American Brides: Here’s Your Perfect Engagement Ring

One ring to rule them all….

Bridal website The Knot surveyed 13,000 American brides on everything from how big their diamond is to how they went about choosing their engagement rings. Here is the ultimate American engagement ring…

It’s not all that big and flashy, there is no halo setting or coloured stone, and rose gold is nowhere to be seen. It seems that the typical American woman’s dream engagement ring doesn’t yet include all of the newest and biggest trends, with most brides keeping it chic and traditional.

Let’s start with the metal. While rose gold is definitely increasing in popularity, shiny silvery metals are still the number one choice with 68% of brides choosing white gold and 14% choosing platinum. Yellow gold received just 5% of the vote, with the rest going to ‘other’ (we’re presuming rose gold is a significant factor of other metals hitting 13%).

The gap between a plain band and a band with diamonds is ever narrowing according to The Knot’s survey; 56% prefer no diamonds, while 46% say yes to band bling. Call us crazy, but we can see the scales tipping in the opposite direction very soon.

Another strictly traditional choice by today’s American bride is the stone. A massive 84% opted for the time-tested diamond as their centre stone, with just 8% selecting an alternative precious stone (yep, we were surprised too!). Of those who plumped for a diamond, 49% chose a round brilliant cut, 22% a princess cut, 23% ‘other’, and as proof of its rising demand, 6% opted for a cushion cut.

While in the past a diamond solitaire was the gold standard for engagement ring, things have changed. Just 22% of brides claimed to have a solitaire diamond ring, while a much bigger chunk – 63% to be exact – had a centre diamond with side stones or accents. 74% of those surveyed had diamonds that clocked in at anywhere from 0.5 to 2 carats, so it seems that bigger is better within budgetary constraints.

So, drumroll please… the typical engagement ring for an American bride is a round brilliant diamond with accent stones, on a plain white gold band, with a minimum weight of 0.5 carats. Sound like yours? Well the majority of married women can’t all be wrong!