I needed to get my engagement ring re-set. So I’ve been obsessively looking up different unique engagement rings. That means I’ve been scouring the interwebs for months and months for awesome ring designs. And now the problem is I have too many awesome unique engagement rings to take inspiration from, and it’s doing my head in.
Wanna see my favorites? Lookie lookie…
I love that the prongs overlay the diamond in the Odette the Swan ring and the Odile the Swan ring from Catbird?
Catbird’s Cornelia ring also has a very unique prong feature. And now I wish I had a grey rose cut diamond!
This solitaire setting with the swipe of gold, is something that you rarely see.
Maybe making the band the main feature would make the engagement ring more unique? I just love this ring from Joseph Jewelry.
I could go with something super simple like this ring.
Or go super-big and chunky, so it gets a little lost in a stacked ring vibe, like with the Cherry Blossom wedding set, or this setting.
Maybe if the band is almost as thick of the diamond and set deep into the settings, like this one?
But man, I do love a super-thin band because they’re easier to wear with stacking bands. And this one by Jennie Kwon gave me some good ideas for setting back my baguettes.
I love how the gold is collected up on the sides of the diamond, instead of using side stones.
Speaking of side stones… I have to do something with the baguettes on the ring, so I was thinking of using them in the ring like in this setting from Catbird. Which, btw, is my top-runner at the moment, if only for the cool studded details. That’s unique AF.
Or I could take the two baguettes and make them into an entirely new and awesome ring. Like the Perryn Diamond Baguette ring.
UPDATE: Here’s what my engagement ring looks like now!
I got in touch with the wonderful folks at Joseph Jewelry to design my perfect unique engagement ring based on a lot of my favorite parts of all of these rings. You can read about the entire process here. But this is what we ended up creating:
Okay, your turn: which ones do you like best? And feel free to suggest other sources of unique engagement rings!
SarahBeth
I honestly love the first one!
Dootsie Bug
If this hadn’t occurred to you yet, what you don’t wanna do is use white gold/platinum. It looks like you’re not headed that direction, but it can kind of blend in with the rock and make it look bigger.
I think a bezel setting would be smart. It’s going to actually cover part of the stone all the way around, so it will automatically, actually be littler.
meganfinley
I love bezel set (my last rings’ iteration was bezel set), but in my research, there’s much debate about whether or not a bezel makes it look bigger or smaller. So I waffle. But also, I’m definitely looking into gold or some kind of blend of gold and white gold.
Kelly Maguire
FWIW a bezel setting will definitely make a diamond look less sparkly as it doesn’t let light under the stone at all.
Amy
For what it’s worth, I have a half bezel set diamond (only on the bottom, not on top) and it’s in platinum and I definitely feel that the combo of those two things minimizes the size of my diamond. I have a sizeable diamond but I know if it was in literally any other setting (like prongs) it would look a lot bigger. But I preferred the bezel because it made the diamond flush with the metal and it looked cleaner looking. As for the metal, I went with platinum because I felt that with regular gold (which I hate anyways – too yellow!) that it’d be too much contrast with the diamond anyways.
In my mind bezel + platinum or white gold makes it all mesh very well together so it doesn’t look like some giant mass of sparkly rocks.
Best of luck choosing! My best advice is to pick something tha t feels like it complements/echos the type of other jewelry you gravitate towards and wear, and to just keep searching until you find something that feels right.
meganfinley
Half bezel!? Can I seeeeee!????
Amy
Amy again!
Mine was a custom design and I honestly don’t have a single decent photo of it but it is very similar to this:
http://www.rommdiamonds.com/sanday.html
(I don’t have a band yet but when we go to design our wedding bands I’m thinking I’m going to have one that is a small platinum that follows the curve of the ring like the above design, just without diamonds on the band heh.)
Mind you, my diamond is a princess cut so that affects the design. But I’ve definitely seen round cut diamonds with a half bezel on the bottom as well. The way it is secured is just the main priority with them because it’s a bit unusual.
meganfinley
WHOA. That’s AWESOME.
Alissa
I’ve been crushing hard on bezel settings for years. I have a beautiful birthstone ring my grandfather gave me, but the prongs catch on every freaking thing. I’ve had to pay to re-line my winter coat twice because the liner has been shredded. Rings that don’t catch on crap: totally my jam.
KathyRo
Gack. Too many choices.
I love the swipe of rose gold on the first one.
Kelly Maguire
I have a sapphire rather than a diamond, but it’s pretty huge. By putting moderately sized side stones next to it (I think they’re like .1ct and .08ct on each side?) rather than small ones the main stone looks more reasonably sized. https://www.flickr.com/photos/kellbot/4713932995/in/datetaken-public/
meganfinley
Oh yeah… Weirdly I think that would help it look less big. Hmmm… hadn’t considered that before.
Kelly Maguire
for scale, that sapphire is about 7mm in diameter.