STYLES
The six styles you will see most often are: solitaire, three stone or trilogy, five stone, halo, cluster and band. Let’s tackle them in turn.
Solitaire This describes a single stone ring of any shape. The most basic form is a round brilliant-cut diamond 4-claw or 6-claw solitaire.
This may be a good choice for the minimalist. For the more adventurous and individual there are plenty of potential variations on the theme.
The 4-claw ‘NSEW’ looks very pretty, but it will require a shaped wedding band to fit around it, as will some basket settings and bezels.
Trilogy Another classic is the three stone trilogy ring. This has a central stone which is usually, but not always, larger than the two matching side stones. Again, any shape or type of stone can be used, and this style often incorporates a coloured gemstone as the centre stone. As a gemstone may be less expensive than a similar size and quality of diamond, you may be able to use a larger stone within your budget than if the ring were all diamonds. Do be careful about choosing the setting for a trilogy if you want to be able to wear a straight wedding band with it.
Five-stone For engagement rings, this design is less common now than it used to be, and less popular than the trilogy. Similar pros and cons apply, and it may be most suited to a larger finger, keeping the ring in scale with the personality yet still within budget.
Halo In recent years this has become a very popular choice for engagement rings. It enables you to get maximum impact for less money. You can use a small central diamond or gemstone with lots of small diamonds in the halo, or you can use a larger central stone and enhance it with the halo. The central stone can be either claw-set or bezel-set. If it is claw-set, take note of the appearance of the space between the centre stone and the surrounding halo. A well designed ring will minimise the appearance of this gap.
Depending on the setting, you will need to be aware of the potential for a shaped wedding band to go with this ring. If you are on a tight budget, do not save on this ring only to find yourself paying a lot more when it comes to the next stage.
Cluster The halo and cluster are similar, but have key design differences. While the halo is contained in a channel surrounding the central stone, a cluster is a collection of claw-set stones where the setting of each stone is connected to its neighbour.
This design in particular is one where it may be necessary to have a shaped wedding band, or have it sit on top of a wide plain one with a thin cross-section.
Band Some people choose a simpler stone-set band for their engagement rather than a ring with feature diamonds or gemstones. This is an obvious choice for a man’s engagement ring. Because there is nothing to catch or knock, it may also be suitable for someone who is very active, for healthcare professionals or those who cannot wear one of the other designs at work.
Freestyle Of course there are many more options for your ring design, and, if you have it designed for you or design it yourself, you can create the most individual and personal ring. These are just a few of the more unusual engagement rings I have designed for clients.
Bezel set A bezel setting is a ring of metal surrounding the stone. This can encase the whole stone or be a band around the girdle. A half-bezel has part of the bezel cut away at each side. The bezel can also be pierced to allow more light into the back of the stone. Depending on how much of the lower part of the stone the bezel covers, this style of setting does restrict the light entering the stone and can diminish the brilliance of a diamond or enhance the depth of colour of a gemstone.
This setting has the advantage that it is smooth and gives a contemporary feel to some designs. It is very secure and difficult to damage, protects the stone, particularly more brittle gems like emerald, and won’t catch on clothing as claws do.
Bar and tension set A bar setting is a type of tension setting. This is where the stone is held under tension between two metal surfaces. It is a very contemporary look.
As long as the stone is firmly anchored in the wall of the setting and there is metal to ‘tie’ the two surfaces together, it is pretty secure and offers some protection to the edges of the stone. If there is no ‘tie’ between the metal surfaces, then the design has to be very rigid to ensure that the stone does not come loose. These settings work best for rectangular stones where there is greater surface area contact.
Channel and grain set Channel settings are mostly used to set stones in the side of the shank and in bands. It is the most secure setting for this purpose.
The stones sit inside a channel in the band and a small amount of metal covers the edge of the stone. This keeps the stones in place and protects them from mechanical damage.
Channel setting is particularly good for princess cut and baguette shank stones as it gives a smooth continuous finish.
If the channel also has little claws, it is a grain setting. In the latter, sometimes the grains hold the stones in place rather than the channel. At other times, both do the holding. This is particularly good for round stones as the grains fill the gaps between the stones.
Pavé set A pavé setting is, literally, like a ‘pavement’ of little stones all held in place by tiny claws or grains which are shared between neighbouring stones.
It is more common as a setting for dress rings. Done well it will last a long time, but a lot of pavé settings are not very secure and it is easy to lose stones.
Rub-over or ‘gypsy’ set This is where a stone is individually set directly into a hole made in the metal of the band. It is mostly used for small stones and does restrict the light entering the stone.
Composites Composite settings group lots of small stones together to make them look like one larger stone. The idea is to give the appearance of, say, a 1.0ct diamond at a significantly lower cost, but they are not very convincing and can look a bit cheap. They are usually bezel-set to provide more stability to the illusion. If princess cut stones are used, these can be set flush against each other. Round stones will require claws between them.