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Photo Gallery
Ladies Diamond Wedding Bands
Take a look at jewelry that adorns women's fingers
these days. "Everything old is new again." From Edwardian
and Art Deco knock-offs to refurbished 1920's bridal sets, women
are finding comfort in styles that date back over 100 years. It
seems women want to capture a bit of the magic that their great-grandmothers
had in a simpler time, in a simpler place. A time when we weren't
counting how many soldiers were dying every day or wondering if
Tom Ridge was going to turn our terror threat warning level to
Mocha or Chartreuse. The purpose of this article is to give you
a very broad look at ladies diamond wedding bands that have been
popular over the years. What worked; what failed; was re-invented
and what remains timeless.
A Short History
In the late 1800’s more and more women were looking for a wedding band that would compliment their engagement ring (no different than now). One of the first on the scene was the “High Prong Five Diamond Wedding Band,” featured in photographs 1A and 1B.
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The idea seemed simple enough; if an engagement
ring looked good set up in prongs, then the wedding band will look
good with smaller versions of the center stone also set up high
in prongs. What no one took into account was that smaller diamonds
couldn’t have heavy prongs. So while a four or six prong head could
hold an engagement diamond fairly well, small little fish hook prongs
could be easily damaged allowing the diamonds in the wedding band
to fall out!
While jewelers liked replacing small diamonds
that fell out of wedding bands, the women were frustrated each time
they had
to visit the family jeweler to replace another lost stone. Eventually,
it dawned on diamond setters that the diamonds on the wedding
band didn't have to be mounted high. In fact, if they mounted
them lower and closer to the band and shortened the length of
the prongs, the diamonds would be more secure. See photos
2A and 2B.
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While the new "Pinch Set" diamond
bands were more durable, they weren't well received by everyone.
Quite a few women found the new wedding bands unattractive and
didn't
want to sacrifice beauty for durability (a battle we still fight
today).
The solution seemed to pop up in the form of
an improvement, not a replacement, of the original High Prong Settings--by
adding
a support bridge (like a trellis) between the prongs for support.
See photos 3A and 3B. Neither beauty nor durability was sacrificed.
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The world of ladies
wedding bands seemed to be pleased but that would all change when
the "bead set" bands hit the market; pictured in photo
4A.
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The "bead set" (named after
the tiny beads of metal that held in the diamonds) Wedding Bands
attempted to do something that hadn’t been done before—set
the diamonds in the band with high polished beads of white gold
or platinum that couldn't be distinguished from the diamonds. The
effect was that it would end up looking like a very petite, feminine,
micro-thin row of diamonds. Something so delicate and tasteful
did not steal any thunder from the engagement ring but could still
look wonderful as a stand-alone. These were a huge hit and
came back on the scene when they were featured in US Magazine in
2002. The "bead set" Micro Diamond Wedding Band
was, is and will always be an icon of class and sophistication.
The only negative review it ever received was that it was too inexpensive
(from socialites) since it doesn’t require large diamonds
to be beautiful. They, of course, were easily appeased with
wider bead set wedding bands, later called "Pave" Wedding
Bands. See photo 5.
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Through
the late 1940's post-war era, women were happy with the choices
available, but that would all change with Rock and Roll and the
1950's. During the Cold War, women were striving for
ways to be more unique; different. While in the past, they
didn’t mind having a standard issue wedding band that was
identical to their friends', they now were looking
for more individuality. It was during these times that Channel
Set Wedding Bands became the rage. From the heavy-duty donut
shaped round diamond bands (see photo 6), to the baguette eternity
band (see photo 7) that Marilyn Monroe wore when she married Joe
DiMaggio in 1954, women wanted to have what other women didn't.
They wanted their own style (still no different today).
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The Channel Set Wedding Band proved to
be a big hit. They didn't have any prongs to catch
on clothing and made it almost impossible for the diamond to fall
out. One down side to the Channel Set Bands was the heavy
metal needed on each side to keep the channel from opening up.
This would be fixed decades later with the new Micro-Wall Wedding
Bands,
in which the platinum was poured into a vacuum and compressed to
make a very fine "micro" thin wall that was just as
durable as the old donut bands. See photo 8.
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Today we see bands that run the gamut from Tiffany's
Etoille ring (photo 9), to individual channels (photo 10), to even
common prong rings (photo 11).
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But, far and away, the #1 biggest seller is the
previously mentioned Micro-Wall Diamond Wedding Band (photo 12).
They are available with any size diamonds, half way or all the
way around. They can be stacked, worn alone, and are practically
indestructible. Since princess cut diamonds are used in the channel
instead of rounds, there are no gaps for hand lotion, soap or dirt
to get trapped, making them much easier to clean. Their only down
side is they must be custom made to order and are the priciest of
all the bands ranging from 5K to over 100K. But price aside, they
are the most comfortable for the wearer and can be worn alone during
Pilates, Yoga or running to the grocery store when you don't want
to wear the solitaire. These bands are a favorite for anybody who
is active and doesn't have time to worry about hurting their ring
but still wants a touch of class.
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(All photographs were taken by
acclaimed photographer and artist Ricky Fernandez)
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