Scarselli Cushion Yellow Diamond Ring

New York-based Scarselli Diamonds is a leader in colored diamonds. The family-owned company has grown from its position as Italy’s only jeweler that was legally permitted to sell diamonds to American troops after World War II to its esteemed role today — renowned specialists in rare colored diamonds and purveyors of distinctive adornment.

The first generation of Scarselli principals worked primarily in colorless diamonds, which are diamonds within the normal color range, and counted actress Sophia Loren among their clients. The business served wealthy travelers in its hotel boutiques in Rimini and Venice and had wholesale operations in Rome and in Naples. The second generation worked with luxury watchmakers such as Vacheron Constantin and Piaget. In 1978, Scarselli moved its headquarters to the United States. Today, Bruno Scarselli is a representative for the family’s third generation. The brand employs in-house cutters and gemologists and is a jeweler to the stars, working with world-famous musicians, actors and professional athletes. Celebrities and pop culture figures borrow Scarselli diamonds to walk the red carpet, and museums exhibit the company’s glittering designs.

Scarselli directly sources its diamonds from places like India, Australia, Brazil and elsewhere, and in expanding on the success it had with colored stones, such as rubies and sapphires sourced from Colombia and Burma, the company found its niche in fancy-colored diamonds. Today Scarselli’s inventory includes blue, pink and red diamonds as well as rare high-quality natural yellow diamonds. The company was known for having retained the Aurora Green diamond, which set two world records when it was sold at auction in 2016.

In 2009, Scarselli loaned its Olympia diamond collection to the American Museum of Natural History for an exhibition. The collection contained five diamonds classified as “fancy vivid” — with respect to the 4Cs, this refers to color and is considered by experts to be the pinnacle grading for colored diamonds.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Scarselli rings, earrings, bracelets and other jewelry.

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.

Antique and vintage rings have long held a special place in the hearts of fine jewelry lovers all over the world.

No matter their origin or specific characteristics, rings are timeless, versatile accessories. They’ve carried deep meaning since at least the Middle Ages, when diamond rings symbolized strength and other kinds of rings were worn to signify romantic feelings or to denote an affiliation with a religious order. Rings have also forever been emblematic of eternity.

Over time, rings have frequently taken the form of serpents, which have long been associated with eternal life, health and renewal. Italian luxury jewelry house Bulgari has become famous for its widely loved Serpenti motif, for example, and its Serpenti ring, like the other accessories in the collection, began as an homage to jewelry of the Roman and Hellenistic eras. The serpent is now a popular motif in fine jewelry. Jewelry devotees have long pined for rings adorned with reptiles, thanks to antique Victorian rings — well, specifically, Queen Victoria’s illustrious engagement ring, which took the form of a gold snake set with rubies, diamonds and an emerald (her birthstone). Designs for Victorian-era engagement rings often featured repoussé work and chasing, in which patterns are hammered into the metal.

Engagement rings, which are reliably intimidating to shop for, are still widely recognized as symbols of love and commitment. On 1stDibs, a range of buying guides can be found for those in the market for antique engagement rings, vintage engagement rings or Art Deco engagement rings. 

The most collectible antique engagement rings and vintage engagement rings are those from the Victorian, Edwardian and Art Deco eras. Named for the monarchies of the four King Georges, who in succession ruled England starting in 1714 (plus King William’s reign), antique Georgian rings, be they engagement rings or otherwise, are also coveted by collectors. Pearls, along with colored gemstones like garnets, rubies and sapphires, were widely used in Georgian jewelry. The late-1700s paste jewelry was a predecessor to what we now call fashion or costume jewelry. 

The Art Nouveau movement (1880–1910) brought with it rings inspired by the natural world. Antique Art Nouveau rings might feature depictions of winged insects and fauna as well as women, who were simultaneously eroticized and romanticized, frequently with long flowing hair. Art Deco jewelry, on the other hand, which originated during the 1920s and ’30s, is by and large “white jewelry.” White metals, primarily platinum, were favored over yellow gold in the design of antique Art Deco rings and other accessories as well as geometric motifs, with women drawn to the era’s dazzling cocktail rings in particular.

Whether you’re hunting down a chunky classic for a Prohibition-themed cocktail party or seeking a clean contemporary design to complement your casual ensemble, find an exquisite collection of antique, new and vintage rings on 1stDibs.