About Engagement Rings....Trends for Spring 2011

Fashion Week has just wrapped up in New York, and that means the fashion world has just gotten its first glimpse of the trends that will be dominating the runways and the sale racks for the next year. For clothing, fruit and floral patterns are big, and nostalgia for classic American looks like flannel and denim reigns supreme. But jewelry, especially engagement rings, is in a world of its own when it comes to fashion trends. Jewelry trends tend to move slowly and are less extreme than the seasonal looks that dominate handbags and shoes. When you buy a diamond ring, you want to wear it for years to come, not trade it in after a few months for a trendier design.

That being said, every year brings with it new trends and ideas that take the simple silhouettes and basic materials of the diamond ring and add a fresh new spin to them. That doesn’t mean the classic tiffany engagement rings is going anywhere, just that young fashionable brides can incorporate these of-the-moment ideas into their bridal jewelry choices.

Here is a quick look at some of the popular engagement ring styles for Spring 2011.

This look is practical as well as aesthetic. Many brides in the past have been afraid to wear their engagement rings when cooking or working with their hands. High-profile solitaire engagement rings, where the center stone rises high above the smooth metal shank, look glamorous but can be impractical for everyday wear. This new take on the classic look sinks the center stone into a split shank, giving the ring a sexy side cutout and an elegant new look that is as wearable as it is fashionable. A cutout in the bottom of the setting allows the diamond to have its maximum light performance and brilliance, while prong settings hold the diamond securely in place.

Exotic and fancy diamond shapes, like the emerald, marquise and pear shaped stones, have always existed on the fringes of the more popular round and princess cut diamond engagement rings. But new setting styles have reintroduced them to engagement ring designs and may succeed in bringing them into the mainstream. While older engagement ring settings using fancy shaped diamonds surrounded them in a sparkling nest of melée diamonds, the sleek new setting for Spring 2011 feature diamonds as themselves. Setting for fancy shapes like marquise and the above-pictured trilliant cut are simple, with no embellishments to detract from the unusual glamour of the stones themselves. These are the ultimate diamond rings—simple and different at the same time.

Rose gold, an alloy of yellow gold and copper so named for its blush tint, has long been popular in necklaces and bracelets, but has only recently become a viable option for diamond engagement rings. It remains more of an accent point in contemporary diamond engagement ring design, lending its vintage flair and unique luster to elegant rings with a modern twist. In the above engagement ring setting, a rose gold bar setting sets the princess-cut center stone apart and makes it glow from the inside out. The rose gold used here matches the channel-set melée diamonds and knife-edge shank perfectly—the entire ring exudes an air of modern sophistication and Art Deco-inspired romance.

Colored stones have been steadily rising to popularity in the last few years, as an affordable and unique alternative to the classic diamond engagement ring. The trend received a burst of popularity earlier this year when Prince William of England proposed with a stunning blue sapphire ring that once belonged to his mother, Princess Diana. But since then, colored gemstones of all kinds for single-tone, sleek and have been receiving their rightful moment in the sun, and rightful spot at the center of the engagement ring. The modern engagement ring settings eschew fanciful shapes and rainbow-hued arrangement modern setting styles. The result is a bold engagement ring with a modern look and a punch of color, perfect for the modern bride in Spring 2011. For example, this ring sets an opulent pink sapphire into a bold and fashionable bezel setting, creating an engagement ring that is secure and wearable and still feminine.