I can resist everything except cake and diamonds, so when Vashi Diamonds invited me to their HQ for an afternoon tea, I wasn’t going to turn it down! Vashi Dominguez is a well know diamond expert, and I would find out all about the glittering history of the diamond ring whilst trying in vain to resist eating more cake. Did you know that Ely Place, where Vashi are based, is the last privately owned street in London?
After meeting my fellow jewellery enthusiasts, we settled down to learn more about the evolution of the diamond engagement ring.
15th Century – first recorded examples of the diamond engagement ring
One of the very first recorded examples was presented to Mary of Burgundy by Archduke Maximillian of Austria in 1477. It had flat diamond pieces known as hogback diamonds forming a letter M shape and looked a little like the ring below. Did you know why engagement rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand? It was romantically believed then that the vena amoris (veins of love) ran directly from this finger to the heart.
Mary of Burgundy and a typical engagement ring from the period
16th Century – Signet designs and Brilliant Cuts
Charles I presented a classically simple design to Henrietta Maria of France, in the form of a signet ring with a large diamond and a gold band. She was only 15 years old at the time. The first brilliant cuts were introduced in the mid 1600s. They had 17 facets on the crown and were originally known as Mazarins after Cardinal Mazarin who invented them. Vincent Peruzzi, a Venetian polisher would later increase the number of crown facets to 33. Although these were much more brrilliant than past cuts, today they appear quite dull.
1770: Marie Antoinette (Louis XVI)
Marie-Antoinette’s engagement ring from Louis XVI was an enormous 5.64 carat Pear-cut blue diamond solitaire. She had a large collection of jewels, including the Hope Diamond which many believe is cursed, and which was stolen as the French Revolution began.
1796: Joséphine de Beauharnais (Napoleon I)
Joséphine de Beauharnais was the famous first wife of Napoleon I. He presented her with this stunning pear cut contrasting gemstone, a one carat diamond and one carat blue sapphire. In 2013, it outsold the estimated value by more than 47 times, fetching £660,000 at auction.
1800s: Sentimental ring trends
The Victorians sometimes spelt out words of endearment with gemstones, such as “dearest”, represented by a diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, sapphire and topaz. They also favoured half-hoop and three-stone designs.
1839: Queen Victoria (Prince Albert)
Queen Victoria received a striking engagement ring from Prince Albert – a serpent with an emerald set-head. Whilst it might seem like a strange choice, serpents are an ancient symbol of eternity and protection, and the emerald was Victoria’s birthstone.
Late 18th century – Art Nouveau and affordable luxury
The gemstone became a status symbol, with a classic single stone (solitaire) open-prong setting. Tiffany & Co. introduced the 6 prong solitaire design known as the Tiffany setting in 1886. Diamond rings became more accessible, and appeared in mail-order cataolgues.
1920s/30s: Art Deco
Rings were typically set in platinum, or white gold after 1926. The Asscher and Emerald cuts were introduced and from the mid 1920s, fishtail rings were introduced, where the prongs fork at the end, creating the illusion of a fishtail.
1940s: ‘A Diamond is Forever
Platinum was reserved for military use during the war, so 14k gold became a popular option. In 1948, De Beers’ launched their famous advertising campaign ‘A diamond is forever’.
1956: Grace Kelly (Prince Rainier III) and Elizabeth Taylor (Mike Todd)
Celebrity engagement rings really took off in the 50s. Mike todd presented Elizabeth Taylor with a 29.4 carat Emerlad cut diamond, and the same year, Grace Kelly received a 10.47 Emerald cut diamond from Prince Rainier.
1981: Diana, Princess of Wales (Charles, Prince of Wales)
Charles and Diana chose a £28,000 12 carat Ceylon sapphire engagement ring, surrounded by 14 solitaire diamonds set in white gold. Prince William gave the ring to Kate Middleton in 2010. She had the ring resized from a size H to a size I).
2000s to present day: Coloured diamonds, Emerald Cuts and Vintage
Coloured diamonds became popular in the noughties. Ben Affleck proposed to Jennifer Lopez with a 6.10 carat Cushion cut pink diamond. Heidi Klum received a 10 carat yellow canary oval diamond from Seal and Nick Cannon proposed to Mariah Carey with an Emerald cut pink diamond featuring two half-moon white diamond side stones and 58 pave set pink diamonds surrounding three central stones. Beyoncé, Eva Longoria and Angelia Jolie all opted for Emerald cut engagement rings.
Vintage styles became populr again, with Mary-Kate Olsen receiving a vintage 1953 engagement ring from Olivier Sarkozy in 2014 – an Old European cut diamond framed by 16 sapphires with side petals set with single cut diamonds. Johnny Depp wore an engagement ring with a vintage looking setting, which displayed a centre Round Brilliant large diamond surrounded by baguettes and smaller round diamonds.
However, the Solitaire diamond is still the most popular style, and accounts for 85% of engagement ring sales on Vashi.com. I tried on the 1 carat pear diamond and yellow sapphire ring in 9K white gold.
I love the effect of stacking a whole bunch of rings together!
Does this ring remind you of anyone’s?
All in all, it was a really informative afternoon and I was certainly impressed with the expertise of the Vashi team. They also have a bespoke service for customised jewellery.
Visit the Vashi website here.
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