Pyritized Dinosaur Bone And White Diamond
Recent Sales
2010s Cocktail Rings
18k Gold, White Gold
Pyritized Dinosaur Bone And White Diamond For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Pyritized Dinosaur Bone And White Diamond?
Monique Péan for sale on 1stDibs
Award-winning jewelry designer Monique Péan is known for drawing heavily on nature for her eye-catching and provocative rings, earrings, necklaces and other accessories, which feature exquisite arrangements of petite pavé conflict-free diamonds as often as they do fossilized dinosaur bones and meteorites.
While her minimalist designs might call to mind art movements such as Abstract Expressionism, Péan travels all over the world and finds inspiration in locales such as Antarctica as well as in Mayan architecture — her jewelry transcends time and space to remind us all to question our place and purpose in the universe.
Péan originally had a career in finance. While the Washington D.C. native was working at Goldman Sachs in Manhattan, she received the devastating news that her sister, Vanessa, was killed in a car accident. She began to reevaluate her life and her relationship with work, and her passion for the arts and travel was renewed. In 2006, she launched her eponymous jewelry line.
Over time Péan has traveled to places like Easter Island and the Arctic Circle and has worked with indigenous communities to gather unconventional materials such as cosmic obsidian and fossilized walrus tusks to incorporate into her sculptural jewelry. While this has led to a deepening of her interest in the natural world, she’s also had firsthand experiences with how unearthing these materials can affect the planet and the people in places such as Alaska and the southwestern United States.
“The effects mining has on communities and the environmental toll made me want to give back and to use my work as an opportunity to have a conversation around the global water crisis and the people connected to it,” says Péan, who donates a percentage of her profits to charity: water.
High-profile enthusiasts of Péan’s jewelry include actresses Natalie Portman, Kerry Washington, Jennifer Lawrence and former First Lady Michelle Obama. Her work has been featured in publications such as Vogue and the New York Times.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Monique Péan rings, earrings and necklaces.
Finding the Right cocktail-rings for You
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.