Ring in the New Year

More is more when it comes to eye-catching cocktail rings, so jazz up your jewellery collection this party season with some vintage bling, says Ellie Tennant

- Ellie Tennant

The tinkle of glasses, the pop of a cork, the sparkle of Champagne and the gleam of a gemstone ring glittering on an elegant hand... If you wear vintage jewellery, you too can channel this glamorous vibe - reminiscent of the decadent parties described in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, set in the Jazz Age when cocktail rings first emerged.

A cocktail-or 'dress' - ring is generally understood to be an exuberantly large, ostentatious ring, often set with a colourful precious stone in a complex design or surrounded by diamonds, but defining a 'cocktail' ring exactly can be a bit tricky. 'It's a prominent feature ring, not for everyday wear, but for a glamorous evening out,' says Burlington Arcade antique jewellery dealer Susannah Lovis. 'It's a fabulous statement piece of jewellery, almost a conversation piece. And while it doesn't necessarily need to be expensive, it always has to have that 'wow' factor,' she adds.

To me, a cocktail ring is a ring that you would wear out to enjoy yourself - a showstopper piece,' agrees dealer Jessica Buckle, of Buckle Bow Pearl, who first had her interest piqued by an antique high-set cameo ring her grandmother gave her, which she now wears every day. 'Antique cocktail rings are simply the best - some of them are unbelievably beautiful and they really do make you gasp,' she enthuses.

'Cocktail rings first appeared in America in the 1920s during Prohibition, when cocktails disguised alcohol and made low-quality bootlegged concoctions drinkable, explains Matt Reeves of Gatsby Jewellery. 'Anti-Prohibition parties were magnets for the upper-class. They were associated with socialising and illicit drinking.'