A halo engagement ring highlights its center diamond by encircling it with small accent stones, typically pavé diamonds, so that the center appears larger. Halo settings stones can be the same shape as the center stone, or they can be different.
The halo engagement ring is the hottest style in bridal jewelry. Some of the reasons for this may be:
- Halos are retro, providing a modern yet timeless alternative to the vintage engagement ring.
- The halo makes the center stone appear larger.
- Halo engagement rings have an incredible sparkle.
- They go with just about any shape of diamond.
What is a Halo Engagement Ring?
A star's favorite jewelry, this popular ring is a setting encircling the gemstone in a collection of round diamonds. These diamonds can be pavé or micro-pavé, and on occasion may be faceted color gemstones. The pavé, in any variety, are alive with light, pulling attention to the center stone. If you want an attention-grabbing ring, go with a halo.
Halo diamond ring setting - image by thepeachbox
Because the halo makes the center diamond appear larger, a high-carat diamond will look gigantic in a halo setting. In fact, a half-carat diamond can look up to half a carat bigger. This is such a wonderful feature for both parties in the engaged couple, allowing you elegance and sparkle without breaking your budget.
Also gaining in popularity are engagement rings with halos encircling compass point settings, double halos, or halos sporting floral elements.
A Brief History of the Halo Style in Jewelry
Halo engagement rings can be traced back to the early days of Hollywood, with stars like Greta Garbo and Grace Kelly. However, the 1940’s brought WWII, and the scarce resources during such a time don’t create a good atmosphere for halo rings.
It was the Art Deco movement that brought the halo style back into vogue. The Art Deco style focused on engagement rings halo with simple geometry or symmetry. Concentric circles ringing a center gemstone fit in with Art Deco rings.
Who doesn’t want to wear a work of art?
Which Engagement Halo Ring Style Should you Choose?
Most popular diamond cuts - image by DiamondGalaxy via Shutterstock
There are 5 main styles of halo engagement rings designs:
1) Floating Style
This is a fairly unique engagement rings halo style. In this setting, the main diamond is actually separate from the accent diamonds, with the main diamond located above the halo, from the perspective of seeing it from the front.
This setting really accentuates the stone on these engagement rings. Yet, the accent stones’ role is maintained, and even heightened — since they draw attention to the star attraction. These support stones create a dazzling shine and sparkle, from two distinct locations.
However, these rings will be high-set, and so they might not be perfect for someone with an active lifestyle, or anyone that may be in a situation that might scuff the diamond.
2) Pear shape Style
A pear-shaped halo engagement ring uses—you guessed it—a pear-shaped stone as the center stone. Pear-shaped diamonds are sometimes nicknamed teardrop diamonds. They vary in length and width.
Pear shaped halo engagement ring - image by Tiffany
Moissanite or jewelry cubic zirconia in this shape also look awesome with a few different precious metals such as white gold, yellow, or rose gold.
In a halo ring, the accentuated stones are usually quite small, and the pear-shaped stone really stands out.
3) Cushion-cut Style
Cushion cut diamond engagement ring - image by flawlessfinejewelry
This is the same as any kind of engagement ring, it just has a "cushion" diamond. Cushion-cut refers to a square with rounded corners (you know, like a pillow, or cushion.)
4) Princess-cut Style
Princess cut diamond engagement ring - image by flawlessfinejewelry
Don’t pretend you don’t know what a princes-cut diamond ring is, ha ha! Well, when viewed from above, the princess engagement ring looks like a really nice, perfect square or rectangle. But when looked at from the side, it kind of looks like an inverted-pyramid.
5) Oval Shape Style
Oval floating diamond engagement ring - image by flawlessfinejewelry
The great thing about an oval-cut main stone is that it really gives you more diamond for your dollar, and it’s not an optical illusion.
Different Pavé Colors For Halo Engagement Rings
The Pavé in a halo engagement ring is the stones on the band—they make up the halo. You’ve probably seen all kinds of photos of pavés of clear diamonds. But there’s nothing that says you can’t go with colored pavé stones.
Blue halo engagement ring - image by Fruit Cocktail Creative via Shutterstock
Diamonds come in all sorts of shapes and colors, whether they be pink or blue or yellow, or even black!
In fact, there’s no jewelry rule saying you can’t use sapphires or citrine or rubies as your accentuating stones around a diamond. Or smaller diamonds, or gemstones of different shapes.
Different Colors of the Center Stone
You knew we were going there, right? Yeah, you can go with colored smaller diamonds surrounded by clear stones if you’d like. A yellow gemstone might be awesome.
Just One Halo?
As you can see, a standard halo engagement ring has the shank, or band, around the ring, and it is studded with gorgeous little stones. However, since we live in a world in which more is always better, it’s possible to do a double halo. The band—or shank—is split in two and each prong has its pave on it, which gives a fuller and more opulent look.
Cushion cut yellow color double halo engagement ring- image by Tiffany
It’s possible to go as high as three, but then again, it’s common to stay with one. We wanted to just make you aware of your options.
What’s the Halo Engagement Ring Made Of?
You know, it makes sense to give a lot of attention to which way the center stone is set, what shape it’s in, all of those things. It’s probably important to think about what kind of metal the ring is to be made of. You’ll probably quickly discover that yellow gold is one of the best materials.
This is particularly true if the diamonds in the ring have any yellow in them. Engagement rings halo styles vary. Yellow gold will de-emphasize the tint, and that’s a good thing. Otherwise you won’t have as much of a nice, understated look.
If the stone doesn’t have yellow, platinum, 925 gold or white gold may be just the thing. Also, rose gold is a trendy new option, as well.
As with any piece of jewelry, there are a lot of considerations in picking an engagement ring, whether it’s a halo or otherwise. The style of the ring, the shape of the center stone... the style and shapes of the halo... However, just be sure that any jeweler is absolutely there to help. It’s best to take a deep breath and realize that there are no bad choices. Any ring you pick will become a precious part of your life!