Oscar Heyman Cats Eye

Known as “the jewelers’ jeweler,” Oscar Heyman (1888–1970) designed pieces for Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry Winston and Black, Starr & Frost. The family-run Oscar Heyman & Brothers jewelry company was founded by Heyman with his brothers Nathan and Harry in 1912. Jewelers from Latvia, they had trained at their great-uncle’s workshop, which had clients including Russian imperial jeweler Fabergé, before immigrating to the United States in the early 1900s.

After arriving in New York, Oscar worked with Pierre Cartier and Nathan was a tool maker at Western Electric before they came together to open their jewelry business. Highly skilled craftsmen, the Heyman brothers quickly developed a roster of high-profile clients — primarily big-name jewelers — drawn to their work with dazzling stones and meticulous design. In 1917, Black, Starr & Frost commissioned the brothers to design an American flag brooch, which would become a recurring motif in the Oscar Heyman & Brothers portfolio. They also designed the Pansy brooch in the 1930s, another long-popular accessory that was produced exclusively for Tiffany & Co. toward the end of the 20th century. After Heyman designed for four of the five jewelers on view at the 1939 World’s Fair House of Jewels (Cartier, Udall & Ballou, Marcus & Co. and Black, Starr & Frost), the company was given the moniker “the jewelers’ jeweler.”

Heyman & Brothers later designed gem-encrusted medallions that traveled to the moon on Apollo 16, the necklace setting for the 69-carat diamond Richard Burton gave Elizabeth Taylor in 1969 and even a pair of ruby-encrusted Stuart Weitzman stilettos in 2003. Over the years, the company has entranced such clients as Evelyn Lauder, Marjorie Merriweather Post, Billy Porter and Tina Fey with its pieces.

In 2012, the century-old jeweler underwent a rebranding to simplify its name to Oscar Heyman and today is still run by the Heyman family, which manages the whole process from alloying their own metal to cutting and polishing their gemstones to assembling the final product in-house. In 2017, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston published a monograph authored by Yvonne J. Markowitz and Elizabeth Hamilton that details for a broader audience the history of Oscar Heyman, an unsung company that’s long been behind some of the biggest names in jewelry.

Shop authentic Oscar Heyman rings, brooches and bracelets 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.