Bulgari Sapphire Ring
Vintage 1980s Italian Cocktail Rings
Sapphire, Tourmaline, 18k Gold
Vintage 1980s European Dome Rings
Sapphire, Gold, Platinum
Vintage 1970s Italian Band Rings
Ruby, Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold
Vintage 1980s Italian Signet Rings
Blue Sapphire, Yellow Sapphire
Vintage 1970s Italian Dome Rings
Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1980s Italian Cocktail Rings
Emerald, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Gold
Early 2000s Italian More Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century French Art Deco Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Yellow Gold, Platinum
Vintage 1980s Cluster Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1970s European Cluster Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century Dome Rings
Blue Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, Platinum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Contemporary Fashion Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
1990s European Modern Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Yellow Gold
20th Century American Engagement Rings
Sapphire, Ruby, Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cocktail Rings
Blue Sapphire, Diamond, White Gold, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century Band Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Antique 1870s Italian Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century European Signet Rings
Sapphire, Platinum
20th Century Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Platinum
1990s Italian Modernist Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
Vintage 1980s Italian Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire
21st Century and Contemporary Band Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modernist Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow ...
Early 2000s Italian Modern Band Rings
Sapphire, Diamond, White Gold, 18k Gold, Gold
20th Century Fashion Rings
Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
2010s French Artist Fashion Rings
Sapphire, White Gold
20th Century Italian Modernist Three-Stone Rings
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
2010s European Contemporary Fashion Rings
Diamond, White Diamond, Emerald, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Dome Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Contemporary Fashion Rings
Diamond, 18k Gold
Swiss Dome Rings
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Drop Necklaces
Amethyst, Diamond, Peridot, Blue Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, Yellow Sapphir...
1990s Italian Fashion Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
1990s Italian Modern More Rings
Sapphire, 18k Gold
1990s Italian Modern More Rings
Sapphire, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Fashion Rings
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century Italian Band Rings
Blue Sapphire, White Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Fashion Rings
Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Cluster Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Band Rings
Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
Vintage 1980s Italian Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
20th Century Italian Cocktail Rings
Sapphire, Diamond, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century Italian More Rings
White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow ...
Vintage 1940s French Cluster Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century Italian More Rings
Blue Sapphire, Diamond, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century Band Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
20th Century Italian Band Rings
Blue Sapphire, Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1980s Cluster Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 2000s Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century Italian More Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1980s Italian Cocktail Rings
Blue Sapphire, Yellow Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Fashion Rings
Blue Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, Platinum
20th Century Italian Band Rings
Diamond, Sapphire
20th Century Italian Engagement Rings
Sapphire, Platinum, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Contemporary Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Rings
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1970s Italian Cocktail Rings
Blue Sapphire, White Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century Bridal Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
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Bulgari Sapphire Ring For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Bulgari Sapphire Ring?
Bulgari for sale on 1stDibs
Greek silversmith Sotirios Voulgaris arrived in Rome in 1881 and set up his own shop there in 1884, calling it Bulgari, an Italianization of his last name (in the brand's logo, it's styled BVLGARI, using the classical Latin alphabet in a nod to ancient Roman culture). In 1905, he opened the company’s flagship boutique on Rome’s Via dei Condotti. Since then, Bulgari has looked to Rome as a source of reference for its fanciful and decidedly romantic designs for necklaces, bracelets, earrings and other accessories.
Although the iconic jewelry house found success with its silverwork and Art Deco designs, popular through the 1920s, Bulgari’s signature style — bold, often using yellow gold embellished with big colorful gemstones — began to emerge when Sotirios’s sons inherited the business, in 1932.
The brand truly hit its stride in the dolce vita era of the 1950s and ’60s, when the founder’s grandsons Paolo, Gianni and Nicola Bulgari decisively departed from demure traditional styles to develop the house’s exuberant multi-gem looks, attracting celebrity collectors like Elizabeth Taylor.
In the 1940s, Bulgari debuted perhaps its most famous design, the Serpenti bracelet watch. The piece’s snakelike coils were made possible by the tubogas jewelry technique, which links a flexible series of thin horizontal bands. Both the sleek, modern tubogas construction and the sinuous snake motif continue to be synonymous with the Bulgari brand.
On 1stDibs, the collection of vintage Bulgari jewelry includes rings, pendant necklaces, watches and other accessories.
Why Gold Shines in Jewelry Craftsmanship
Gold is the feel-good metal, the serotonin of jewelry. Wear vintage and antique gold necklaces, watches, gold bracelets or gold rings and you feel happy, you feel dressed, you feel, well, yourself.
Gold, especially yellow gold, with its rich patina and ancient pedigree going back thousands of years, is the steady standby, the well-mannered metal of choice. Any discussion of this lustrous metal comes down to a basic truth: Gold is elementary, my dear. Gold jewelry that couples the mystique of the metal with superb design and craftsmanship achieves the status of an enduring classic. Many luxury houses have given us some of our most treasured and lasting examples of gold jewelry over the years.
Since its founding, in 1837, Tiffany & Co. has built its reputation on its company jewelry as well as its coterie of boutique designers, which has included Jean Schlumberger, Donald Claflin, Angela Cummings and Elsa Peretti. There are numerous gold Tiffany classics worth citing. Some are accented with gemstones, but all stand out for their design and the workmanship displayed.
For the woman who prefers a minimalist look, the Tiffany & Co. twist bangle (thin, slightly ovoid) is stylishly simple. For Cummings devotees, signature pieces feature hard stone inlay, such as her pairs of gold ear clips inlaid with black jade (a play on the classic Chanel black and tan), or bangles whose design recalls ocean waves, with undulating lines of lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl. And just about any design by the great Jean Schlumberger is by definition a classic.
Even had he eschewed stones and diamonds, Southern-born David Webb would be hailed for the vast arsenal of heavy gold jewelry he designed. Gold, usually hammered or textured in some manner, defines great David Webb jewelry. The self-taught jeweler made very au courant pieces while drawing inspiration from ancient and out-of-the-way sources — East meets West in the commanding gold necklaces made by Webb in the early 1970s. The same could be said for his endlessly varied gold cuffs.
In Europe, many houses have given us gold jewelry that sets the highest standard for excellence, pieces that were highly sought after when they were made and continue to be so.
Numerous designs from Cartier are homages to gold. There are the classic Trinity rings, necklaces and bracelets — trifectas of yellow, white and rose gold. As a testament to the power of love, consider the endurance of the Cartier Love bracelet.
Aldo Cipullo, Cartier’s top in-house designer from the late 1960s into the early ’70s, made history in 1969 with the Love bracelet. Cipullo frequently said that the Love bracelet was born of a sleepless night contemplating a love affair gone wrong and his realization that “the only remnants he possessed of the romance were memories.” He distilled the urge to keep a loved one close into a slim 18-karat gold bangle.
BVLGARI and its coin jewelry, gemme nummarie, hit the jackpot when the line launched in the 1960s. The line has been perennially popular. BVLGARI coin jewelry features ancient Greek and Roman coins embedded in striking gold mounts, usually hung on thick link necklaces of varying lengths. In the 1970s, BVLGARI introduced the Tubogas line, most often made in yellow gold. The Tubogas watches are classics, and then there is the Serpenti, the house's outstanding snake-themed watches and bracelets.
A collection called Monete that incorporated the gold coins is one of several iconic BVLGARI lines that debuted in the 1970s and ’80s, catering to a new generation of empowered women. Just as designers like Halston and Yves Saint Laurent were popularizing fuss-free ready-to-wear fashion for women on the go, BVLGARI offered jewels to be lived in.
Since Van Cleef & Arpels opened its Place Vendôme doors in 1906, collection after collection of jewelry classics have enchanted the public. As predominantly expressed in a honeycomb of gold, there is the Ludo watch and accessories, circa the 1920s, and the golden Zip necklace, 1951, whose ingenious transformation of the traditional zipper was originally proposed by the Duchess of Windsor. Van Cleef's Alhambra, with its Moroccan motif, was introduced in 1968 and from the start its popularity pivoted on royalty and celebrity status. It remains one of VCA’s most popular and collected styles.
Mention must be made of Buccellati, whose name is synonymous with gold so finely spun that it suggests tapestry. The house’s many gold bracelets, typically embellished with a few or many diamonds, signified taste and distinction and are always in favor on the secondary market. Other important mid-20th-century houses known for their gold-themed jewelry include Hermès and Ilias Lalaounis.
Find a stunning collection of vintage and antique gold jewelry on 1stDibs.
The Legacy of Sapphire in Jewelry Design
On 1stDibs, shop the bright blue gems that star in sapphire rings, sapphire necklaces and other vintage and antique sapphire jewelry.
Sapphires — the stone of choice for Napoleon, Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor — have been a favorite of aristocrats and the well-to-do since the time of the Ancient Greeks.
Picture a sapphire. If the stone you conjure is a deep cornflower blue, you’re seeing only part of the picture. Although blue Kashmirs are considered the most valuable, sapphires come in every color except red. No matter the hue, this very special gem is rich in history and beloved by royals (FYI, Princess Diana and Kate Middleton share an 11-carat sapphire engagement ring), so September babies are in very noble company.
America’s version of royalty — old money and celebrities — have also shown a predilection for the blue stones. In 1940, John D. Rockefeller Jr. had Cartier mount a 62-carat sapphire he had bought from an Indian maharajah in a brooch for his first wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; in 2001, the piece sold for a then-record of $3,031,000 at Christie’s New York.
The grand dame of jewelry, Elizabeth Taylor had a passion for the gems that her lovers were happy to indulge. Second husband Michael Wilding gave her an engagement ring set with a cabochon sapphire, while Richard Burton famously presented her with a BVLGARI sautoir set with diamonds and sapphires, including at its center a cabochon Burmese weighing 52.72 carats. One of the star lots in the sale of Taylor’s jewels at the Christie’s New York in 2011, it sold for $5,906,500.
You don’t have to have blue blood or a bulging bank account, however, to get an eyeful of this much-coveted gem. A number of outstanding examples reside in public collections.
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History owns the 423-carat Logan sapphire, a gift from the Guggenheim family, and the Hall sapphire and diamond necklace, designed by Harry Winston and featuring 36 fine, well-matched cushion-cut Sri Lankan sapphires weighing a combined 195 carats. Also in the collection is the Bismarck sapphire necklace, designed by Cartier and sporting a central sapphire weighing 98.6 carats, which Mona Von Bismarck donated to the museum.
Sapphires are composed of corundum. Their color derives from trace elements, such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper or magnesium. When the trace element produces a ruby hue, the stone is called, what else, a ruby. (which is, as mentioned above, why sapphires cannot be red by definition).
The allure of large gemstones endures throughout the periods characterized as vintage, and sapphire features frequently in vintage engagement rings. (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.)
Find an exquisite collection of vintage and antique sapphire jewelry on 1stDibs.
Finding the Right Rings for You
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.