David Yurman Starburst Rings

Perhaps the ultimate artistic couple, sculptor David Yurman (b. 1942) and his wife, painter Sybil Kleinrock (b. 1942), couldn’t have imagined they’d build an internationally renowned fine jewelry empire when they met in 1969 at a sculpture studio in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.

Eleven years later, in 1980, the duo established the David Yurman brand and it boomed almost instantly, a by-product of the pair’s love for and commitment to making art. (They’ve been known to call their business as well as their relationship “one big art project.”) In fact, Yurman’s most recognizable piece, the Cable bracelet, was inspired by his background in metalworking and direct welding, skills he learned when he was just a teenager. It is a marvelously modern accessory rooted in everything from jewelry motifs of ancient Syria to the natural formations of tree branches that would yield the Cable ring, earrings and other items.

When Long Island, New York–born Yurman was in high school, he spent a summer visiting his sister in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he met Cuban sculptor Ernesto González, who taught him how to heat and fuse metals. After that fateful summer, Yurman experimented feverishly with bronze sculpture and, eventually, minimalist jewelry design.

Yurman studied briefly at New York University, opting to drop out after a year to hitchhike across the United States, ending up in an artist colony on California’s Big Sur coastline. The bustling artists’ scene in New York during the 1960s eventually drew him back to the East Coast. There, he trained under Cubist sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, and, by 1969, he was a foreman in sculptor Hans Van de Bovenkamp’s Greenwich Village studio. It was in the studio that he met Kleinrock.

Kleinrock and Yurman began a romantic relationship, and he designed her a sculptural welded bronze necklace to wear to an art gallery opening. The gallery owner was so enchanted by the design — Yurman called it the Dante — that she wanted to buy it on the spot. Yurman refused because he considered the gift too personal, but his partner left it with the dealer. Within hours, four necklaces were sold and a brand was born.

A year after the two married in 1979 — the ceremony included simple gold rings Yurman had soldered from gold in his workshop — they officially launched David Yurman. Three years later, one of his most popular designs, the Cable bracelet, hit the market.

Today, David Yurman engagement rings, bracelets, rings, necklaces and earrings are widely treasured, distinctive works of American jewelry design.

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.