Make Your Diamond Look Larger!

When it comes to diamond engagement rings, it is hard to supress your materialistic and slightly greedy side. All brides-to-be want their rings to be larger, shinier and more stunning than those of their friends, which very often leaves their partners in the difficult position of either disappointing their significant other or exhausting their finances.

Fortunately for men and women buying diamond engagement rings - particularly those on a budget or who cannot afford the standard two-salary expenditure usually associated with these types of jewels - there exist a few tricks to make that stone in your ring of choice look larger than it actually is. And unsurprisingly, most of them revolve around one of the most ignored parts of the engagement ring, the setting.

Make It Big

In fact, a good way to make the stones in diamond rings look bigger is to choose a pave setting or a halo setting. Both these configurations have smaller diamonds set around the larger stone, giving the illusion that it is bigger than it actually is. The halo setting takes this one step further by actually raising the stone in relation to the rest of the ring, allowing it to capture more light and therefore appear to grow in size!

However, for couples who are not fans of either of these settings, there is a third solution for making diamond engagement rings look larger: try using a shallow diamond rather than a deep (or ‘ideal’) one. Most buyers (and some designers as well) are reluctant to use shallow diamonds since the light refraction in them is not as dazzling as in a regular diamond. However, in conjunction with the right setting – namely one which can provide enough light to overcome this problem - your shallow diamond can look every bit as shiny as a regular, deep one would!

One final thing to keep in mind is that, by settling for stones with a lesser colour or clarity for the diamond engagement ring, couples may be able to afford larger stones to begin with, avoiding the need for all the ‘tricks’ detailed above! So if you value size over shine or colour, you may also want to take this option into consideration!

As has hopefully become clear, then, it is often not necessary to buy an outlandishly large stone as a ring-topper; with a little bit of craftiness and savvy, a much more modest diamond can be made to look just as shiny and impressive!

Laura L Bolick is the founder of the F&L Designer Guides, compiled and written to help consumers choose a unique engagement ring design. From diamond engagement rings to princess cuts and engraved bands, we have ideas and opinions covering all the options. Offering advice, tips and suggestions on how to choose that perfect ring, F&L will accompany you on every stage of your search to find the right designer.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.