These Are the Most Popular Engagement Ring Styles of 2019—and They’re Refreshingly Classic
From stones to settings and everything in between, these are the ring designs you'll be seeing in your social media feeds.
While there will never be a shortage of fresh, new, and unique engagement ring trends every season, what we think of as timeless engagement ring styles are absolutely living up to their name, remaining high on the list of most popular ring designs.
How do we know? The Knot 2019 Jewelry and Engagement Study just dropped—right in time for proposal season, the time of year between November and February (around Thanksgiving to Valentine’s Day), when nearly 40 percent of couples get engaged.
RELATED: 20 Men’s Wedding Rings He’ll Be Excited to Wear Every Day
Of the couples who exchange rings in some capacity (4 percent actually don’t exchange rings at all), more than 85 percent of them either purchase or receive a shiny new ring, as opposed to an existing heirloom or family ring. What’s more, almost half of those rings (45 percent) aren’t just new, but custom-designed for the recipient. So which styles are the most coveted this year, and likely to continue trending through the end of proposal season?
The Most Popular Center Stone
Diamonds really are forever. The classic white diamond—a long-recognized symbol of eternal beauty and strength—reins as queen of the center stones right now. Of the more than 21,000 couples engaged in 2018 and 2019 (who use The Knot Worldwide to plan their nuptials), 86 percent favor a diamond center stone. Beyond the timeless diamond, 19 percent of couples look to the diamond lookalike called moissanite, as well as colored gemstones like sapphire, and morganite, which has a blush pink hue.
RELATED: 14 Minimalist Engagement Rings That Are Easy to Wear Every Day
The Most Popular Band Metals
White gold is the top choice for engagement ring setting materials right now (54 percent). Rose gold, the ever-trendy blush-toned gold setting, is still going strong, followed by platinum—an extremely durable, but also pretty pricey metal—yellow gold, and sterling silver.
The Most Popular Engagement Ring Cuts
The cut of an engagement ring doesn’t just have to do with the outer shape of the stone, but also the way light filters through it. According to The Knot, a round-cut engagement ring is by far the most favored cut these days (47 percent). Round center stone is timeless and versatile, and allows for exceptional light reflection (depending on the brilliance of the cut). Other sought-after cuts include a princess (or square), oval, cushion, and pear (or teardrop).
RELATED: The 4Cs and All the Other Diamond Terms You Need to Know Before Engagement Ring Shopping
The Most Common Carat Size
Per the survey, around half of recently given engagement rings fall between 1 and 2 carats total, while another quarter of them weigh more than 2 carats. These stats track closely to an engagement ring survey by Brilliant Earth from earlier in the year, which revealed their participants’ ideal engagement ring size was perhaps a bit smaller than expected: between ½ and 1 carat.
