statement ring

[Benjamin Zimmer]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/23/fashion/23POINTS.html
THEY call them statement rings, in the typically kooky parlance of the
fashion business, as if the wearer's hand had been asked to give a
deposition. The term I personally prefer is knuckle-duster, slang that
a friend came up with to describe what was once also known as a
cocktail ring and worn primarily, it seemed, by women who had perhaps
failed to score that more aggressive statement of arrival, a band on
the left hand.
Whatever one called them, statement rings or cocktail rings or
knuckle-dusters were rarely seen before the martini hour and, until
lately, not much at all outside of vintage clothing fairs.
[etc.]
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