Solitaire Engagement Rings – Round

Solitaire engagement rings

Solitaire engagement rings

Solitaire engagement rings set with round brilliant cut diamonds

Although pretty simple, the solitaire engagement rings generally require a bigger budget. The setting of the solitaire engagement is usually light and relatively uncomplicated. For this reason, without the diamond, they are probably the cheapest type of engagement ring. However, to have the required visual impact, the diamond has to be of significant size. Many brides would modestly state that size does not matter, but, my experience tells me it does.

Diamond sizes under 0.40ct  do not look significant enough in solitaire engagement rings. It is a good idea to set them in more a elaborate design in order to enhance the overall impression. My opinion is that having a solo diamond  solitaire engagement ring would need to have a stone of at least 0.40-0.45ct (4.8-5mm) in order to make a statement, though, I would recommend 0.50ct to be on the safe side, while stones of 0.40-0.45ct work very well in a  three stone engagement ring design or halo engagement rings.

Most of the designs are intended to show as little metal as possible. The function of the setting is just to securely hold the diamond in place. For example, the tapered knife shank solitaire engagement ring, if properly executed, gives the impression that the stone is somehow suspended on the finger.

The basket setting securing the diamond in a classic solitaire engagement ring is with either six or four prongs and there is a wrong perception that the six prong version is more secure than the four prong. There are a lot of factors determining the security of a diamond setting; the type of metal, the quality of the setting, thickness of the prongs around the girdle (edge of the diamond) and the structural integrity of the setting. If all of them are professionally addressed the four prongs are more than enough, if not, the extra two prongs will not make a difference. My advice is if the stone is less than 0.60ct don’t go for more than four prongs.