Propose To My Girlfriend

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

Tags: 2011, engagement ring diamonds