Know the Lingo – Parts of a Vintage Ring

Many times the vintage ring you like will be featured on an internet auction site or in an online store. In either case, you will be reading a description of the ring, and looking at photographs to determine its value. To fully understand these descriptions it is helpful to know the different parts of a vintage ring.

The band is the bottom part of the ring that encircles the finger. Bands can be wide or narrow and can be plain or set with stones. A vintage ring often has stones set around the entire band. Modern rings usually have stones set only on the top part of the band. Bands may be referred to as solid gold, gold plated, sterling silver, platinum, or gold filled. The bands gold content is generally engraved on the inside of the band. A magnifying glass or jeweler’s loupe is helpful when trying to read this fine print.

The shank is the part of the band that rises to meet the setting. It can be a single band or it can be what is referred to as a split shank. A split shank is created when the band splits into two or more bands to meet the setting. A split shank is sometimes beneficial when the stone is very large. It helps to support the stone without the need for a wide band all the way around.

The setting is the part of the band which holds the stone or stones. Common settings include a prong setting, bezel settings, pave settings and channel settings. While these are all different, they all refer to the placement of the main stones.

The stone is obviously the jewel in your vintage ring. Terms used to describe the stone may be genuine, semi-precious, rhinestone, or synthetic. Be sure to familiarize yourself with these so you have some idea of how authentic a vintage ring may be.