The right to give a ring includes the pleasure of selecting a gift that will both please and adorn. This demands some consideration of that fine instrument too often taken for granted, the human hand. Most of the time we merely use our hands. Nevertheless, almost unconsciously yet almost inevitably, our glance falls upon a person’s fingers when we meet, for the hands are the surest guide to an individual’s make-up. And I do not mean the “make-up” that is applied. Faces may be altered; neck wrinkles may be disguised; fingernails are dressed up; chins may be lifted; noses may be shaped—the hands remain undisguised.
The ring calls attention to the hand. It invites the gaze, which, while admiring the ring, is also aware of the fingers that are background to the jewel. And the ring should be selected not only to fit the finger but also to suit the hand.
Proportions of the Hand
A hand may be long and slender or long and large. It may be short and stubby or short and thin. It may taper from the palm along almost straight fingers or have the line broken by larger knuckles. There are differences in the proportion between the fingers and the palm. All of these elements of finger size and shape, of hand proportions, should be weighed in selecting a ring. They have an important bearing on the size and shape of the stones, and on the width or thickness of the band. Comparatively few women, however often they may have polished their nails, are really familiar with their hands.
Certain general proportions between rings and hands need little more than mention. A small ring overemphasizes a large hand. On slender fingers or a small hand, a large ring is overpowering. If a fairly large ring is desired by someone with a dainty hand, a dome-shaped ring may be most becoming, or a ring with the stone set high; but it should be worn only on the third finger. Such a ring adds considerable style to an outfit. If the fingers are quite short, however, it will be best to choose an oblong ring. If the fingers are long and thin, the stone should be set so as to run not along the finger but across it; the eye, following the ring, tends to foreshorten the finger length. The ring should fit the personality; the stone may fit the occasion.
The Diamond Ring: The Engagement Ring
The engagement ring is, in all probability, a young woman’s first important ring. There is, for this, hardly any choice other than a diamond. The gem, however, may be variously set. Usually it is a single stone, the solitaire, in a plain band of gold or platinum. The diamond may be brilliant cut; this is conservative but in impeccable taste. It should be set in thin high prongs of the chosen metal, so as to give fullest play to the light from all its facets and to take full advantage of its irradiating brilliance.
Among other cuts that are favored for the engagement diamond are the square, the emerald, and the pear-shaped. For shorter or thicker fingers, a highly effective cut is the marquise. This cut is named in honor of the Marquise de Montespan, an elegant, beautiful and sensible woman who was mistress of Louis XIV. Aware of the somewhat short length of her fingers, she ordered the crown jeweler to have her ring diamonds cut in the form of an oval pointed at both ends. Because it resembles a boat, this cut is sometimes called the navette, but now more often the marquise. Making the fingers seem longer and more slender, it at once became a popular diamond style. When testing the appearance of a stone on the finger, it is well to look at a marquise-cut diamond.
While the solitaire is still the most popular engagement ring, there is a youthful jauntiness in combinations of diamonds which has made the use of several stones a current vogue. Almost any newly betrothed maiden would feel keenly disappointed if the ring did not have as its center stone the large solitaire. But this may be pleasantly flanked by smaller stones of different cut, such as two baguettes lying close along the band.