Custom Engagement Ring Guide: Choosing the Perfect Diamond

Designing a custom engagement ring is something so special, but it comes with so many questions. It can be tough to know exactly what you want, or even where to begin the process. One of the most important things to decide early on is what the center stone will be. Diamonds are the most traditional option for engagement rings; however, diamonds offer a wide variety of options.

Diamonds have been advertised as THE stone for wedding and engagement jewelry for decades. They are the hardest mineral on Earth, and when cut correctly, can sparkle like no other. However, there is a side of diamonds that is only now rising in popularity: the obscure, colored, and included. 

Let’s start by differentiating between lab-grown and natural diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds for engagement rings have spiked in popularity due to their more affordable price and consistent color and clarity. Lab-grown diamonds are chemically the same as a natural diamond, just grown in a lab. They can only be differentiated through a microscopic etching that can be seen with special equipment. They are a perfectly good option for those seeking a classic diamond appearance, as they are indistinguishable from natural diamonds through the naked eye. 

Natural diamonds are typically more costly and harder to acquire in colorless, flawless grades. However, natural diamonds offer so many unique features and variations that they can become widely contrasted with their classic iterations. In this blog, we will do a deep dive into the different varieties of natural diamonds and how they differ from one another.

Salt and pepper diamonds are outside the traditional realm of stones you’d find in an average fine jewelry store. They have natural graphite and carbon inclusions that give the “salt and pepper” look. These stones are truly one of a kind and have a strong reminder of the natural, unfiltered beauty our Earth has to offer.

Next are champagne diamonds. Diamonds have warm coloring often found in natural material. These hues can vary from a champagne tone to yellow all the way to rusty-toned brown. These stones have a very classic, vintage feel and can be a more earthy option compared to a white diamond.

Lastly are the unique cut diamonds. If you’re looking at images of diamond engagement rings, you will mainly see these shapes, round, cushion, emerald, princess (square), oval, and pear. There are so many more unique cuts that can take a traditional diamond to the next level. For example, a geo cut. Geo cuts are variations of classic shapes that add more dimension to a given stone. Another interesting, rare cut is the mughal cut, read about its history here. Mughals are another unique, ancient-looking style that transforms diamonds into something completely new. Some other cuts that are special for engagement rings are rose cuts, old mine cuts, portrait cuts, and fantasy cuts.