presence, social responsibility, and settings that people won’t see everywhere. These features are timeless enough to endure cyclical trends.

Main Image: Antique three-stone ring from Estate Diamond Jewelry with a Colombian emerald and old European-cut

This article is from the October-November 2024 issue of Rapaport Magazine. View other articles here.