Engagement ring sales soared by over 50% during lockdown, with millions of couples around the world committing their love with a proposal during what can only be described as a challenging and emotional time for many.
With over six million hashtags, #engagementring has increased by over two million in the last 12 months, which is just one indicator of the huge number of engagements taking place.
As we browse through stunning snaps of engagement rings from around the world, here at Steven Stone, we can’t help but wonder which styles are the most popular right now, and evaluate how that has changed over time.
Using hashtag data from Instagram, we’ve explored the most popular engagement ring styles in a bid to predict the hottest trends for the year to come.
Take a look below to see what’s trending right now.
1. Alternative engagement rings
No of hashtags: 99, 788
With almost 100,000 hashtags, the biggest trend in engagement rings right now is unconventional styles. Breaking away from tradition, couples are doing things differently to their parents, and are now creating their own designs – choosing alternative engagement ring styles over traditional ones, such as a solitaire or three stone
Disregarding carat, cut and clarity millennial couples are turning to unique, bold rings, featuring colourful asymmetric stones that are designed to represent the personality traits of their partner, making as unique as the relationships they celebrate**.**
2. Vintage Engagement Rings
No of hashtags: 47,249
The second most popular engagement ring style is vintage. With Princess Diana’s stunning sapphire engagement ring receiving a lot of attention in the last decade, our experts believe the royal ring has had a huge influence on the growing popularity of vintage styles. looking for a wedding ring that’s old school but has an elegant appeal? Well, the perfect surprise for your ‘bride to be’ is a vintage diamond cut. The raw brilliance of vintage diamonds makes for a one-of-a-kind experience and it’s in a class by itself.
Scarlett Jo Hansen, Mary Kate Olsen, and Emily Blunt all favour the classic, vintage, style, choosing antique jewels to feature in their engagement rings rather than buying new.
Our leading diamond expert Max Stone predicts that Old European cut, Asscher cut, Rose cut, and French cut diamonds will become increasingly popular this year, alongside a further increase in remodelling old rings in a bid to be sustainable and bring new life to sentimental jewellery.
3. Halo Engagement Rings
No of hashtags: 40,429
Halo engagement rings have long been popular, due to the simple fact that the halo setting can accentuate the size of the centre stone, and it seems they are still bang on trend with over 40,000 posts on Instagram. In a halo setting, the centre stone is surrounded by a shimmering ring of smaller accent diamonds. This optically extends the size of your centre diamond, making it look much larger.
4. Solitaire Engagement Rings
No of hashtags: 26,088
Also known as single stone rings, solitaire engagement rings are exactly that – rings that feature only one stone. Typically, a solitaire engagement ring features a round diamond, but can also be set with fancy shape diamonds and coloured gemstones.
The diamond solitaire can trace its origins back to Ancient Roman times, when gold bands were occasionally set with a single uncut diamond crystal, making it the oldest style of engagement ring. For centuries it was the most popular choice, however now, it seems to be slowly decreasing in popularity as more creative and bespoke styles soar.
5. Three Stone Engagement Rings
No of hashtags: 7,533
The three-stone ring is one of the most popular engagement ring styles because of its rich cultural history. Unlike the single-stone, solitaire ring, the Holy Trinity has three. While rings with traditional graduation have three stones of equal size, contemporary three stone rings range from adjacent stones of different sizes to stacked stones of the same size.
The three-stone engagement ring (also called the Trinity or trilogy ring) represents friendship, love, and fidelity, or past, present, and future.
The best trends for three stone engagement rings in 2021 will use diamond shapes a little different to the traditional round choice. Think oval diamonds with pear diamond sides, emerald cuts with tapered baguettes, princess cut diamonds with half moon crescents.
6. Split Shank Engagement Rings
No of hashtags: 7,533
Split shank rings have skyrocketed in popularity during the past two decades, particularly among celebrities including Beyoncé who rocks a split shank engagement ring with an 18-carat emerald cut diamond. A rising trend is to include pave set diamonds on the shank of the ring, as it adds extra sparkle leading up to the centre stone.
