Angela Cummings Rings
With her playfully bold, nature-inspired pieces, Angela Cummings has left a lasting mark on the world of jewelry design. Full of movement and sensational color, her eye-catching collar necklaces, stud earrings and bracelets continue to be favored by red-carpet celebrities and tastemakers the world over.
Cummings was born in Austria in 1944, during a time when her country was being torn apart by war. At the age of three her family moved to America, where she was raised. Returning to her native country as an adult, Cummings studied art in Perugia, Italy, then went on to study jewelry design in Hanau, West Germany. She graduated with a degree in gemology, goldsmithing and jewelry design from Zeichenakademie in 1967.
Cummings returned to the United States after finishing her studies. She marched into legendary American luxury house Tiffany & Co. in New York City and asked for a job. Under the mentorship of Donald Claflin, a designer who’d previously worked for David Webb, Cummings became a respected in-house designer for the brand. Her named collection, Angela Cummings Exclusively for Tiffany & Co., debuted in 1974.
Cummings created sumptuous 18K gold accessories that were inlaid with coral, opal, mother-of-pearl, jade and lapis lazuli. Not unlike the work of Elsa Peretti, who signed an exclusive contract with Tiffany & Co. in 1974, Cummings’ designs — seashell necklaces, maple leaf pendants — drew on the shapes and forms of the natural world.
As her style continued to develop, Cummings integrated silver, precious gemstones and platinum into her work, creating exquisite juxtapositions by mixing the materials with wood and iron. Her pieces increasingly featured more movement-inspired elements — curling vines, crashing waves and billowing cloud forms — that hearkened to the rhythms of nature.
In 1982, People magazine featured Cummings' jewelry and the publicity launched her into the spotlight. Two years later, she established her own business, Angela Cummings Inc., and began to experiment with abstraction in her work, as well as allowing her surroundings in Japan, where she opened several boutiques, to inspire her adornments.
Cummings retired in 2003, making a brief comeback in 2013 to collaborate with Assael Jewelry, for which she created an exclusive line of cultured pearl jewelry.
Find vintage Angela Cummings earrings, necklaces, brooches and other accessories on 1stDibs.
1970s American Modern Vintage Angela Cummings Rings
Sterling Silver
Early 2000s American Modern Angela Cummings Rings
Aquamarine, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold, Gold
1990s American Modernist Angela Cummings Rings
Citrine, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Angela Cummings Rings
Chrome Tourmaline, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 2000s American Modernist Angela Cummings Rings
Tourmaline, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1990s American Modernist Angela Cummings Rings
Diamond, White Diamond, Moonstone, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1980s American Vintage Angela Cummings Rings
Aquamarine, Yellow Gold
1960s American Vintage Angela Cummings Rings
Diamond, Onyx, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s American Modern Angela Cummings Rings
Emerald, Yellow Gold, 14k Gold, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Angela Cummings Rings
Diamond, Tourmaline, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Gold
2010s American Artisan Angela Cummings Rings
22k Gold, Vermeil
21st Century and Contemporary Greek Byzantine Angela Cummings Rings
Diamond, White Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18...
21st Century and Contemporary Greek Byzantine Angela Cummings Rings
Diamond, White Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18...
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Angela Cummings Rings
White Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold, Rose Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Angela Cummings Rings
Amethyst, Citrine, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Turkish Modern Angela Cummings Rings
Ruby, Gold, 14k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Angela Cummings Rings
White Diamond, Pearl, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Angela Cummings Rings
Citrine, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1990s Italian Contemporary Angela Cummings Rings
Citrine, Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1990s Unknown Angela Cummings Rings
Peridot, 18k Gold
20th Century Angela Cummings Rings
Ruby, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1980s American Modernist Vintage Angela Cummings Rings
Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Angela Cummings Rings
Diamond, South Sea Pearl, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Angela Cummings Rings
18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Angela Cummings Rings
Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
1980s American Vintage Angela Cummings Rings
Citrine, 18k Gold
1980s Contemporary Vintage Angela Cummings Rings
Aquamarine, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Angela Cummings Rings
18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Angela Cummings Rings
Diamond, Pearl, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Angela Cummings Rings
Diamond, Pearl, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Angela Cummings Rings
18k Gold