Vintage engagement rings such as this stunning design are increasing in popularity in 2011.

If you’re going to propose to your girlfriend soon, one of the “must have” items on your list is certainly an engagement ring. As we roll into 2011, it’s time once again to take a look at which diamond engagement ring styles will be popular in the coming year. My post last year on the popular engagement rings for 2010 was one of the most popular ever. Thousands of you checked it out, so I’ve decided to look into what the stylish gal’s fingers will be sporting in ’11.

Traditional Diamond Solitaire Continues Popularity
As usual, the classic diamond solitaire will enjoy continues popularity for 2011. It’;s hard to argue with a classic like this, and many women love the timeless look of a nice diamond on an elegant gold band. There will be a few cuts that will stand out above the rest. The leading diamond cuts sure to be leading the pack for the new year include the princess cut and round cut, with plenty of Oval, Emerald-cut, Marquise-cut, and pear cut diamonds being asked for as well.

Vintage Diamond Rings Will Be Popular for 2011
One trend worth watching for 2011 is the vintage look. It seems that vintage inspired diamond rings are poised to make a run in the new year. What sets apart vintage inspired rings is the overall look of the ring. It’s all about class and hearkening back to a day when life was just a bit simpler. Many of us yearn for such times, and these rings give just a bit of that in our modern lives.

The diamond cut typically used in vintage rings is square Asher cut and Old European round center cut, although others make an appearance as well. There are often tiny, microset diamonds scattered tastefully around the main stone. When it comes to metal, classic gold is often the choice, and it’s hard to go wrong there. Many vintage inspired rings eschew gold and go with white gold or platinum , however. On many occasions the metal will have intricate patterns engraved in it, as was the fashion years ago.

Basically, if it looks like it was made 100 years ago, it passes the vintage test. Many guys have decided to go the whole 9 yards though, and get an actual vintage ring. These are easy to find in most cities. Just go to an old mom and pop jewelery store. They’ll often have some genuine vintage rings you can look at. You’ll know if your gal would dig one of these rings, or if her style is better reflected by something more contemporary.

Popular Colored Diamond Rings in 2011
Speaking of contemporary, you can scarcely get more modern that one of the new, colored diamonds tat are still gaining in popularity. I posted about pink diamonds quite a few months back, but it seems pink diamonds are just the tip of the iceberg. For 2011, the best attired finances and brides will be sporting all manner of color on their fingers, including brown diamonds, popularly called chocolate.

Chocolate diamond engagement rings are all the rage now, experiencing a spike in popularity as almost nothing has

Chocolate diamond engagement rings such as this one are going to be seen on may fiance's fingers in 2011.

ever before. Close on the richness of chocolate diamonds comes another word that reeks of wealth and prosperity, champagne. Yes, you can get a champagne diamond, and thousands of trend setting guys will be doing just that for their gals this year.

As you’d expect, a champagne diamond has a tinge of bronze color, and sparkles with a fire that puts an actual glass of bubbly, even one in a fine Baccarat crystal glass, to shame. Although theses diamonds are typically some variation of bronze color, they can be almost as dark as  a chocolate diamond, and almost as light as a clear stone. The colors of champagne diamonds are denoted with a C scale, ranging from C1 (lightest) to C7 (darkest)

Chocolate and champagne colored diamonds are mined almost exclusively in the Argyle region of Australia. They owe their fine colors not to impurities in the diamonds, but rather to a disruption caused in their crystal structure when they’re formed. That means you can still get a virtually flawless diamond ring for her finger, even if you choose a colored stone.

Note that the diamond must exhibit the sparkle we’ve come to expect from a true diamond, or else it will receive a downgrade. These chocolate and champagne diamonds are not simply poor quality white diamonds. Like traditional white stones, they are actually graded for color and clarity, and can not receive high makes unless they show the same light reflecting fire as white stones do.

What Else Will Be Big in 2011?
What other popular trends are we seeing in engagement rings for 2011?

Multi Stone Rings – Another style that looks to be gaining ground for the new year is multi-stone rings. In particular rings with a center diamond and stones all around it look to be really gaining momentum for ’11. The surrounding stones can be in arranged in a complementary ring around the center stone, or the band can be encrusted with many other stones.

Twisted Band Rings – The twisted band engagement ring, with or without the multi-stone treatment is another style that looks to be on an upward climb, popularity wise. Women are tiring of the same thing when it comes to their engagement rings, and want to find a way to make theirs a bit different than their mother’s or their friend’s designs.

The twisted rings allows ring designers considerable flexibility to pursue this goal. The twist can contain a single band with a twist, or it can be multiple bands twisted together. Either way, the twisted band style seems to be gaining ground on the traditional, single band designs.

Leave it to the royals to set worldwide trends in jewelery. For 2011, you can bet there will be more sapphire engagement rings sold world wide. That's because the (soon to be) Princess Kate received one from Prince William as her engagement ring last month.

World Events Change Wedding Ring Styles for 2011
As you might have guessed, any time a royal gets engages there are stylistic repercussions the world over, and the recent engagement of Prince William to Kate Middleton is surely no different. So, which ring did the prince propose with? He asked Kate to be his bride with the engagement ring from his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Although there are certainly diamonds on this ring, the center stone on Diana’s, now Kate’s ring is a very nice, blue sapphire. Jewelers are already reporting tremendous increase in demand for sapphire rings since the announcement.

So, there you have it. The most popular diamond engagement rings for 2011are going to be vintage rings, colored diamond rings

If you’re going to get engaged in the coming year, you may well want a peek into what the most popular engagement ring styles will be for 2010. At the risk of sounding clairvoyant, some of them will be popular simply because they are every year, and 2010 will be no different.

Princiess cut diamond solitaire rings, such as this one, will be very popular for 2010

Princess Cut Diamond Solitaire – This ring, with a square shaped diamond is a neo-classic, and perennially among the most popular engagement ring styles. A simple, Tiffany 6-prong setting on a band of either gold or platinum does a great job at showing off the diamond. The upside is that the ring looks great, but the downside is that you need a comparatively larger stone because it is out there all by itself, where everyone can get a great view of it, and nothing else to draw your eyes away.

Round diamond solitaires will also prove to be very popular in 2010, and should also be on your “must see” list.

Princess Cut Diamond Solitaire with Channel Set Sidestones – This is similar to the solitaire ring above, but has an array of stones on the band, flanking the main stone. The smaller stones are in a channel setting, where they are visible only from the top. The advantage is that the channel set diamonds can be relatively small, yet look very impressive. It is an elegant design that is favored by many women.

The channel set sidestones on this ring add to the brilliance

With this style, you can get a very impressive looking ring for a relatively modest cost, an definite advantage in today’s economy. The princess cut was designed specifically to offer maximum reflectivity and brilliance, so that with one in the center, flanked by a row to either side, you’ll definitely have a ring that you can show off.

Three stone rings such as this one, either with side stones or without, should also be hot sellers for the coming year.

Three Stone Engagement Ring – This will be very popular in 2010 with round diamonds, either with 3 equally sized stones or with a larger diamond in the center. You can have this ring either with the three primary stones only, or with channel mounted side stones to add to the elegance.

Remember, you can make a tremendous impact on the cost of your ring by weighing the effects of the particular diamond on the overall cost of the ring. In most cases, the diamond is the singe larges contributor to the overall cost of the ring. Look at my previous post on how to find affordable engagement rings for some powerful strategies on how to get her the ring she deserves at a price you’ll love.

These should prove to be the most popular engagement ring styles for 2010, but that doesn’t mean you have to run with the crowd!

For an engagement ring that is extra special, try a natural pink diamond.

Although pink diamond engagement rings have been bestowed upon women for centuries, the pink stone has recently been gaining in popularity. England’s Queen Elizabeth 2nd received a huge, pink diamond for her wedding over 50 years ago, but more recently such celebs as Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Victoria Beckam, Nicole Kidman, Vivica Fox, and Salma Hayek have all either received pink diamond engagement rings, or enjoyed wearing other pink diamond jewelery.

Why is the pink diamond so prized as an engagement ring stone? First of all, pink diamonds are among the most rare diamonds. A natural, pink diamond costs 10 – 30 times more than a white diamond of similar quality. They come from only a few mines in the world, and are mined in much smaller quantities than traditional clear or light yellow diamonds. Their rarity alone makes them attractive as a symbol of rare love. Then there is the color; pink. Pink is not only a color that many women love, it has implications regarding love and romance. A rare, pink stone would be perfect as a symbol of everlasting love, such as an engagement ring.

Where do pink diamonds come from? The primary source of pink diamonds is the Rio Tinto Group’s Argyle Diamond mine in northern Australia. Over 90% of the world’s pink diamonds are sourced from this mine.

If you’re looking for a pink diamond for your girlfriend’s ring though, chances are it will come from a different source, because while the Argyle supplies the world with much if it’s pink diamonds, most of them are not high quality gemstones. This is not a hard and fast rule however, as there have been some spectacular pink diamonds taken from the Argyle, including a 3.14 carat round pink diamond sold at Christies Auctions in New York for over $1.5 million in 1989. Today that stone would be worth much more. Indeed, while most of the stones from the Argyle mine are not superior quality, their pink diamonds that are gem quality are the best in the world.

The reason the few pink diamonds from the Argyle that are classified as high quality gemstones have such stratospheric values is because of their intense, pink hues. Most pink diamonds tend to be a bit more subdued in color. The pink diamonds from mines in Brazil, Africa, and India come from geological formations called kimberlite plates, while those from the Argyle are a different type of geological feature, called lamproite. It is thought that this difference accounts for the Argyle’s more intense pink stones.

How can you find your girlfriend a pink diamond engagement ring? The Natural Color Diamond Association (NCDIA) is an industry association that, appropriately enough, deals with naturally colored diamonds. There are approximately 55 jewelers that are NCDIA members worldwide. Most of these are in the U.S., although there are also jewelers in Australia, Canada, the Middle East, and the U.K. You can also check your local jeweler for pink diamonds. Most of the pink diamond engagement rings you would have custom made, although you can find rings with the stones already made if you look.

If you’re looking for a way to get a ring that is extra special, a pink diamond engagement ring has a lot going for it. It really says something, and your you know her friends won’t have a ring anything like it!

Do you know anyone who has gotten a pink diamond ring for their engagement?

If you’re going to get engaged there is almost no way around doing some ring shopping, and in most cases you’ll be choosing a diamond for your girlfriend’s engagement ring. Through a nifty bit of marketing by the De Beers family of companies, most people choose diamonds for their engagement rings throughout the western world.

As an aside, Cecil Rhodes, the founder of De Beers, started out just renting pumps to the diamond mines. He grew his little operation, invested in the mines he was supplying the pumps to, and ended up owning all the diamond production facilities in the nation of South Africa. That’s a bit of shrewd investing.

A few months back, I posted on choosing a diamond for her engagement ring, and discussed the 4Cs of a diamond. These are it’s color, cut, clarity, and carat weight.

Here is more about how to choose the right diamond, so you can walk into a jewelery store without that “deer in a headlights” look or browse an online jeweler and know more about what you are looking for. Remember, you can get a great diamond for her ring without spending so much for it, if you have a bit more knowledge.

Different Diamond Cuts
Many people confuse diamond cut with it’s shape, and I discussed this a bit in my earlier post on how to choose a diamond for your girlfriends engagement ring. The cut is actually the angle and shape of the facets. Here are some of the more popular cuts, so you can actually see what they look like.

Diamond Shape
Again, this is sometimes confused with the diamond’s cut, but it is actually just what it sound’s like, the overall shape of the stone, as described by it’s outline. Here are some pictures of the more popular shapes:

Here are some of the more popular diamond shapes. Your girlfriend probably has a favorite already. Your job is to find out what it is.

Diamond Ideal Cut Proportions:

Notice how the permissible variation in tolerances for the cut decrease with quality level.

Why are the angles of a diamond cut so important?

The various cut angles determine how the stone will reflect light. That’s what gives a diamond it famous “fire” qualities that are so prized. Without these, diamonds would just be a really cool glass cutter.

If the cuts are outside the ideal angles, your girlfriend’s diamond will not have the brilliance through the sides and bottom that you want. That is because it will lose light as the light is refracted, or bent, as it goes through the diamond. The angle of the cut helps determine how which direction the light exits. The angle must be just right, and each facet angle must be consistent in order to get the brilliant diamond that most people want. That ensures the diamond has that same fire and brilliance from any side.

Here you can see why the angle of the cut is so important. The arrow represents light entering the diamond. You can see how an improper cut angle lets light “leak” out of the stone, rather than sending it back to your eye.

Look at how the cut angle affects the light path through a diamond.

Hopefully you can use this info to help pick out the diamond your girlfriend deserves. Check out my post on how to find and affordable engagement ring for strategies that can save you big money on your ring, but still get the spectacular ring she wants.

Finding the Right Engagement Ring is So Much Easier... If you Know How to Look and Exactly What to Look For.

If you’re going to propose to your girlfriend, you’ll need an engagement ring. How to find affordable engagement rings is probably at the top of your list these days. After all, the economy could be better, and even if it was great, there’s nothing like getting a good deal. Diamonds can be expensive, you know.  Here are some ways you can find the ring you’re looking for, without spending a fortune.

Before we look at how to find an affordable ring to wow your sweetie with, you should know a bit about rings and the diamonds that adorn them. There are different quality levels of just about everything in life, and diamond engagement rings are no different. The difference is that diamond engagement rings tend to be more expensive than most other purchases you make. After you know a bit more about them, I’ll reveal some ways to get high quality rings for substantial savings.

No one says that you must have a diamond engagement ring, but those are far and away the most popular. When looking at diamonds, you’ll be looking at several things. The most important are color, carat weight, cut, and clarity.

To find that perfect diamond for her ring that will delight her and keep you in the black at the same time, check out my post on
How to Choose Diamonds for Engagement Rings

Rings are typically made out of 3 different materials; yellow gold, white gold, and platinum. A popular trend is to mix two different metals together in the same ring. Recently, some men have been buying rings made out of titanium for their girlfriends too.

Now that you know a bit more about what to look for when shopping for engagement rings, here are some ways you can get the perfect ring for your girlfriend, without spending so darn much. If you want to spend big money on a ring, that’s fine, but you should still get value for your money, no matter how much you spend.

Here are some tips to get more affordable engagement rings for your girl.

Find an Affordable Engagement Ring – Tip 1 – People want 1 carat diamonds, a lot of people! That makes the price of 1 carat stones go up. Just getting to the magical 1 carat size will cost you plenty. You can get a ring that you can’t tell by looking isn’t a 1 carat ring, but will cost you far less money, by buying a .95 carat ring. That 1/20th of a carat can really decrease the price you pay, so when you’re shopping, look at the .95 carat rings, instead of the 1 carat ones.

Find an Affordable Engagement – Ring – Tip 2 – Pick the right cut, it will make your ring more affordable. Some diamond cuts are more difficult to make, so they are more expensive, plus there are fewer of them around, and that makes for greater expense as well. More affordable cuts are the princess and emerald cuts. Choosing one of these will save you money on your engagement ring.

Find an Affordable Engagement Ring – Tip 3–  Choose a silver ring, instead of the more popular gold band. Not only is silver itself less expensive than gold, but there is a greater demand for gold rings, further increasing their prices. If you have your heart set on an affordable ring, walk right by the platinum and titanium bands. These are the most expensive of all.

Find an Affordable Engagement Ring – Tip 4 – Choose a solitaire. Forgoing intricate designs with multiple stones will save you money. You can get a relatively simple design, such as solitaire flanked by a couple of smaller diamonds, but be prepared to spend commensurately more. The more difficult the ring is to make, and the greater the total carat weight of the diamonds it contains, the greater the hit to your budget.

Find an Affordable Engagement Ring – Tip 5 – Steer clear of the big, chain jewelery stores at the mall. These stores have to pay for pricey mall real estate and large corporate overhead, all of which increases the prices they must charge you for the ring. You can browse through the stores close to, but not in the malls and save substantial funds, or find a smaller, independent store for with reasonable prices.  In addition, there are several very good Internet retailers that can give you very nice discounts on engagement rings. They have excellent selections and fast service.

Obviously, you won’t get to view the rings first hand, but if you know what you’re shopping for, and buy from a reputable company with a good return policy, that is not a problem. One such online jewelery firm is SuperJeweler.com. Their prices and selection are first rate, and they always have sales that can save you up to 60% over what you’d pay at the mall jewelers. They have free, FedEx shipping and a 30-day, no questions asked, money back guarantee, so you have no worries. Click here now to see their selection and see how much money they can save you on your girlfriend’s engagement ring.

Remember, it is important to not go overboard when buying your girl an engagement ring. You do not want to start off your marriage deep in debt from overspending on a ring, especially in this economy. So, buy a nice ring, but please limit it to one that won’t put a huge dent in your finances.

Finding the right diamond for your girlfriend's engagement ring can make all the difference. Here's how you can get the perfect diamond for her ring.

Just because you want an affordable engagement ring to slide over your sweetie’s finger doesn’t mean you should go into the ring buying experience knowing nothing about rings and the diamonds that do often sit atop them. Here is a look at what determines a good diamond form a bad one, and more to the point, why some diamonds are so much more expensive than others.

By far the most expensive component of an engagement ring is the diamond. If you’re trying to keep the ring affordable, start with the diamond. Here is how you can choose a diamond that will make your girlfriend overcome with happiness, but keep from maxing out your credit cards. Strike the right balance between quality and size, and you’ll end up with an affordable ring that she’ll love forever.

Here is what to look for when selecting a diamond for her ring:

Diamond Color
The most expensive diamonds are pure white. As the color goes away from pure white and more towards a yellow tint, the price drops. Color in diamonds is rated using a alphabetical scale, where D is the highest rated, most pure white, with E and F close behind, and also colorless. Ar colorless diamonds are classified using the letters G,H,I, and J.

With each descending letter, the desirability decreases and the stones become more affordable. After the near colorless diamonds, you’ll find faint yellow diamonds, with the letters K,L, and M, just like Royal Dutch Airlines. Next down the chain are diamonds using the letters N, O, P, and R. These are termed “very light yellow”. The lowest rocks on the diamond totem pole of color are classed using the letters S through Z. These are various shades of dark yellow. They are probably not what you’d give in an engagement ring, but they are the least expensive stones.

Diamond Clarity
Diamonds are rated for clarity using an alpha-numeric rating system. The most prized diamonds are completely flawless, and are rated, appropriately enough “F”, for flawless. These are extremely  expensive, as you may well imagine. Few average folks have ever seen one of these before. Almost as nice, but a step down the clarity ladder are IF diamonds, as in “If you have to ask….” The IF stands for internally flawless. Again these are relatively rare, and very expensive.

Coming down a bit into the land where most people live, you’ll find VVS1 clarity diamonds. VVS1 means very, very small inclusions (flaws) are present in the stones. These are still very, very nice diamonds, and are priced accordingly. The next step down in diamond clarity are VVS2 diamonds. These have flaws that are barely visible to a jeweler viewing with 10X magnification.

Below VVS2 are VS ratings. The flaws at this level are visible using magnification, but not really with the naked eye. They are still very nice rocks, ones you’d be proud to slip on your girl’s finger. They are commensurately less expensive than the VVS 1 and 2 diamonds. Like the VVS classifications, the VS classification has 1 and 2 also.

Following the VS classification are 3 levels of SI stones, SI, SI1, and SI2. The SI diamonds have flaws, but they are still not visible to the naked eye, so unless you walk around with a 10x jewelers loupe strapped to your eye, you’ll never see them. More to the point, neither will anyone else. You’ll also pay less for the SI rated diamonds than you will for anything with a “V” in it.

Below the SI grades are 4 levels of LI rated stones. LI stands for “large inclusions”. As you can imagine, the flaws at these levels are noticeable.

Diamond’s Carat Weight
This is one of there areas where she might not think that good tings come in small packages. When it comes to diamonds, if nothing else, most women will tell you that size definitely does matter. Diamond’s sizes are measured by the carat weight. The higher the number, the larger the stone. Since 1907, the year they took the cocaine out of CocaCola, the weight of a carat has been set at 200 milligrams.

Diamond Cuts
You’ve probably noticed diamonds come in different shapes. These are actually called cuts, which to make things even more confusing is really not the same thing as shape. The cut actually refers to the diamond’s proportion and the shape and location of the facets. There are main categories of diamond cuts; step, brilliant, and mixed. Within those general categories, there are different shapes.

Your gal probably has a favorite cut and shape. They make a difference in how the stone looks, and  also in how much your diamond will take out of your wallet or add to your credit card balance. All else being equal, the more complicated the cut, the more expensive your ring. Keep that in mind when choosing her diamond.

If you want to give her an impressive diamond but not spend every cent you have to your name, think about one of the more value oriented cuts. All else being equal, you can get a larger diamond for the same money, or spend less for the same size rock.

Hopefully this can help get you the ring she loves at a price you can live with. That’s a great balance to strike.

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Click on their banner to discover how much you can save on a very nice diamond.