How Diamond Dinner Ring Got its Nickname?

People may be more familiar with an Art Deco ring, which takes cues from architectural design elements tracing back to the 1920s. However, not many know that dinner diamond rings or cocktail rings became popular around the Great Depression period.

Original cocktail rings featured a centerpiece diamond, which was often encircled by smaller gemstones or melee diamonds. It got the nickname from the fact that people used to wear it to underground booze parties, which used to take place during the period that was known for the prohibition on alcohol trade and consumption. At the same time, women wore such rings to express their economic freedom, which led rise to an uncommon fashion. This lifestyle coincided with the cocktail’s arrival, which was invented to ease the sharp taste of alcohol that was around back then.

Naturally, when the ban was lifted, a change in the diamond ring style took place as well. Cocktail parties were referred to as dinner parties back in the 1930s, hence the arrival of “dinner rings”. They were also big and glamorous, even though some rings featured diamonds set around a different center stone like emerald or aquamarine. It was still a diamond dinner ring, although diamonds here were used to accentuate the center gemstone. It was a time when parties became more of a high-class affair, and wearing a diamond resembled wealth and riches.