Are you familiar with Victor Barbone, my darlings? They’re vintage engagement ring specialists: all vintage engagement rings, all the time.
In other words: they’re our kind of people.
There isn’t much I love more than a vintage engagement ring. The romance, the unique details, the soulful sense of history and individuality!
Another bonus of vintage engagement rings – and one that isn’t discussed enough, in my opinion – is the total clarity of conscience that they offer. If you want to make sure your engagement ring has as low an environmental impact as possible, why not choose one that already exists, instead of going for new production? It’s hard to make a more sustainable/ethical choice than recycling!
Now we’re going to look at a dozen of Victor Barbone’s vintage engagement rings one by one and drool happily all over our screens.
Ready?
THIS is Mira. She requires occasional all caps, because HOLY MOLY.
Her vibe is Art Nouveau, but Mira is early Edwardian, from 1905. Are you a wood nymph who dreams of a shimmering antique diamond wreathed in golden flowers? If so: this is your perfect ring.
You’ll never see another vintage engagement ring like this one. If she feels right to you, you should buy her immediately.
Have we talked about my ruby feelings recently? I never used to appreciate rubies, but somehow they’ve become one of my favorite gems.
This ring – the fiery Everly – is a low-profile Art Deco platinum setting with a 1.06 carat transitional cut diamond and 17 rich, rosy rubies. An outwardly simple design made unforgettable by the glowing pop of color. Rubies represent passion, which couldn’t be more perfect for a proposal.
Oh hello, beautiful. This is September, a platinum seductress made in the same year as my own engagement ring: 1930.
Look at those elegant scrolling sides, nimble openwork, and of course that irresistible 2.18 carat old European cut diamond in its sleek bezel setting. This ring is quiet elegance personified, with a heavy dose of glamour on top of that.
Bezel settings are having a moment in contemporary design, but September is gorgeous proof that the concept is a classic, rather than a trend.
This is the luminous Catalina. That’s a 2.21 carat old European cut diamond in the center with another 1.75 carats of diamonds surrounding it.
There’s nothing like a diamond cluster ring for pure volume on the finger. From afar, every one of those facets will catch the light and this baby will blaze like a 5 carat stone.
The first thing you’ll notice when you walk into Joden is that their store feels like a cross between a shop and a museum. The long room is lined with brightly lit display cases of jewelry, as one would expect, but some of the finest pieces are mounted on the walls in individual vitrines. Each of these showpieces is displayed solo, in front of an enlarged photograph of itself.
Objectively speaking, a necklace made of 100+ year old dead bugs should be gross…but I fell head over heels for this antique French scarab necklace. I love the texture of the beetle shells, their unique iridescence. This piece didn’t come home with me that day, but I can’t get it out of my mind.
From delicate and whimsical to hooooooooly moly! How about these diamonds?