A Nice Touch: Art Deco Rings

Marked by geometric shapes, stark lines and patterns, Art Deco rings became popular in the 1920s

A Ring in the Art Deco Style

Artisans, using new materials and technologies like plastics and resins could now design jewelry with shapes and colors to compliment the Art Deco fashions that were so popular.

Bakelight, a plastic resin developed by Dr. Leo Baekland in 1909, was used to make kitchenware, toys, radios, telephones, and jewelry.

Paris was the hub of the Art Deco movement. Artists created all types of Art Deco rings and other jewelry. Everything from beautiful, whimsical, and absurd things with Bakelight, like a bright orange lobster brooch.

Marked by their clean angular lines, use of precious and semi-precious stones this new jewelry was desired by women looking to make a fashion statement in this new age.

Bold geometry, zigzag patterns, sharp corners, and stepped relief all demonstrated a new, more masculine industrial aesthetic.

Designers like Cartier, Paul Emile Brant, Raymond Templar and Gerard Sandoz all created some of the finest quality Art Deco jewelry during the heyday of the 1920s.

1920s Art Deco Jewelry

People actually began to appreciate and love synthetic materials like plastic, wearing these new designs proudly. This was in large part to the impact of Coco Chanel's use of "illusion jewelry" to compliment her newly designed fashions.

Onyx, diamonds, birthstones, emeralds and other stones were used by these jewelry designers in their rings in the Art Deco style.

Sometimes filigree was used to give an architectural element to the rings, with onyx and diamonds used as the centerpiece.

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