An engagement ring is the traditional symbol of relationship social status. Originally, engagement rings were for women to subtly show off their social status through jewelry (as unmarried or widowed women were considered to be of lower social status). The material of the engagement ring also indicated a family’s wealth (the better the materials, the wealthier the family was).
Today, engagement rings are all about the love! They are the jewelry that most people are excited to get, and to dream about. Many will follow engagement ring trends to also show off their fashionista side. Over the years, these trends and traditions had changed. Here are the top three engagement ring trends for the 21st Century:
1) Cut and Color
Traditionally, diamond engagement rings are thought to be better if they followed the traditional evaluation of cut, color, and style. However, today’s engagement rings today are personalized through the cut and color of the stone.
Although traditional cuts (such as halo, and solitaire) are still favored, creative cuts are starting to get a lot of love. Some of these creative cuts include the East-West cut, pear-shaped cut, marquise-cut, and oval-cut gemstones. Moreover, colored gemstones and dark gems are also making a comeback. Now that Remembrance jewelry is trending, people love getting colored gemstones too.
In terms of colored gemstones, some people love the personalization aspect of it. Some people love getting their own birthstone, their fiancé’s birthstone or even their anniversary’s birthstone as the engagement ring!
Long story short, people can be even more sentimental through engagement rings today.
2) Metals
Although most people still favor white metals, more and more couples are into colored metals. Rose gold is now especially increasing in popularity. The most important thing to note is to have people pick metals based on what looks good with your skin tone. Today, people prefer a higher grade metal if it’s easy to care for.
3) The Placeholder Ring
What is a placeholder ring? It is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the ring that sits on the person’s married finger in place of the actual ring.
Although it does not sound like the most romantic idea, we are now living for the placeholder ring. Some major companies even debuted their “$50 placeholder ring” that allows you to buy brand-name placeholder rings. Some give you the option of returning the placeholder ring back to get some discount off your official engagement ring.
However, some people want to save the placeholder ring for sentimental purposes. Therefore, some want to wear a cute ring but without the hefty price tag.
Long story short, the placeholder ring does not have to be too expensive to serve it’s one purpose – be the ring before the ring.
Find your own placeholder ring here! What are your favorite engagement ring trends?