Where engagement rings are concerned, brides to be are always looking for something unusual but not too unusual. Engagement rings represent something more than design and materials for brides to be. They want the style to be their own and at the same time be enduring. They want it to be classic but different. So engagement rings present some tough choices for most women because it is not some fashion accessory that they intend to update in the near future. it must stand the test of time just as a couple’s love must stand the test of time.
The first quality of unusual engagement rings that most women consider is in metal combinations. Classic styles can be enlivened by combining different metals in the same ring. Some common combinations are White gold and rose gold as in mark Silverstein’s Gossamer collection of of split shank engagement ring mountings. The shank splits into two small slivers at the mid shank point and each sliver is either white or rose gold with a single line of pave diamonds making for a very unusual engagement ring. Then the slivers rejoin at the head of the ring giving a light airy feel to the engagement ring with open space and a sense of movement. A ring design doesn’t have to be complicated to be unusual.
The second major point of departure for unusual wedding rings is the cut of stone to be used in the center. Although many women go for round brilliants, some opt for a princess or cushion for a more geometric shape appeal that makes for unusual diamond engagement rings . Princess cuts naturally dictate the style of the ring to a great extent. Naturally the hard points and edges of a princess cut diamond beg for a geometric mounting rather than a mounting with swirls, flowers and other soft lines.
Many women find themselves leaning toward a cushion cut because though it is technically a square cut of sorts, it does have the softness to go with styling that id suitable for rounds as well as geometric styling suitable for princesses. It is also a shape of diamond that is not so common. Diamond shapes to a large extent dictate the styling of engagement ring whether her choice is a princess, round, oval, pear or marquise. On top of the traditional shapes, some of which have slipped out of fashion like the marquise and the heart is this huge variety of new cuts like the tycoon cut, the lily cut, the trapezoid cut and many others too numerous to mention that are used in more modern engagement rings. There are also older cuts that have risen back to prominence like the Ascher , radiant and cushion that can also provide the look of an unusual engagement ring.
Celebrities on the red carpet have that level of influence to change the way brides to be think about contemporary engagement rings and wedding rings in general. For instance many of the unusual trends in the use of a fancy colored diamond as the center stones in a unique engagement ring came from the red carpet with high profile engagements like that between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez where the ring in question had a square shipped fancy pink diamond of over two carats as the center stone for a welcome take on unique engagement rings. This gave the public permission to embrace the use of canary yellow diamonds and treated blue diamonds as legitimate center stone choices for their engagement rings. It also gave rise to the use of engagement rings dominated by large center stones with also large matching side stones.
Prominent designers have also been at the heart of shaping engagement ring trends. Designers like Michael B, Judith Conway, Ritani and Chris Aire with his patented red gold. Designer engagement rings have always been popular because a woman actually gets more mileage out of her designer engagement ring then she ever will out of a leather handbag by Louis Vuitton for the simple reason that her platinum designer engagement ring will be worn more and will last long after her she has grown tired of her handbag or after it has fallen apart. Designers always like to use precious and durable metals and stones for engagement rings. One thing is for sure is that prominent designers will perhaps never design silver engagement rings for the simple fact that silver does not have the durability nor the romance factor needed to serve as a bridal jewelry metal.
