Every relationship is unique, which is why it’s important to find just the right sparkler that reflects your love and style. What better way to show your commitment than shopping for that perfect engagement ring? So if you’re looking for a little jewelry inspiration, we’ll explore the different types of engagement rings and help you choose one that best reflects your style and fits your love story.
Popular Engagement Ring Styles
When shopping for engagement rings, there can be so many styles to choose from and the possibilities may seem overwhelming.
Related: Best Engagement Rings Over $50000
To help you narrow down your options, here are some of the most popular engagement ring styles.
Diamond Engagement Rings
This ring style is the most popular and for good reason. Diamonds are known to be extremely durable and as a result, they represent timeless commitment and an unbreakable bond.
On diamond engagement rings, you’ll find various shapes and sizes. You may find unique ones depending on which diamond retailer you choose to go with, however the most popular diamond shapes are:
Round cut
Princess cut
Cushion cut
Emerald cut
Oval cut
Radiant cut
Asscher cut
Marquise cut
Pear cut
The most popular ones of these cuts are the round and cushion cut diamonds.
Colored Gemstone Engagement Rings
Diamonds aren’t quite your style? Not to worry. We recommend colored gemstones for the center stone on your engagement ring style.
The thing we love about colored gemstones is that they tend to have more meaning behind them versus traditional diamonds. For instance, you can buy one that represents your loved ones birth month or favorite color. Sapphires represent loyalty and trust, whereas rubies represent love and passion.
Emeralds, sapphires, and rubies are all excellent and popular choices amongst people looking to stand out or have something unique and personable.
Vintage Engagement Rings
We would recommend a vintage engagement ring to someone looking for something with more character and history.
This engagement ring style is typically made with an antique setting and vintage gemstones or diamonds.
Here’s a stunning 14K white gold vintage ring from James Allen.
The reason we love vintage engagement rings is because they don’t need to follow any rule or pattern. The engagement can be dainty or bold. The center stone can be a diamond or gemstone. And the engagement ring setting can be quiet or statement-making.
This type of engagement ring doesn’t have any rules and adds a unique touch to your proposal.
Halo Engagement Rings
Halo engagement rings feature a center stone surrounded by smaller diamonds or gemstones, typically in a circular fashion known as a halo setting (like an angel halo)
This halo ring style gives the ring a larger-than-life and stunning appearance. This is a popular choice for couples that want more sparkle and shine than a traditional diamond engagement ring.
Three Stone Engagement Rings
Also known as a trilogy ring, the three stone engagement ring features three diamonds or three gemstones in a row. The center stone is typically larger than the two adjacent diamonds.
This type of engagement ring setting creates a ‘graduated’ effect.
Typically, the three stone engagement ring settings are known to represent the past present and future of your relationship, hence the three stones.
How To Choose The Perfect Ring
When it comes to choosing an engagement ring that’s perfect for you or your loved one, theres three main factors you want to consider: Budget, personal style, and lifestyle. Let’s dive into each.
Budget
The first question in your head should be “how much should I spend on an engagement ring?”.
You might have heard about the “Two Months’ Salary” rule (sometimes even the Three Months’ Salary rule). The whole idea is that you should spend approximately double or triple your monthly income on an engagement ring.
We’ll be the first to say that you should completely disregard this rule. This so-called rule was created in the 1930s by a diamond company to increase sales.
Instead, take a look at your overall disposable income (money left after your financial obligations have been met). You might want to reconsider a large engagement ring purchase if you still have student loans, car loans, or a credit card bill to pay off first.
If you’re looking to know more about budgeting for your engagement ring, we have a detailed guide here on How Much You Should Spend On An Engagement Ring.
The budget is perhaps the most important factor to consider when looking for your perfect engagement ring. If you’re on a budget, we recommend you check out a site like James Allen for sales and discounts on affordable, high-quality diamond rings.
Related: The Truth Behind James Allen: Know This Before You Buy
Personal Style
The second factor to consider when choosing the perfect engagement ring style is you or your loved one’s personal style.
When it comes to diamond rings, a large part of the personal style can be divided into two main categories:
Setting
Diamond
Setting
Let’s start with the setting. An engagement ring setting helps with the overall look of the ring. They come in various styles, designs, and metal options. The setting usually refers to the metal band and the setting/positioning of the stones.
For the metal band, your options are typically the following:
White gold (14K and 18K options)
Yellow gold (14K and 18K options)
Rose gold
Platinum
As for the setting, the popular options are usually a solitaire engagement ring, pavé setting, halo (or diamond halo), vintage, side stones, and three stone.
Diamond
When finding a diamond that’s right for you or your loved one’s personal style, you can narrow your search down by understanding the 4C’s. We have a detailed guide here on what are the 4C’s and why you should care.
To keep it brief, the 4C’s are cut, clarity, color, and carat weight. Each component has it’s own grade range and should be based off your personal preferences along with your budget.
For instance, if you’re on a budget, it doesn’t make sense to go for a center diamond with no flaws or inclusions. This would make the diamond very expensive. Instead, opt for something near-perfect and eye-clean which may have some flaws and inclusions but are hard to spot with the naked eye.
Want to learn more about finding your perfect ring? We have a detailed guide here on what your engagement ring should look like.
Lifestyle
This is the third and final factor to consider when deciding how to choose your perfect engagement ring.
For this part, we recommend you take into consideration you or your partner’s lifestyle. You might want to ask yourself, are they someone who works a lot with their hands for their career or hobby?
For instance, we had a reader who emailed us asking for some advice on the type of engagement ring he should buy for his fiancée who works as a nurse. In this case, since his fiancée would be using her hands a lot and wearing gloves, we suggested he go for a smaller carat center diamond but with more clarity.
That way, the center diamond would be less obstructive in her day-to-day life but still maintain it’s beauty with a better clarity grade.
Tips For Buying An Engagement Ring On A Budget
If you’re buying an engagement ring on a budget, the following posts are your best friend:
Engagement Ring Trends To Keep an Eye Out For
In this section, we’ll go over some of the recent consumer trends we’ve noticed becoming more popular recently.
Socially Responsible
Plenty of couples are now opting to have diamonds and their wedding ring to be more socially responsible. This means the diamonds are sourced from reputable and environmentally-conscious retailers Like Clean Origin, James Allen, and Blue Nile.
Related: James Allen vs Clean Origin: A Head-to-Head Comparison
Taking it a step further, to avoid having diamonds that are mined from the earth (which can harm the local ecosystem), most couples are looking into lab grown diamonds — which as the name suggests, is made in a lab as opposed to mined from the earth.
To learn more about lab diamonds, check out our guide here on Best Place To Buy Affordable Lab Grown Diamonds.
Bezel Setting
Instead of settling for the traditional channel setting or prong setting, many couples are exploring different options with the bezel setting features.
On a bezel setting, a thin metal rim surrounds the outside of the center gemstone or diamond, therefore protecting all sides of the stone. This is typically done on an engagement ring with a gemstone like an emerald since they tend to be more delicate as opposed to diamonds.
Black Diamonds
As the title suggests, black diamonds might be the next major trend.
This style of diamonds suits couples with an unconventional taste and unique personality. If that’s you or your partner, a black diamond engagement ring is an excellent choice for couples looking for something beyond the traditional white, sparkling, diamond.
Custom Designing Engagement Rings For Your Own Style
Engagement ring styles don’t need to be so generic and boring. Popular diamond stores like James Allen let shoppers design and create their own custom engagement rings to make it more personal and unique to them.
In this section, we’ll briefly walk though a custom diamond engagement ring process on James Allen to show you how easy it really is in 3 simple steps. And for this, we’ll set a budget of $2500.
Step 1: Start With A Setting
For this stage, we’ll go with a pavé setting. Here, we found ourselves a 14K white gold petite pavé cathedral setting engagement ring on sale for $922.
Step 2: Select A Diamond
Next, we’ll go ahead and select a diamond. The great thing about James Allen is that based on the setting we chose in step 1, they’ll recommend a few diamonds that go well with our setting. We have a few options to choose from but we’ll go with the one that keeps us within our budget of $2500.
Here, we’ve gone with a 0.53 carat round diamond with the E color grade, VS2 clarity, and excellent cut. This diamond is currently on sale for $1470.
Step 3: Checkout
And there you have it. A completed brilliant diamond engagement ring for a total of $2392! And to make things even better, James Allen offers customers interest-free payments to purchase your diamond engagement ring.
In this case, we can opt-in to make 3 interest-free payments of $797.33 instead of paying for the full $2392 upfront.
Visit James Allen.
Understanding Insurance, Warranty, & Protection For The Longevity Of Your Ring
When it comes to the protection and longevity of your ring, it’s crucial to understand insurance and warranty.
Each vendor will have their own insurance and warranty policies that typically cover for any kinds of damage, manufacturing defects, or if the ring is lost or stolen.
We’ve analyzed quite a few warranty and insurance policies from various diamond ring retailers and our favorite one is currently James Allen’s.
Their lifetime warranty not only repairs and maintains your ring for a lifetime, but it also covers accidental damage and manufacturing defects at the time of delivery. Their warranty also includes free prong tightening, re-polishing, rhodium plating, and cleaning services.
However, if you’re not covered by any warranty, we have a detailed guide here on 4 Easy Ways To Clean Your Engagement Ring At Home Professionally.
Overall, your ring is a symbol of eternal love and commitment. Protecting and securely storing your ring by having it maintained professionally on a regular basis is vital to ensuring the longevity of your ring.
