For some years now, platinum has been the metal of choice for Irish women and men choosing engagement rings… but that is changing rapidly.
Third generation jeweller, Sophie Collins, outlined current trends in the engagement ring market at the recent launch ofAt the launch of True Diamonds by Sophie.
Sophie, an accredited diamond professional, designs engagement and special occasion rings from her consultation suite in Dublin and says has witnessed a significant increase for rose and yellow gold in contemporary, vintage and classical designs, over the past couple of years.
She also suggests that the influence of celebrity can feature high on her client’s wish list. Other trends, such as redesigning fine jewellery, popular in other European countries, has still to “catch on“ at home.
Sophie explained: “Since shortly before the millennium, Northern Europe, Ireland, the UK, the USA and Japan have seen an over whelming demand for Platinum and White Gold as an engagement ring band. As in all things, tastes change.. Whilst actual settings have been remaining in 18ct white gold or platinum, I have witnessed a significant demand for rose gold over the past couple of years.
“Modern rose gold is different from what we remember seeing in our Granny’s jewellery box. Older rose gold has a lot of copper in it, almost giving a slightly rusty hue. These days rose gold tones are a lot softer, almost glowing on the skin. Rose gold really warms up the pink undertones of typical Irish skin tones and looks great.”
Sophie added that both rose and yellow gold give a great contrast between the colour of the metal and the colour of diamonds, making the gems stand out more.
Irish people are also looking to celebrities for their engagement inspiration. Requests for Sapphire rings went “through the roof” after Prince William and Kate’s engagement.
The same happened with pink diamonds and princess cut gems following Ben Affleck popping the question to Jennifer Lopez. (Let’s hope the romances were longer-lived.)
Although pink diamonds were outside many price ranges, clients’ demand for pink stones did increase, pink sapphires in particular. Sophie noted a return to an elegant cushion-cut after Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch proposed to Sophie Hunter with a cushion-cut white diamond surrounded by a halo of diamonds on a delicate, thin band.
As for those who like their “something old” to be the engagement ring itself, the jeweller has a word of warning, saying she “wouldn’t recommend an actual antique ring as an engagement ring which you would wear every day”, as they come with huge durability issues.
“As women wear engagement rings every day, there tends to be a lot of wear on them, and with an old setting, you are very likely to lose a gem from it or have it break from wear. It is better to get a new ring which has been made in that style.”
One trend that hasn’t caught on in Ireland yet, is redesign. Sophie commented: “The Irish are very sentimental and don’t tend to change their engagement rings. Therefore it’s important to choose a setting that they will love forever. On the continent, however, it is more common to redesign your rings to go with different trends and tastes or to simply change the design to suit where you are in life. You can even redesign other jewellery to make something else. I have a customer who owned a pair of stud earrings that she didn’t wear anymore so we used those stones to design and make her solitaire into a three stone ring. You can do this with inherited jewellery too. Maybe you now have your grandmother’s ring, but it’s not a style you would wear normally, you could make it into something that you would.”
