People may be more familiar with an
Art Deco ring, which takes cues from architectural
design elements tracing back to the 1920s. However, not many know that dinner
diamond rings or cocktail
rings became popular around the Great Depression period.
Original cocktail
rings featured a centerpiece
diamond, which was often encircled by smaller
gemstones or
melee diamonds. It got the nickname from the fact that people used to wear it to underground booze parties, which used to take place during the period that was known for the prohibition on alcohol trade and consumption. At the same time, women wore such
rings to express their economic freedom, which led rise to an uncommon fashion. This lifestyle coincided with the cocktail’s arrival, which was invented to ease the sharp taste of alcohol that was around back then.
Naturally, when the ban was lifted, a change in the
diamond ring style took place
as well. Cocktail parties were referred to as dinner parties back in the 1930s, hence the arrival of “
dinner rings”. They were also big and glamorous, even though some
rings featured
diamonds set around a different center stone like
emerald or
aquamarine. It was still a
diamond dinner
ring, although
diamonds here were used to accentuate the center
gemstone. It was a time when parties became more of a high-class affair, and wearing a
diamond resembled wealth and riches.