4 things I would NEVER do when designing your Engagement Ring

As someone who's been designing engagement rings for over a decade, these are things that I would never do when designing yours. Hi, my name is Katie Clark. I'm a jewelry designer based out of Houston, Texas, with over 10 years of experience within the jewelry industry. And when I see engagement rings, I can be a little bit critical because I've been doing this for a long time. So I want to look at some design elements and tell you guys what I would never recommend if I was designing your engagement ring. Number one, I am not going to want to design a ring with a shank as thin as this one. This band is probably about 1.2 millimeters in this example photo. When you go this thin on a ring, yes, you get the delicate look, but it's going to be very susceptible to damages. I would much prefer to set a diamond like this on like a 1.7 or 1.8 millimeter band so that way you can get the delicate feel, but your ring is going to be way more structurally sound. Alright, number two is diamond encrusted prongs. And I am not talking about a hidden halo. I am talking about the prongs. I do not like the idea of adding decoration to a structural component of the ring. The prongs are there to hold your diamond, and when we drill into them to add these diamonds, you're just inherently weakening the one thing that's supposed to hold your diamond in place. Personally, I don't like the idea of introducing additional weak points onto the main structural component of the ring. So I might go ahead and just pass on this design. Next up is a high versus a low setting. So here's the thing, both of these are great. Both of these are structurally sound. But what I want to call attention to is the low setting specifically. I don't really like designing rings with a low setting like this because it makes putting the wedding band with it a little more difficult. Now, you can always design a band that's curved or fit to the ring, but then your wedding band is going to be worn by itself. And if you want to wear it by itself, you're going to have this curve. So I usually try to recommend either doing a high setting or maybe a cathedral type setting to allow for the wedding band to sit flush with your ring. After all, most people are going to wear the engagement ring paired with the wedding band a lot longer than they're going to wear their engagement ring all by itself. Last up is a design similar to this where you have no gallery rail. If you don't have a gallery rail, your prongs are going to be very susceptible to getting snagged or moving independently. I wouldn't want to design a ring like this because without a gallery rail, your prongs are going to be very susceptible to getting snagged or moving independently. And that is one thing we never want to do is put the center stone at risk of coming loose or falling out. At the end of the day, your engagement ring is never going to be indestructible because it's fine jewelry. But delicate looking ring, absolutely. But delicately built? Never. So when I design your ring, I am not just thinking about how beautiful it's going to look on the day you get it. I am thinking about how this ring is going to wear over five, 10, 20 years from now. So a delicate looking ring, absolutely. But delicately built? Never. So when I design your ring, I am not just thinking about how beautiful it's going to look on the day you get it. I am thinking about how this ring is going to wear over five, 10, 20 years from now.