Show me your ‘dainty’ engagement rings :)

[Joonilup]

Sorry if posted In the wrong area! Didn’t know where was best to post!!

last week while on holiday in NYC my partner of 5 years proposed to me! :)
it was a total surprise but I am so over the moon. He proposed to me with a temporary ring off Etsy with the intention of us going shopping together and choosing my engagement ring.

i know I want a dainty, classic engagement ring which I will still love and like wearing in years to come. I’m not into big diamonds at all, I want a small but beautiful diamond ring.

after researching diamonds, cut and ct sizes I know 0.5ct is the biggest I would ever choose for a diamond. I want white gold or platinum, unsure of the band as I like the diamond paved but the plain bands also.

I want a simple but beautiful diamond that sparkles :)

if you have a diamond engagement ring which is, say, 0.25, 0.3, 0.4 or 0.5ct please drop it here so I can see some inspiration :) :)

Melanie Casey does great dainty rings.

My engagement ring isn't from there, but I have an eternity and another ring by her.

I mean something like this, not her stonking big diamond ones: https://www.melaniecasey.com/collections/rings/products/toi-et-moi-et-le-reste-stacking-ring

Ooh those are nice !

Mine is an older version of this: https://www.beaverbrooks.co.uk/0131961/Platinum-Three-Stone-Diamond-Ring/p

I've worn it for over 20 years and still love it.

This is mine. It’s an art deco diamond cluster from the 1920s and we bought it from an antique shop via eBay. It’s almost 11 years since we got engaged and I still love it as much now as I did when we bought it (DH originally proposed with his late mum’s eternity ring and we went shopping together later for my ring, I still wear his mum’s ring on my right hand though).

The important thing is the clarity! Especially if you want one that sparkles & flashes of rainbows . So go to Hatton Garden in London, choose the clearest diamond in a shape that you like with the budget that you have. Then choose the setting/ring you’d like it placed in.

People have big but cloudy diamonds and they don’t sparkle. Small and pure is far nicer.

Gatsby Jewellery does beautiful dainty antique rings, mine is from there.

This is 0.5 carat solitaire. It’s very dainty and suits me as I have small hands. I love it. I’ve since added a matching wedding ring and received an eternity ring that also matches. They stack beautifully.

This is mine. DH chose it over 20 years ago. Simple and classic. I still love it.

@Tarkan yours is gorgeous.

This isn’t my engagement ring (that’s not dainty but it is from 1948) but I adore this one. It’s Edwardian. I also have a five diamond strip from the Fifties.

I love old rings. So elegant.

This is very similar to mines (I also have small hands & I have short fingers) except I have a clear band. 0.5 carat with a platinum band. I love it.

Lots of the rings shown on here are mostly setting and very little stone.

Watch that if you want sparkle, the more setting, the flatter and less bright the stone because it disappears.

Go for the highest clarity you can with the least setting possible. Pretty much the opposite of what's shown here.

The carat isn't always about the size it's more about the quality of the stone. High carat within reason, doesn't always mean huge diamond. Mine is a 0.8 solitaire but it's very simple and very dainty, plain gold band. The value is in the stone.
My ring size is an I although my wedding ring is an H, so I do have small hands and have to go with dainty jewellery.

My mother has an 8 carat ring which she keeps trying to give me. I don't want it because it looks completely ridiculous on me and I'd never wear it.

Ultimately as long as you like it that's all that matters.

Congratulations

Congratulations on the engagement.

I wouldn’t call a 0.5ct diamond dainty. On a real person in real life it’s pretty big and noticeable.

My engagement ring is a 0.23ct diamond solitaire in 18ct yellow gold and I wouldn’t want anything bigger because it would get in the way and get caught on things. No idea how celebrities wear those giant rocks they have as engagement rings.

Diamond paved bands can be scratchy and irritating because they rub on the fingers next to it. Go for only a half band of paving and not a full band. Keep in mind that the diamonds can get dirty and cloudy pretty easily depending on your skin type, how often you wash your hands, if you apply moisturiser and things like that.

Honestly you’ll need to try on a range of rings to find the style that suits your hand. I would never have picked out the style I ended up choosing. The styles I did like looked like shit on my hands.

Congratulations!
I'm a minimalist. Most engagement rings have the stone(s) raised above the band, so they stick out. That's what I didn't want, so I had mine made to my design. It was similar to this:
https://www.jewellersloupe.co.uk/products/fairtrade-yellow-gold-solitaire-princess-cut-diamond-engagement-ring-with-a-squared-band-1

I think this is really pretty

This was the other shape I liked. Still do! I went for flat/round because you'd need a wiggly wedding band to fit this one:
https://fogalandbarnes.com/products/solitaire-princess-cut-diamond-twist-engagement-ring

Definitely keep in mind what wedding ring will fit with the engagement ring. Also what eternity ring if you would want an eternity ring in the future. It’ll save you needing to get a custom ring made in the future if it’s a weird shape, or ending up with a weird look once the rings are worn together.

Thanks! I love it too! Mines white gold, which I half regret because it yellows with time and have to get it refilled. However mine do need re-sizing due to weight loss and I understand it’s not as easy with platinum!

That’s a beautiful ring.

OP, what about Arts and Crafts style rings? They can be slender and ‘dainty’.

I love mine, I've had it for 15 years now and am still so delighted with it. It's a 2.5mm palladium band with a high clarity oval cut 0.35carat diamond. It's very similar to this from a setting point of view though mine wasn't as expensive (platinum really pushes the price up):

ttps://fogalandbarnes.com/products/modern-solitaire-oval-cut-diamond-engagement-ring?srsltid=AfmBOoqj_7xq-gDaputqkPm0vHbF5vO9fBMnkZCw7njyPFMoFa-cLvRG

I didn't want anything that could get caught on clothing etc and I love how much light catches the diamond as the sides are open, regularly dazzled by "dancing fairies" (my daughters term) from my ring on bright days!

This is mine, 0.5 carat oval setting in 18cy yellow gold

Not sure where you're based, but if close, I'd recommend an appointment at Samara James. My husband designed my ring himself there. It's a beautiful clarity of diamond that sparkles rainbows but is incredibly dainty. It's designed with the diamond set further down into the band as I wear gloves a lot which makes it seem more dainty.

Mine was a .25 carat diamond solitaire, perfect when I got it , plain and simple which is what I wanted. however we have recently celebrated a big wedding anniversary and I got a new ring with the original gold and diamond incorporated into it and my ring is now 1.2 carats of diamonds.

I love it, it’s a bit bling and higher set that my original ring.

Personally if you’re choosing between white gold and platinum, go for platinum. The jewellers my ring was purchased from doesn’t offer white gold as a ring option anymore as platinum is more durable and won’t need to be replated

This is mine, 0.5ct platinum. Super dainty but sparkly. As others have said, the clarity and colour grade make a difference. I had no preference for a large diamond at all, not my style and my hands also aren’t very big. I was also happy to comprise on size in favour of a natural diamond over a lab grown diamond simply because I am a massive volanco nerd 🤓