204ct Diamond Ring Round

Manuel Rosas, the founder of fine jewelry company Rosior, develops the Portuguese company’s complex and intricate designs, which are brought to life by a small team of Lisbon-based jewelers. 

While only a few decades old, Rosior has a jewelry history dating back along Rosas’s family lineage to the 1840s. Both sides of his family were involved with jewelry, but his father’s side established Rosas de Portugal, Lda, in 1890. Manuel Rosas began as a partner in the company before starting his own brand in 1978 to expand on his innovative ideas.

Rosior’s crown jewel is the bespoke Gem Dreams evening bag. Hand-crafted from 3.7 ounces of 19.20-karat gold and 22.61 ounces of sterling silver, the piece took over 1,100 hours of labor, including 900 hours to set the over 4,730 gemstones that cover the bag. Finished in 2009, after taking two years to complete, the bag brought extravagant colors and luxury style to the Portuguese jewelry scene.

In 1986, Rosas won the Ideias Inovadoras Prize from the Portuguese Institute. In the same year, Rosior presented its work for the first time in Asia at an exhibition in Tokyo, later followed by one in Dubai. Four years later, the Spanish minister for industry awarded Rosas the European Community Design Prize for one of his stunning designs. The Rosior team received a visit from the First Lady of Portugal in 1997 and held exhibitions at the Portuguese Embassy in Paris in 2008, 2009 and 2011.

Rosior’s newest boutique is at the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon. There, Rosior’s specialties are on full display, like dazzling gem-encrusted butterflies and flowers, as well as bold cocktail rings and incredible cuff bracelets. Manuel Rosas’s son, José Correia Rosas, joined the company in 2006 and is continuing the family tradition of exceptional jewelry-making in the 21st century.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Rosior rings, earrings, bracelets and more.

Contemporary jewelry is inextricably linked with the moment in which it is created, frequently reflecting current social, cultural and political issues such as environmental consciousness, identity and sustainability. It’s informed by fashion trends, from the chokers of the 1990s to the large chain necklaces of the early 2000s.

Jewelry is one of the oldest forms of adornment. Lockets made of silver or gold have been treasured gifts for hundreds of years, for example, and charm bracelets, which have existed since prehistoric times, didn’t become especially popular until the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. For many centuries, fine jewelry was used primarily to express wealth or status through lavish materials. Then, in the 1960s, a concept known as the “critique of preciousness” emerged, with jewelers creating pieces that did not get their value from gemstones or precious metals. Instead, it was the jeweler’s artistic vision that was prized and elevated.

This shift still informs Contemporary jewelry being made by artists today. Whether they are using cheap, found materials and working with provocative geometric shapes or seeking out the rarest stones, they are imbuing their work with meaning through their skills, techniques and ideas. Innovative designers such as Elsa Peretti, who popularized sculptural sterling-silver jewelry for Tiffany & Co., and David Yurman, who twisted metal into the simple yet striking Cable bracelet, have also influenced the direction of Contemporary jewelry’s forms and aesthetics.

Meanwhile, technological advancements like metal alloys and laser engraving have led to new possibilities in jewelry design. Now, edgy makers and brands as well as minimalist designers are pushing Contemporary jewelry forward into the 21st century.

Find a collection of Contemporary rings, earrings, necklaces and other jewelry on 1stDibs.

A flashy symbol of wealth during the early 20th century, antique and vintage cocktail rings have gained broader appeal in the decades since for the hefty dose of glamour they bring to any ensemble.

Cocktail rings earned their name for their frequent appearances during glitzy cocktail parties at the height of the Prohibition era. Back then, these accessories were seen not only as statement pieces but as statements in and of themselves. They openly represented a sense of freedom and independence as well as a demonstration of opulence. After all, the 1920s heralded the Harlem Renaissance and Art Deco design, and a slew of social and cultural shifts meant that women in particular were breaking from pre–World War I conventions and embracing newfound freedoms to express themselves as individuals.

Women expressly wore cocktail rings on the fingers of their right hand versus the left, which was “reserved” for an engagement ring or wedding band, accessories definitely paid for by a suitor. And for cocktail rings, the bigger the colored gem at the center — which is usually mounted in a high setting — and the more elaborate the design, the stronger the likelihood of being noticed.

Cocktail rings remained a popular piece of jewelry for women until the 1930s, when the Great Depression and the onset of war marked a change in behaviors nationwide. While the 1960s and ’70s saw a return in visibility for the accessory, it wasn’t until the 1980s that cocktail rings once again assumed their position as a beacon of luxury and glitz.

During the 20th century, the range of dazzling cocktail rings seems to have been limitless, from glimmering gold rings set with carved jade diamonds designed by David Webb to Pomellato’s pink quartz confections to striking Gucci butterfly rings with accent diamonds set in a pavé fashion.

So, how do you wear a cocktail ring? Cocktail rings “can be worn for almost anything — dinners, date nights, parties, special events, on the red carpet,” explains David Joseph of New York-based jewelry brand Bochic. 

Can you wear cocktail rings with other rings? “In my opinion, cocktail rings should stand on their own since they showcase a large gem in the center,” says Joseph.

These glamorous jewels can be worn inside or outside crowded taverns, in either daytime or nighttime with casual or dressy attire. On 1stDibs, find a wide variety of antique and vintage cocktail rings, including those offered by Chanel, whose elegant cocktail rings often feature pearls and, of course, diamonds, and sometimes were styled after showy flowers like the camellia, and Van Cleef & Arpels, whose detailed and intricate designs are viewed as miniature pieces of wearable art.