What women want: Engagement rings that have sparkle and personality
Once upon a time, when a man proposed, he gave a woman a shiny solitaire diamond engagement rings. It was the standard. It’s probably what her friends had and she was egar to join the club.
Now fast forward to 2007; It;s the norm now for a women to influence what her engagement ring will look like if not to pick it out herself, says Mary Moses Kinney.
The result is bigger stones, nontraditional settings and some engagement rings that forgo the diamond altogether.
The diamond Trading Company, the sales and marketing arm of De Beers, recently interviewed 10,000 U.S couples on their purchasing behavior for diamond gifts. Only 19 percent fir the conventional image of a man presenting a women with a surprise diamond. 30% if diamond engagement ring purchases were by women called “assertiveness” those unafraid of making their views known early, some went so far as to buy the item, wrap it and hand their partner the receipt.
Over the years, brides have moved away from yellow gold, both for engagement rings and wedding bands, in favor of platinum. Which they consider more wardrobe friendly.
The price of platinum has shot up because of the increased demand and couples are again interested in gold, yellow gold, white and rose tinted.
“Rose gold is pretty, new and trendy,” according to Brides Ratten. “It looks good on many skin tones.”
Many engagement rings have micro-pave diamonds outline the setting. That makes the center stone appear bigger and sparkler. “You get the look of the big ring without piling on to much additional cost,” she says.
Another trend is three stone engagement rings, with pink or blue sapphires or less often emeralds or rubies flanking the center diamond. Colored diamonds are considered chic, but are also expensive more for the rich and famous Bratten says.
In the quest to personalize engagement rings, even semiprecious stones are being used.
There is no right or wrong ring. It’s like a favorite color, if one women likes a princess the next will want an emerald cut.