Direction of e-ring design trends

[KristyDarling]

Just thought it''d be interesting to hear people''s thoughts on the general direction in which engagement ring designs are headed. (it''s been touched upon in other threads recently and has got me thinkin''!) This is NOT meant to be a debate over which designs are better...clearly all have their own appeal. Just want to know people''s thoughts on trends in general.

5 years ago when I received my original e-ring, I thought it was perfection. It is a typical Tacori complete with filigree, scrollwork, engraved detail on the basket, and baguette sidestones (one on each side). Many of my friends were also receiving similar antique-y rings with lots of detail, engraved scrollwork and such. Fast-forward only 5 years: now it''s all about diamond-encrusted bling! Whether it''s in the form of micropave, halos, settings covered with melee, extreme intricacy of detail is becoming all the rage. Based on this limited data, you might conclude that e-rings are becoming ever more intricate and elaborate with each passing year.

As a sort of backlash, do you think that the general trend might soon reverse itself and head toward the more simple designs? I.e. solitaires, plain 3-stones, engraved metal detail without melee? As Mara said in another thread, the folks here on PS tend to be ahead of the times....so do you think we''ll start seeing more people on PS switching gears and favoring simple designs over the diamond-encrusted ones, just as people in the "real world" are starting to devour the more elaborate designs? Or, do you think the diamond-encrusted bling trend is here to stay? It''ll be interesting to observe this forum and see how it all plays out!

(as I type this out, my husband is repeatedly rolling his eyes at me. well jeez, do I give HIM grief when he zones out over his sports car forums!? lol)

 

[peonygirl]

I have no idea, but that''s a great question! I eagerly await people''s responses!

 

[Lorelei]

Hum! Interesting. It''s hard to say, just my thoughts here.It wasn''t not all that long ago the ring " jackets" were popular, now there don''t seem to be any on PS. I suppose that many of the diamond encrusted blingy styles will soon become classic like the Tiffany solitaire for example, but I suppose it follows that we may see a return to the simpler styles some time, the classic solitaire which is always popular with a plain wedding band, maybe even in YELLOW GOLD!!!!

It is great to have all these choices and the option of custom work too, 20 years ago it was a YG plain solitaire or nothing....well maybe the odd sidestone here and there

I think you are right though in as much PS is a completely different world where quality and designs are concerned. I love a plain solitaire as you can have a simple look or bling it up with a sparkly band if so desired!

 

[blodthecat]

Yep....got to agree with my friend Lorelei

I personally feel the classic designs are timeless. Platinum, the most precious of metals, coupled with the best quality solitaire diamond you can afford.

Classic elegance !

dyanne

 

[diamondlil]

I believe the plain solitaire or 3-stone (any shape side stones) will NEVER go out of style. I would not necessarily base my design decision on that though.

Who knows what I will want 10 or 20 years from now. When I got married 20 years ago, everything was yellow gold (no white gold or platinum to be found in a jewelry case). Now I have platinum with pave. I hope that my current ring will stand the test of time, but if not, in 20 years I''ll probably be ready for something else anyway.

At least with us PS-ers being ahead of the times, by the time the rest of the world catches on to a trend, we''ve already enjoyed our piece for a few years.

 

[treysar]

Interesting questions.

I find that even though there is a lot of "diamond encrusted bling" on p-scope, in the real world i haven''t seen much of it in person. Most of my friends have favored centerstone with baguettes, or a channel set band. I''m the only person I know that have a halo ring - I have never even seen another one in person except for at a store - never on a hand! So it''s hard totell what hte current trend is in the real world as opposed to pricescope, where one of the trend seems to be HUGE ROCKS!! Not so in the real world - and I live right by Manhattan

 

[Lorelei]

Thank you Miss Blod ( curtsey!)

I love the classic solitaire, I feel it always looks right anywhere, but I love to see all the other options

For me, simple and classic works best. I think your lovely ring will DEFINITELY stand the test of time DL, but as you say, you might be ready for something else by then too

 

[mrssalvo]

Good Question. I do know a few years ago when I began looking for a new setting, there wasn''t a lot of pave rings or halo rings in jewelry stores. When I went to a local jeweler a couple of weeks ago pave was all through the dispay cases. I have been all over the map in my quest for an upgrade setting and after going and trying on a bunch of the popular pave style my heart still beats most rapidly for the classic solitaire. Of course I have yet to have "Breakfast at Pearlman''s" which could change my mind yet again

It will be fun to watch and see what''s next

 

[pebbles]

When I got engaged in 1998, all my friends'' rings (including mine) had channel set side stones. White gold and platinum were becoming popular. Wedding bands matched the e-rings (more channel set stones).

Since I had been basically looking for a new setting since that time,

I have noticed a change in trends. Antique-y is still in, micropave and pave much more popular than before and the chunky channel sets - almost non-existant now (with the exception of the channel set princess settings paired with a princess center). You can''t seem to find yellow gold anymore, although a few jewelers have told me it is making a comeback as more people are asking for it again.

I do think PSers are ahead of the gereral population. With all the halo settings on this site, I can honestly say I have only seen one on anyone''s hand in person, my neighbor, and that''s because she just changed her setting. I have only seen one shared prong setting in person (one of my friends who recently changed her setting too), and I work with the public so I get to see a lot of rings.

I see quite a few 3 stone rings in person, but they all have been the traditional basket settings. Solitaires are still popular, but I see them more with older women, so I''m assuming it is probably their original e-rings. I don''t see that many x-prong/trellis settings in person either.

I don''t think the general population changes their settings as much as the people on this forum do. Out of all my friends and family, only 2 people over the years have changed their settings, not including me, (who wants something different daily.

)

I don''t think we''ll see a "backlash" toward the more simple settings any time soon as the bridal magazines are plastered with images of very ornate settings. However, we may see the backlash on this site because of all the problems people have been having with their pave or shared prong settings.

I personally just traded in my shared prong setting for a 3 stone setting (still waiting for it! Augh!)

 

[ecf8503]

Date: 12/1/2005 8:26:53 AM
Author: mrssalvo
Of course I have yet to have ''Breakfast at Pearlman''s'' which could change my mind yet again

I wonder if Bill could do a PS buffet????

 

[diamondlil]

All the constant changes in trends are just a conspiracy to make us spend more money!

ETA: I've had my halo/pave for about 8-9 months. I've still NEVER seen anyone else in the public with one on their hand. They are becoming more popular in retail stores and they are everywhere at jewelry shows. Still, when I'm out and someone makes a comment about my ring, they think the design is very unique, although among the PS comparisons, mine is pretty simple I think.

 

[windowshopper]

yes..............i think we''ve seen every tom, dick and harry producig pave''d scrolled etc stuff in response to the rush around 1999, 2000 when Neil Lane and Fred Leighton started providing the "STARS" with mega estate rings with such details...............i do thing its swinging the other way..............simpler, yet substantive

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/1/2005 8:53:13 AM
Author: windowshopper

yes..............i think we've seen every tom, dick and harry producing pave'd scrolled etc stuff in response to the rush...

It's mostly Harry thought...

These styles are rather expensive out there if only the high end designer brands are considered. There is allot of custom work on PS that makes at least some level of intricacy reasonable.



PS. this may not apply that well to your LM ring, Windowshopper, because yours incorporates rather large side stones - it makes it harder to blame the cost on the otherwise intricate pave work alone. many have no side stones - and that is what I am mostly talking about.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/1/2005 1:47:06 AM
Author:KristyDarling

As a sort of backlash, do you think that the general trend might soon reverse itself and head toward the more simple designs? I

Not quite...

Taking into account the PS-kind of rings (i.e. average cost), I'd rather bet on even more custom work and at least some diamond-using twist on the good old solitaire. Even the 'simple' ones around here are not exactly simple between the heart shaped prongs of Mark Morel and Tiffany style solitaires that would likely leave the original behind too

Extreme examples of any style may become dated, but simple diamond halos have been around for ages (literally) without interruption and so have diamond set bands and what not. Those do not need to stand the test of time - it has been done already.

Can you see something like This or This becoming obsolete a couple of years down the road?



There's something else, too...

Only a little while ago, the jewelry trend may have been the range of choices in the couple of local shops more or less inclined to offer anything but the most basic (and likely to please everyone) styles. A virtual place like this accounts for so much more that no wonder the choices 'on the ground' no longer match and PS bubble seems ahead of times. Perhaps in the process individual choice is becoming acceptable enough to trump fashion.

 

[decodelighted]

I have a little bit of a different take on this ... I think stone shapes themselves also experience ups & downs on the trend ladder and what styles suit which shapes directly impacts popularity of settings.

For example: Cushions seem to be sweeping through PS right now. (Besides the idea cut round), I keep seeing cushion-seeker after cushion-seeker. Cushions lend themselves very well to pave designs, but would ya want a cushion solitaire ... prob. not! Too delicate and gentle a cut to stand on its own. FYI -- I felt similarly about my Asscher ... no solitaire because it''s such an angular, strong, even masculine cut ... needs to be softened with some antique details, sidestones and/or pave. I also didn''t want polished metal next to the stone, because I wanted the stone to be the star, it''s clean lines not competing with the clean lines of polished metal.

IMO, emeralds, rounds, pears hold up in solitaire form. Princess, Marquis, Oval, Cushion, Asscher -- un uh, at least not for me.

 

[windowshopper]

very good points decodelighted

 

[mrssalvo]

I too have yet to see anyone wearing a shared prong set, a halo ring or a 3-sided pave ring.

 

[mepearl53]

Date: 12/1/2005 8:40:49 AM
Author: ecf8503

Date: 12/1/2005 8:26:53 AM
Author: mrssalvo
Of course I have yet to have ''Breakfast at Pearlman''s'' which could change my mind yet again

I wonder if Bill could do a PS buffet????

It would be my pleasure to do "breakfast" Neil started something here.

I''d like to chime in here, for this is an area I have a ton of knowledge in. Remember, the engagement ring is a rather new idea that the general population has had access to for less than a hundred years. Around the 1920''s the engagement ring took off as a symbol of the pre-matrimony. Most were gold and platinum solitaires in the Art Deco design with carvings and plain high polish. The 30''s and 40''s were rather boring times for engagement ring design with solitaires and illusion head prongs with tiny side diamonds set in the shanks. Post-WW2 to the 60''s provided another uninspired period with white gold finding a new popularity, but the solitaire and center diamond with baguette or round diamonds were about the only ones sold. It was this boring ara that I was born. The 70''s and 80''s brought in some new ideas on old designs with channel settings becoming very populiar again along with the dreaded channel set baguette. This post-WW2 era generation started experimenting with new ideas. This is also about the time jewelry companies started branding. Remember the Orange Blossom and Keepsake brands? Oxidized rings also became in vogue and floral motifs were now in. Rings actually started to have names (moonwind, star flower, destiny flower) yuck! But the trend had began and this was the time, 1972, I entered the family business.

By the late 1980''s, a new generation began to make waves. Sakamoto with architectural design, Whitney Boin with his little understood "post collection" pave from Europe''s fashion designers. Multi-colored golds. Loads of new ideas some refined and others just beginning. Jewelers at this time had the greatest influence still, for they are the ones who purchased the bridal inventories for their show cases. Large jewelry shows began segmenting design in certain areas of the show floors while the New York Jewelers of America show started a section featuring new designers. Most of these talented young artists drew looks but little buyers for their work, which was a radical departure from the main stream. This is still the case today, but more accepted from refined eyes. This group included Steven Kretchmer, Whitney Boin, Jane Taylor, Sakamoto, Michael Good, and scores of what make up todays American Jewelry Design Guild AJDG. By grouping these talented young designers together, it gave them strength and they were slowly becoming desirable for many people eager for a fresh new direction in design.

The early 90''s started the trend into yellow and white metal combinations, which died off to all white. In the mid 90''s a jewelry show called Couture was started. This was a invitation only show that brought the best jewelers together with the best designers and manufactures. For Storm yes this was political for who choose the best! Anyway the idea was interesting in that many like minds came together in a relaxed atmosphere and shared ideas and a new era began, "Designer Jewelry." This event brought the fashion magizines, marketing guru''s, luxury cross-brands i.e. cars, luxury hotels, financial services etc. together and the chatter began. The fashion world had a new market to sell advertising to. The hollywood glam gals started promoting certain designers and wearing their jewels at award ceremonies. This was of course commercial, but it did bring to the public eyes something very good: this was the amount of unknown talent that most people never saw.

Couture opened my eyes, for I had never seen that amount of beautiful products all being produced in one spot. Focusing on bridal and the future trends, we were seeing everything unfold. Micro pave, art deco, ultra and classic comtempory design. One would see what was hot and everybody would have a version of it the next year. Intellectual property is a very hard thing to protect and some of what I was seeing as borderline robbery. But, the design industry was off and running. Now people refer to designers by name like they never did 10 years ago. Good? Bad? Makes product more expensive? Yes, maybe! With demand for certain designers brought greater expertise in the execution of the process. The best became better and the rest lagged behind and sold price. The best also got the best talent of craftsmen. Liken it to a football team. The best teams have the best records. They also work best together and don''t stumble when a single star goes down. My point here is what is being produced now is as good as it gets. Yes, new design will spring forward but truly new design is a very difficult call. Most new design will be a reinterpretation of things made in the past. It''s all in the quality of the product and design. If you have micro pave, art deco, or simple solitaires they will all endure the test of time if the execution was done correctly.

You are right that most of the people on this forum are light years ahead of the general public and that goes for the lurkers also. The average engagement ring sold in the US is around $1,500.00. That doesn''t buy a high quality diamond and mounting today. Like minds find like interest on the net and that is very cool. Agreeing to disagree on what is good for one or another is great debate and you''re all on the right track.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 12/1/2005 10:21:16 AM
Author: decodelighted
I have a little bit of a different take on this ... I think stone shapes themselves also experience ups & downs on the trend ladder and what styles suit which shapes directly impacts popularity of settings.


For example: Cushions seem to be sweeping through PS right now. (Besides the idea cut round), I keep seeing cushion-seeker after cushion-seeker. Cushions lend themselves very well to pave designs, but would ya want a cushion solitaire ... prob. not! Too delicate and gentle a cut to stand on its own. FYI -- I felt similarly about my Asscher ... no solitaire because it''s such an angular, strong, even masculine cut ... needs to be softened with some antique details, sidestones and/or pave. I also didn''t want polished metal next to the stone, because I wanted the stone to be the star, it''s clean lines not competing with the clean lines of polished metal.


IMO, emeralds, rounds, pears hold up in solitaire form. Princess, Marquis, Oval, Cushion, Asscher -- un uh, at least not for me.

I agree.

 

[elepri]

I''m surprised to hear that you don''t see too many halo rings outside of PS. It seems to be really cathcing on. I live in NYC (Brooklyn) and i see them everywhere. I"d say about 90% of the women i know who''ve gotten engaged in the past year got those halo rings. My feeling is that the trend will get even more widespread and then go out of style in a few years. I don''t know if that means the rings will be sleek and simple instead, but i do think they''ll be different.

 

[pearcrazy]

Sure there are trends. When me and most of my friends were getting engaged in the late 80''s and early 90''s we all got yellow gold settings. There were very few platinum and white gold settings to choose from. Of the 4 weddings I was a bridesmaid in in the year 1989, three of the brides got a marquise shaped diamond with either a wrap or jacket around the ring. Only one friend got a round diamond and I got a pear shaped diamond in 1991.

Round, cushion and princess with pave in white gold or platinum with halos seem to be all the fashion now and yellow gold is much more scarce. I think in 20 years we will be able to look at those rings and figure out the time frame that they were popular in.

OK, so I''ve given up the wrap that I used to wear around my pear shaped sollitaire for a ring with side stones and eternity band but I still love my yellow gold. It''s nice to look at my "dated" style and realize that my marriage has lasted longer than the fashion trend.

 

[Kaleigh]

I bet we will see more simple designs and not see so much of the encrusted diamond look we have been seeing recently. A solitaire or 3 stone ring will always be a classic.

 

[Maya Moonstone]

Hi

I think it is a mute point whether there are trends with jewelry or not. Like with fashions there are definitely trends, but there are also classics like the little black dress and the Tiffany six prong. You will get totally different interpretations of the little black dress and the Tiffany six-prong, but in essence they stay the same.

To me, because most of the time I am more on the lookout for RHR''s, the trendsin RHR''s are interesting. A few years ago the "branched" RHR''s ala DeBeers was not really a big thing. Nowadays it is.

However I disagree with Decodelight. Maybe I am biased because I have a solitaire cushion

. But on the first page of Mark Morrell''s webpage you will see a solitaire assher as well as a cushion that are to die for. Yummy.

I guess in the end it is all personal preference, what you are exposed to and what the retail world picks up on.

Maya

 

[mrssalvo]

hehe, Maya, I think Deco said over in your picture thread that after seeing your cushion solitaire she has changed her mind

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 12/3/2005 6:22:02 PM
Author: mrssalvo
hehe, Maya, I think Deco said over in your picture thread that after seeing your cushion solitaire she has changed her mind

Indeed I did! I don''t generally think of cushions as solitaires (or, say, earring studs or pendants w/o halo) ... but Maya''s is tah die for.

 

[Mara]

i think just like ring trends, stone trends happen too. i tend to see a movement towards more fancies like cushions and asschers in the last year or so on PS. don''t know if retail and regular consumers will pick up on that more...but i have seen some stars wearing cushions and similar for their own rings...maybe that will help it along.

in terms of classic i think that rounds are classic and princesses too and solitaire and 3 stone are more classic settings, in platinum or yellow gold as the ultimate classics.

in terms of where the trend is going next, it''s really hard to say. i think that some of us PS''ers are turning more to classic solitaires and simplicity after being overdosed on PS on the ornate, but that doesn''t necessarily mean the rest of the consumer and retail world will, we are kind of our own little world here!! plus as it has already been mentioned, the real world is a year or two or three behind us. so we''ll be seeing eternities for a while and halo eternities for even longer than that. i think both are fairly classic in terms of we''ll see resurgences of those at some point in the future just like they both were popular way back in the early 1900s or around there. now stuff like yg and baguettes, can''t really see that re-surfacing because it looks so dated, but who knows...sometimes that stuff comes back, like this year lime green was really hot again, yikes !

the funny thing is that i dont think we can ''predict'' the retail or consumer trend that will hit next after the current halo/eternity trend. i never could have said..hey those halos and cocktail rings from 1920''s or 1950''s are coming back this year and next year! it just happens. maybe it''ll be those cluster rings again, remember those from the 80''s? i saw one on a gal today at the bank.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 12/3/2005 9:30:56 PM
Author: Mara

TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!

Don''t jinx us unsuspecting spectators! MY EYES, MY EYES.

 

[MissAva]

Oh thats true, Angel7 just bought a tanzanite cluster ring off bidz.com.

 

[Maya Moonstone]

Deco and Mrssalvo

Isn't that what trends are all about? Women changing their minds and making it known?

And Mara...take that back! Now! See what you have done...I have to poke out my mind's eye!

Maya

 

[valeria101]

How about this:

Pave may not go out of style as soon as some pave rings go out of function. Not many are that well made and trying to imitate oldie rings with thread-like shanks does not help making these rings more wearable.

How many expensive failures would it take for the style to catch a bad name?


If practical concerns are any measure, those bead-set rings with just one row of diamonds around (some part) of the shank will probably stay. They definitely improve on the channel set style and that has been around for a while. These are rather simple and classic too.

I'd count on stacked rings and the thin shanks that go with them too.

And how long before 'women's rights' expand onto more than RHR?


Lots of industry press talks about branded diamond cuts as the next great thing. I don't know if this is just optical illusion - I find it hard to believe... but if so, these new findings come in simple solitaires for obvious reasons (small, relatively expensive diamonds that do not need details of the rings to be out of ordinary).

What do you think? Would you rather have diamonds branded ?

Maybe we can't predicy fashion, like Mara says, but it is fun to think about it!