Custom Engagement Rings, Designed Around the Diamond

A setting is built to hold one stone. The prongs, the height of the head, the gallery underneath and even the band width are sized to the exact length, width and depth of the diamond. Design the setting first and you end up hunting for a stone that fits it, or adjusting the setting after the fact. Pick the diamond first and everything else falls into place.

You bring the idea: a shape you love, a budget, a photo of a ring you saw. We come back with the design and the exact price before anything is made. Once you approve, the ring is made and delivered with insured shipping, or picked up at our Miami showroom, where you can also compare shapes on your hand. Start on the custom page.

Our house rings are graded E color, VS1 clarity: colorless and clean to the eye, without paying for the very top grades that look the same once set. For a deeper walk-through, read the diamond 4Cs guide.

These are house rings in our catalog. They show how origin, size and metal move the price:

Carat figures are total carat weight for the ring. Compare the two 4-plus carat rings: 4.62 ct lab-grown at $2,800 against 4.25 ct natural at $6,000. That gap is the origin decision in one line. Every ring in our catalog states its origin.

Lab-grown diamonds are real diamonds, with the same crystal structure and hardness as natural stones, and they are graded on the same color and clarity scales by labs such as GIA and IGI. The difference is origin and price. Under the FTC Jewelry Guides, a lab-grown diamond must be clearly disclosed as laboratory-grown or laboratory-created and may not be described as natural.

• Choose lab-grown to get a bigger or better-graded center stone for the budget. Most buyers who want 2 carats and up go this way.
• Choose natural if natural origin matters to you or your partner, or the ring is meant to carry that story to the next generation.

Our lab vs natural comparison goes through value, resale and how to tell them apart.

Trying shapes on your own hand settles this faster than any chart. A shape that looks plain in photos can look perfect on a particular finger.

Prongs matter for safety and shape. Four prongs show more diamond; six hold a round more securely. Pears and marquises need a V-prong on each point, because the tips are the most fragile part of the stone. Our prong vs bezel guide covers this in depth.

The render shows the ring from the top, the side and the profile, with the real diamond's measurements built in. Check three things carefully:

1. Height. A tall head shows off the stone but catches on sweaters. A low head is practical but hides more of the diamond.
2. Band width and thickness. Thin bands look delicate and make the center look larger; too thin and they bend.
3. Prong placement. Especially on pears, marquises and emerald cuts, where corners and points need protection.

If you are working from a ring you saw online, send the photo. It gets used as a reference for proportions and style, and the design is built around your own diamond.

An engagement ring takes more wear than any other jewelry. 14K gold, at 58.3 percent pure, is the common choice because it balances color and hardness. 10K (41.7 percent) is harder still. 18K (75 percent) has the richest color but scratches and wears faster, so its prongs need checking more often.

Color is taste with one practical note: white gold makes a colorless diamond look whiter, while yellow gold warms it slightly. An E color diamond looks crisp in either. Yellow gold solitaires, like several of our house rings, are a strong look right now, especially with elongated shapes.

The setting is built to a ring size, so get it right before casting. US sizes run in steps of about 0.8 mm of inside diameter; a size 6 is about 16.5 mm across and a size 7 about 17.3 mm. Wide bands fit tighter than thin ones at the same size. If the ring is a surprise, our guide to finding her ring size without asking covers the borrow-and-measure method, and the ring size chart converts millimeters to sizes.

A custom ring moves through four stages: locating the diamond, designing and approving the render, casting and finishing the setting, then setting the stone and final polish. Finding a specific natural diamond in an exact shape and grade can take the most time; design revisions come second. If you have a proposal date, say it at the start. The timing for your ring comes with the quote. For the full stage-by-stage view, see how long custom jewelry takes.

A custom engagement ring and its wedding band should be designed together. Low-set stones, wide heads and halos can leave no room for a straight band to sit flush. If the band is planned now, the engagement ring can be raised slightly or the band can be contoured to curve around the center stone. Match the metal and karat too: two different golds rubbing against each other wear unevenly, and slightly different colors side by side are easy to notice.

• What are the center diamond's carat, color, clarity, cut and origin, in writing?
• Which lab graded it, if it has a report, and does the report number match the stone?
• What is the gram weight and karat of the setting?
• How many prongs, and are the points of a pear or marquise protected?
• What ring size is the setting being made in?
• Is the side stone total carat weight listed separately from the center?

1. The center diamond. Carat, origin, color and clarity. On most rings this is the largest line by far.
2. Side stones. Halo, pavé or side stones add carat weight and setting work.
3. Metal. Karat and gram weight of the setting.
4. Design work. Plain solitaires are the simplest; hidden halos, detailed galleries and engraving add labor.

Ask every quote for the center stone's carat, color, clarity and origin in writing, plus the side stone total. Browse finished rings in lab diamond engagement rings before you design.