Have you heard the term cocktail ring? To me its always sounded like a group of people meeting up regularly to drink exotic colourful alcoholic beverages but actually a cocktail ring is a bright and colourful ring meant to be worn to parties and special events. The idea of the cocktail ring is that it is glamorous with way too much bling for every day wear.

I have heard that the cocktail ring originated in the illegal drinking dens of the American prohibition. It was a style statement to show that you were part of the in crowd. Whatever its origins the cocktail ring came to be a high fashion symbol in the cocktail era of the later 1940s and 1950s.

A cocktail ring can be made of any materials, gold, silver , platinum or costume jewellery. To be a cocktail ring the metal needs to be set with either a very large stone or lots of smaller stones in bright colours. The idea is all about show.

Cocktail rings have been see on the hands of famous celebrities recently including Kate Beckinsale and Miley Cyrus.

Here are a few super cocktail rings for you to look at, ready to wear to your next big glamorous event.

As super pretty cocktail ring made of 9 carat gold ( fully hallmarked). This ring is set with a large blue oval topaz and a row of sparking real diamonds. The head of this cocktail ring measures about 11 mm wide. This is UK ring size L, USA size 5.75

Art Deco Cocktail ring

A lovely piece of original vintage jewellery. Here is an art deco cocktail ring which will date from circa 1920s to 1940s and has a design typical of the era it was made in. This ring is set with cornflower blue and crystal clear gemstones which test as Sapphires and are most likely lab created. The head of this vintage cocktail ring measures about 1.5 cms long and this is UK ring size R.5, USA size 9