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Engagement Rings
The most recognizable piece of jewelry is the engagement ring. It is often one of the top three largest purchases you will make in your lifetime: car, house, engagement ring. It is the one piece of jewelry that nearly every woman fantasizes about, dreams about, thinks about from childhood. The pressure, both internal, and external, to pick the right one can be intimidating. Nearly every client I have has doubts on whether the ring they’ve selected is enough. Did I spend enough? Is it big enough? Is this the right style? In short, the answer is yes. Listen to what she wants, and you can’t go wrong. The biggest determining factor in buying an engagement ring is preference. What do you like? What don’t you like? I have sold many different types of engagement rings in all sorts of different styles and combinations. I have sold engagement rings with diamonds, moissanite, blue sapphire, orange sapphire, emerald, ruby, synthetic diamonds, spinel’s of all sorts of colors. Center stones that are round brilliant cut, marquise shaped, oval, princess cut, step cut squares or rectangles, usually referred to as emerald cut, and even a mix two or more of these cutting styles. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to engagement rings, the only thing that matters is what you like. In this article I’ll go over some style of engagement rings, what I like about them, and what I don’t.
The solitaire engagement ring is the most classic of engagement ring styles, and in many cases my favorite. It may seem like there aren’t many options, but there are more than you probably realize. The classic solitaire is a band, which is commonly referred to as the shank, with something to hold the diamond, which is referred to as the head. You get your variations in the head and the width and shape of the shank. The shank can be round, squared, knife edged, or somewhere in between. It can be thin, or wide. I personally like something in between. I like a shank that isn’t perfectly round and isn’t perfectly square. You can have six prongs, four prongs, bezels, half bezels, tension set heads. There are always questions on what is the safest. The best answer is, they’re all safe. The ones that have more metal contacting the center stone are safer than ones that don’t, but all these head styles are safe. If they weren’t jewelers and designers wouldn’t use it. I prefer four and six prong heads; I like when more of the center stone is shown off. Within these styles of heads, you can get things that become more ornate; heads that look like flowers, or hearts, bezels that have ornate designs in them, or any number of different options. I personally like more classic examples. I love a classic look when it comes to jewelry, but with a simpler style like an engagement ring there is inherently less to it. Less option, less expression. One of my favorite things about a solitaire ring is that you can choose any style of wedding band to go with it. You don’t have to worry about whether the setting styles match up. If the diamonds line up correctly, or even if the diamonds on both bands are the same size. The solitaire is a classic style, with a surprising number of options, you can’t go wrong with it.
Accented engagement rings are more than likely what you see the most of. Another classic style, this type of engagement ring has all the options that a solitaire has with the added flash of gemstones that run down the shank, whether they be diamonds, or some other type of gemstone. What separates these engagement rings is how the diamonds are set, how many diamonds there are, and where the diamonds are set. I have seen diamonds set all the way around the shank, up the head, underneath the head. They can be set with individual prongs, they can share prongs, they can be bezel set, set with bars, flush set, or channel set. I have seen them alternate between diamonds and sapphire or rubies. There can be diamonds of varying sizes. Small diamonds, or larger diamonds, diamonds of the same shape, diamonds of different shapes. Nearly endless possibilities. These are the reasons I like this style of engagement ring. It gives you the flexibility to get a unique design while maintaining a classic look that stays in style. I personally like prong set diamonds the best, or some variation of prong set. Prongs are small pieces of metal that that come from the shank and hold the diamond in place. When there’s a shared prong, it means that one piece of metal holds two diamonds in place. I tend to gravitate towards shared prong looks, or a type of prong that is called a fish tail. They’re referred to as fish tails because the prongs tend to look like fish tails when looked at from the side. To me, this gives the ring a less cluttered look. Another style is channel set. Channel set diamonds are set into the shank with two pieces of metal running parallel to the shank to make the diamonds look like they’re sitting in a channel. This is a very clean look and is a style that tends to catch less on fabrics less than prong set diamonds do. Bezels are when the entire outside, or girdle, of the diamond is covered in metal, this style gives the diamond the most protection, but not everyone likes this style for an engagement ring as it covers up a large portion of the diamond. Flush set diamonds are very similar to bezel set, but the diamond is set completely into the shank, and looks Bar set diamonds are very similar to channel set, except that the bars holding the diamonds into place aren’t parallel with the ring they are perpendicular. I like rings in each of these styles, but prong set is consistently the style I like the most.
One of the more popular styles is what’s known as halo. They are nearly the same as accented engagement rings, but with one major difference. The center diamond has a row, or more than one row, of diamonds surrounding it. This gives a little bit extra to the center diamond. The halo gives the illusion of a larger center stone while providing a little more flash. As with the other styles mentioned above the stones can be set in all sorts of styles depending on your preferences. The last few years halo style engagement rings have consistently been one of the top sellers.
Three stone engagement rings are another popular style of engagement ring. This is when there’s a center diamond, and two diamonds set directly beside it. One of the most popular styles of three stone ring is called a trellis. A trellis look is when the prongs connect in a “U” shape from one diamond to the other in a crisscrossing pattern. Technically to be a three stone, there is only three stones, but I have seen them with 2 larger diamonds next to the center stone and then diamonds accenting down the shank. Three stone rings generally come in prong set or bezel set, and in my opinion you can’t go wrong with this style. I don’t think I’ve seen a three stone engagement ring and been put off. It’s not an overly flashy style but it definitely makes a statement.
The last style of engagement ring that I will talk about is a bypass ring. This style has gained popularity in the last couple years compared to when I first started working in jewelry. The shank of a bypass ring comes around the diamond and usually stays open on either end so It looks like the shank of the ring bypass’ the center stone. Often there are accent diamonds on the shank. The center stone is usually either prong set or bezel set, and sometimes there is a halo. If you’re looking for something a little bit different than everyone else is wearing, this is a good option. They bypass can come in different lengths, widths and different setting styles. Most often I see prong set or channel set diamonds in the bypass. I have seen a bypass with a bezel set stone at the end of the bypass on either side of the center diamond. Frequently at the end of the bypass there will be a larger, bezel set stone of a different cutting style. For example, round diamonds set into the shank, and then at the end a bezel set marquise cut diamond or pear shaped diamond.
Looking at these different styles and options we can really see the roll of preference in buying an engagement ring. There really is no right, or wrong, answer. Preference is everything when it comes to engagement rings, and jewelry in general. There are nearly endless possibilities in style and options. Look around, see what’s out there and see what speaks to you.