Diamonds Are no Longer a Girl’s Best Friend, According to 58% of Millennials

Millennials are ditching bling traditional diamonds, in favour of unique styles and brightly coloured stones for their engagement rings

A growing number of millennials are choosing not to shine a bright light on a diamond; instead opting for unique gemstones, eccentric cuts and colors that show off their personalities, opposed to what’s traditionally expected when it comes to today’s engagement rings.

Emeralds, Rubies, Pink Sapphires, Peridot’s and Aquamarine’s have all been trending among this youthful crowd over the past year, with 58% of women between the ages of 23 and 38 saying they opted for independent designers and ‘one of a kind’ pieces for their engagement rings.

This is opposed to 32% who went down the more ‘sentimental’ route, choosing birth stones to commemorate their forthcoming nuptials, whilst 25% said they had chosen the birth stones of beloved family members.

“Millennials live in a culture of having the world at their fingertips, where trends are continuously emerging and evolving at online speed; this recent trend of brightly coloured engagement rings has certainly been influenced by the likes of Princess Diana and The Duchess of Cambridge with their beautiful Oval Blue Sapphires, but also Princess Eugenie and her coral-coloured Padparadscha Sapphire,” said high-fine jewellery designer Nadine Aysoy. 

“I feel the rising trend is also due to millennials choosing to invest more in ‘collectable‘ pieces – whether this is jewellery, clothing or homeware; they’re looking for quality items that will last a lifetime; unique items that they can pass down through future generations,” she added.

Having a keen eye for fashion trends inspires the decorative elements in Nadine Aysoy’s collections; she plays on traditional styles, but deconstructs them, switches them up and gives them a timeless, but chic aesthetic.

Aysoy’s Tsarina and Petite Tsarina collections are a symbol of uniqueness and originality, with no two pieces are the same. Each piece features an intricate ‘snowflake’ design, with a Pink Sapphire, Emerald, Blue Topaz or delicate pink Morganite stone, framed with a smattering of hand-placed diamonds.  

The Tsarina Fire Flake ring in Rose Gold (18K) features 1 round-cut Rhodolite, 28 round-cut Pink Sapphires and 105 white round-cut diamonds. The Tsarina ring is available in several other colours and stone styles, and retails from $4,680, whilst Petite Tsarina retails from $3,000.

Whilst there is still a lot of demand for traditional solitaire diamond rings, research shows that colourful variants are on the rise. Unique rings and rare stones often have meaning and connotations behind them, for example: Emeralds are believed to represent hope, while Rubies signify passion, prosperity and protection.