Pale Lemon Diamond Ring

Delicate, handmade and organically inspired, Michelle specialises in creating unique alternative engagement and wedding rings for the uncommon bride. Special attention is given to the selection of natural gemstones used, particularly grey diamonds and sapphires in interesting shapes and cuts.

Champagne, cognac, whiskey or simply ‘brown’ coloured diamonds are just that - light brown coloured diamonds that were only a few years ago dismissed as poor quality or undesirable alternatives to white diamonds. But in the rise of alternative engagement rings, their use in jewellery design has become more prominent, with some shades being highly covetable. Particularly attractive when mixed with yellow gold, a champagne diamond is wearable, dusky shade of soft yellowy brown, and works particularly well in modern style engagement or commitment rings.

View all champagne diamond rings here.

Pear cut diamonds, or drop diamonds, are teardrop shaped - with a sharp tip at one end and a rounded base. As with the oval diamond, the shape can elongate the fingers, and is a more unusual choice for an engagement ring than a princess cut or round diamond. Featuring the multiple short facets of a brilliant cut but with a less common shape than a round diamond, the pear cut diamond is a super sparkly choice. The pointed end can be quite fragile, despite diamonds being a very hard substance, so make sure it's set well and the tip is protected.

Once considered old-fashioned, pear cut diamonds are having a resurgence in popularity due to innovative and exciting designers creating bold, large-scale solitaire designs with unique settings.

See all pear 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.