Vintage Engagement Rings

In the world of fine jewellery, many different styles come and go throughout the years. The ones that stay and evolve slightly – the ones that ultimately remain timeless – are the styles we still see in jewellery stores today. This is true when it comes to vintage engagement rings. Vintage diamond engagement rings are elegant, intricate and unique, and they often feature delicate filigree, milgrain and beading work. Explore our vintage-inspired collection of rings online and in our Hawthorn studio today!

Antique Style Engagement Rings

A common type of vintage-style engagement ring is an antique diamond engagement ring. Modern antique engagement rings are heavily influenced by the Victorian era (and even the Edwardian era) and favour simple silver or yellow gold bands with intricate rows, halos or clusters of sparkling diamonds. The Victorian era included three distinct periods: The Romantic Period (1837-1860), The Grand Period (1861-1885) and The Aesthetic Period (1885-1901). Today, rings inspired by The Romantic Period often feature colourful gems like emeralds, rubies and sapphires. Rings that resemble The Grand Period contain engravings and motifs, like bells, birds, crescents, crosses, daisies, hearts, stars and shields.

Art Deco Style Engagement Rings

An even more unique vintage engagement ring style is the Art Deco ring. An Art Deco engagement ring design uses lots of bold geometric shapes and repetition to create a sense of opulence. The era liked a lot of zigzags, chevrons, pyramids, sunburst and flower forms, and shapes like arcs, octagons, circles, squares and rectangles. It’s common for a retro engagement ring to feature a round cut centre stone surrounded by small round stones. Or a square centre diamond with rectangular shoulder diamonds placed in symmetrical order of biggest to smallest. It was also the period when synthetic stones like lab-grown diamonds were starting to be used.