Ideas For Engagement Rings And Settings
Sunday, July 26, 2009 by George Baycan
When most people think of settings or mountings for engagement rings they have a mental image of the traditional prong style settings that secure the diamond to the band. While these types of settings are beautiful, simple and very discrete, there are other types of settings or mountings that can be used on engagement rings to highlight and enhance the appearance of the diamond.
Ideally any type of engagement ring settings should allow light into and around the diamond. This allows the diamond facets to reflect the light and give the brilliance and fire to the stone. The setting also either holds the diamond flush to the surface of the band or raises it up above the band as seen in solitaire and three diamond engagement rings for example.
A more solid type of setting for engagement rings is called the bezel setting. This is like a collar of the same metal as the band that wraps around the diamond and lifts it off the ring’s surface. Bezel settings are ideal for modern styles of engagement rings plus they are exceptional for unusual shaped diamonds that may be hard to secure to the bend using prongs. With a bezel setting the collar may go completely around the diamond or it may only be over half, allowing light to enter the stone.
For a flat surface for engagement rings or wedding bands the channel setting is very popular. This type of setting has a groove that runs through the center of the band, plus an additional slight groove off to the sides. Round or baguette style diamonds are inserted into the channel for a dazzling appearance. The small grooves on the sides of the channel hold the stones in place but also allow light to filter between and through the diamonds in the channel setting.
Bar channel settings have literally metal bars between each of the diamonds in the groove. These types of engagement rings often are in white gold or platinum since the reflective surface of the metal enhances the light entering into the diamonds.
More artistic or free style types of rings often use a bead setting. These settings use beads of metal that are styled and designed to be part of the design of engagement rings, rather than to be hidden.
Invisible settings or mountings on engagement rings are also very popular since they are largely if not complete hidden by the stones themselves. Pave settings are largely invisible and are formed by drilling tiny holes into the band into which each individual diamond chip or stone is then placed. Small beading is then used to secure the diamonds.
Engagement rings with these unique types of settings are both beautiful as well as practical. With any type of engagement rings featuring any type of setting, routine checking of the mountings is always recommend so any loose settings can be immediately repaired.
