Oval Emerald & Trillion Diamond Trio Ring

Shimell and Madden occupy the space where craft, art and fashion intersect. High quality and hand-crafted, their jewellery explores themes of science, nature and time. They have been creating jewellery in their London studio since 2010. Emma Madden’s expertise is in craft and conceptual design, inspired by the universality of mathematics. Luke Shimell’s extensive experience as a goldsmith enables him to develop their designs into intricate pieces of exactitude.

Emeralds are a green coloured precious gemstone, and one of the four most desirable gemstones worldwide, alongside diamonds, rubies and sapphires.

Emeralds fall below diamonds, rubies and sapphires in terms of hardness, due to the fact that most emeralds have a high number of inclusions in them - small splits and breakages visible in the stone - so they can shatter quite easily and are considered a fragile gemstone.

As emeralds are usually quite ‘included’ - where there are marks that are clearly visible in the stone - the colour and the clarity are considered to be the most important factor in determining value. So as with all gemstones the colour is king, and tends to determine price, with emeralds it’s also how clear the gemstone is. It’s normal to have a few inclusions in an emerald, so instead it’s important to choose a bright colour that sparkles and glows a deep green. Emeralds too pale will show the inclusions even more, and too dark will appear dull.

It’s also important to set emeralds securely, usually in a bezel setting rather than a claw setting, so the metal goes all the way around the stone, protecting it.

Emerald is traditionally the birthstone of May. View all emerald rings here.

Like the round diamond's sexier sister, the oval cut diamond is longer and slimmer than a classic round shape. But be cautious: the oval diamond can take various shapes and forms depending on the height to width ratio, and whereas it's a personal choice, the proportions are important to make sure the sparkle is maximised. For this reason you'll find that prices vary a lot even if the carat weight is the same, as more 'desirable' ratios will be more expensive.

The oval diamond is our choice for a solitaire engagement ring; more unexpected than a round diamond, and the longer height elongates the fingers.

See all oval cut diamond rings here.

Gold is a naturally occurring metal with a warm, glowing finish when polished, and remains the most popular choice for engagement rings due to its natural beauty and hard-wearing strength.

Pure 24k gold is naturally a soft material, and considered too soft to create jewellery with, so it is mixed with small amounts of other metals to create an alloy.

As well as increasing the durability of the gold, adding alloys can also change the colour of the gold to produce rose or white gold, for example.

18k yellow gold is made up of 75% pure gold, and 25% alloy, which would usually include silver and copper.

18k rose gold is made up of 75% pure gold, 22.2% copper, and 9.2% silver.

18k white gold is made up of 75% pure gold and 25% palladium or platinum.