Cushion Cut Engagement Rings

Getting an antique engagement ring became a more popular choice these days among couples. The antique styles and designs were hand made in the past by a craftsman. Now days, antique designs gained new popularity with the current trend of vintage jewelry. Every piece comes with its own story and history.

An antique ring is considered antique if it is older than 50 years. There are four main sources for antique rings:

The Georgian period – from 1714-1830, which is named after the reigns of the Kings: George I, George II, George III and George IV.

The Victorian era – Is named after the English queen Victoria, which reigned from 1837-1901. This era is divided to early, mid and late Victorian periods each identifies with different jewelry characteristics.

The Edwardian era – The son of Queen Victoria which reigned after her death on 1901 and marked the end of the Victorian era with his new ideas, style and art influence from Europe. The Edwardian era extends beyond his death on 1910 and includes the years of Titanic sinking on 1912, World War I on 1914 and signing the Versailles treaty on 1919.

The Art deco – This period started in Paris during the 1910 till the outbreak of WWII in 1939.

Jewelry characteristics:
The Edwardian era rings – during this era they started creating platinum rings. Most of the rings were set with diamonds and sapphires with a very elegant design.

The Victorian era rings – were mostly made of 15kt yellow gold hand made in the early period. Only in 1854 new gold standards were introduces with the 12kt and 9kt. The item should carry the gold percentage, town, maker and date marks on the item. Most of the designs were very decorative and sometimes even ornate.
Diamond setting – The jewelry makers mainly used closed setting for diamonds, and because of that they placed in the back of the setting silver (even on a yellow gold piece) not to block the diamond brilliancy.
The most common diamond cuts during this era were the round brilliant, rose cut and cushion cut diamonds.
More common stones except from diamonds were the sapphires, opals
Some believe that the antique engagement ring from the Victorian era is the most romantic.

The rings of the Art deco era had a modern look with well defined lines and geometric shapes. The jewelry of this era had a strong influence from Egypt mostly after the discovery of Tutankhamen tomb. Using the turquoise, coral, colored stones and scarab beetle.

One of the main differences between antique diamond ring and modern diamond ring is in their grading system of the diamonds which is different than the modern era. During the Victorian era they gave more importance to the color and integration of the diamond with the ring and other stones and not so much importance to clarity. During modern time they started using white diamonds which then clarity became more important in diamonds grading.

Where to get antique engagement rings:
There are many places you can get antique jewelry: at antique stones, pawn shops and estate sales.
Make sure when you buy an antique ring to get a full description of the piece, stones, weight, condition, cut and history of the ring preferably get a certification report. Make sure the person that you are buying from is a legitimate business and they give you a full money back guarantee.

Buying an antique engagement ring requires searching and digging to find a good deal in an affordable price.

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