Individual ring styles are right on trend.
As far as engagement rings go, diamonds are always divine. But coloured stones are now the cool girl’s choice as more women look to make alternative – and affordable – style statements.
Experts suggest couples are choosing stones like rubies, emeralds and sapphires not only because they’re a cheaper option – which may be especially true if you’re saving for a deposit on your first home – but for ethical reasons, too.
“A generation of marital-age people are now prioritising other things such as weddings, housing and the cost of having children rather than splashing out on a really expensive ring,” Anusha Couttigane, a senior analyst at Kantar Retail told the Telegraph.
“There is still a lot of demand for solitary diamond rings, but there has been growth in non-traditional designs which use a range of cheaper, coloured stones too.”
Kate Middleton wearing a blue sapphire engagement ring, previously belonging to Diana, Princess of Wales.
While once it was considered ‘tradition’ for a man to splash out two to three months’ salary for a solitaire, new research for Allianz shows men are now actually spending far less, with the average British man spending around £537 (NZ $940) on an engagement ring.
Despite the fact diamonds aren’t as popular as they once were, a report from De Beers shows diamonds are still very much in demand with millennials alone spending $26 billion on new diamond jewellery across four of its key markets: China, India, Japan and the United States. This number is expected to grow as this generation ages.
That said, more millennials are taking up the trend not only for pragmatic reasons, but as more women look to express themselves in individualistic and alternative ways.
UK jewellers say thanks to Pinterest and Instagram there are now so many more options when it comes to choosing jewellery and creating custom-made rings.
“It’s more personal,” custom jeweller Nikolay Piriankov told the Guardian, “rather than the ego thing of showing everyone how big your diamond is.”
