What is the most popular metal for engagement rings?
Brian Gavin Diamonds offers a wide variety of metal choices for all of the engagement rings, wedding bands and fashion jewelry items that we manufacture, and customers frequently ask which metal is the most popular for engagement rings… while the majority of our customers seem to prefer platinum, 18k white gold is the second most popular choice, followed by yellow gold, and rose gold has been increasing in popularity.
Interestingly enough, a study conducted by xogroupinc in 2011, indicates that white gold is the most popular choice for engagement rings, with 73% of the people polled indicating that their rings are made of white gold, and if I had to guess I imagine that the majority of those rings are 14k white gold.
Here are some highlights of the 2011 survey which I found interesting:
- Average Engagement Ring Cost: $5,200
- Carat Size: 1 carat for center stone; 1.4 carats total stones
- Most Popular Engagement Ring Shapes: Round (53%) and Princess (30%)
- Most Popular Engagement Ring Metal: 73% of rings are made of white gold
- Time It Takes for Groom to Find Engagement Ring: 3 months
- Wedding Band Cost: $1,126 for brides; $491 for grooms
- Most Popular Wedding Band Metal: For brides, 70% are white gold; for grooms, 34% are white gold
- The Luxury Ring Segment: About 12% of couples spend more than $8,000 on the engagement ring
- Luxury Engagement Ring Cost: $13,500
- Luxury Engagement Ring Carat Size: 1.5 carats for center stone; more than 2 carats total stones
- Luxury Wedding Ring Cost: $1,560 for brides; $731 for grooms
Suffice to say that the majority of our clients fall into the realm of luxury engagement ring buyers, and many of the engagement rings which they select are from the Brian Gavin Signature line of custom designed engagement rings which are built with accent diamonds that are Brian Gavin Signature melee that is F/G color and VS in clarity, which offer a volume of light return and sparkle that rivals that of the larger diamonds featured in the Brian Gavin Signature and Brian Gavin Blue collections of ideal cut diamonds.
What is the most popular diamond shape?
The round brilliant cut diamond remains the most popular diamond shape, the survey indicates that the second most popular diamond shape for an engagement ring purchased in 2011 is the princess cut diamond. I believe that if the survey were repeated for 2013, that the cushion cut diamond would be the 2nd most popular diamond shape, based upon the popularity of the Brian Gavin Signature Cushion cut diamond. Cushion cut diamonds were definitely all the rage during 2012 and 2013, and I fully expect the popularity of the cushion cut diamond to continue through 2014, especially since it was the center stone of choice for many celebrity engagement rings presented in 2013.
Cushion cut diamonds were the center stone of choice in 2013 for celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Naya Rivera, Gabrielle Union, Ashley Tisdale, and Kelly Rowland who rocks a ring very similar to the halo style engagement ring from Brian Gavin pictured to the left, set with a four carat cushion cut diamond.
Regardless of whether you select a round brilliant ideal cut diamond from the Brian Gavin Signature or Brian Gavin Blue collections, or one of our new Brian Gavin Signature Cushion cut diamonds, we’re confident that it will be the brightest and most sparkly diamond that you’ve ever seen.
