Modern Solitaires with a Fun Twist

A classic solitaire engagement ring features a 4-prong round center stone resting on a smooth white gold band. This band is typically 100% polished metal, with no accent diamonds or hand engraved detailing.

This classic ring is beautiful, and many women still prefer its less extravagant look, but the solitaire has evolved. Now, you can get intricate designs while maintaining the minimalistic authenticity of the classic solitaire. By changing just a few simple features and by adding surprise details, Valina has transformed these rings into modern solitaires.

Switch-Up the Center Stone Design

R9547W

R9547W, a princess-cut solitaire, is a great example of the most traditional way to modernize a solitaire – changing the center stone shape. A princess-cut is the second most popular shape, right behind round stones. Since every ring by Valina is fully customizable, if you want a slightly more interesting solitaire, consider modifying the center stone with an oval, cushion, pear, marquise, or emerald-cut diamond instead of the classic round gem. Another benefit of elongated stone shapes like oval and emerald is that they make your fingers look longer and leaner.

This princess-cut ring also features delicate milgrain threading around its center stone accent diamond. Center stone accent diamonds on a ring’s head are an eloquent way to add a little more sparkle to a solitaire without bedazzling the band. These cute little stones can only be seen from the side, so they do not distract from the polished gold band or primary center diamond.

R9372W

Gold detailing, like the princess-cut’s milgrain, often makes more of an impact than the addition of an accent diamond. Take R9372W, a 6-prong solitaire and split shank ring for instance. This solitaire makes its minimalistic statement with the addition of 2 extra prongs, which creates a crown-like look to the center stone. Also, with the split shank design, the band transforms into four golden twirls that make an appearance under the ring’s head. These glistening golden details frame the center stone, letting the gem take center stage, while still adding elegant and modern twists to the ring.

You can get the same type of impact by getting a solitaire with milgrain or filigree on the shank as well. These hand-engraved details add texture, patterns, highlights, and shadows to the shank without the addition of more diamonds and gemstones. To maintain the smooth and polished look to the classic solitaire’s band, you can get an engagement ring with these details on the sides of the shank, leaving the top of the shank smoothe. These details also add a beautiful vintage feel to a solitaire ring.

Hidden Diamonds and Details on the Shank

R1040W

Beyond offering unique center stone designs and intricate golden details, modern Valina solitaires have hidden diamonds on the inner shank. Instead of featuring accent diamonds on the top of the band, taking away the unique quality of a solitaire, these rings feature the diamonds on the cathedral arch of the shank, like with R1040W. This engagement ring looks completely different from above than from the side. From above, you see a magnificent round center stone resting on 4-prongs, with a polished band. The band has some curves and shadows from filigree swirls, but otherwise, it is smooth. But from the side, this solitaire reveals its glamourous side with a pave-set arch of diamonds resting on the golden filigree swirls beneath the center stone. This ring even features an accent diamond at the base of the head for a little extra sparkle. This ring has the best of both worlds: a smooth clean-cut solitaire band and enchanting diamond accents. The perfect modern solitaire for the modern bride.

Bursts of Color

R1046P

Another modern take on a solitaire is getting your ring in rose gold, which adds a burst of color to a normally white ring, like with R1046P. This is a rose gold, diamond-accented and filigree sided solitaire. The spirals flow up towards the center stone and they are separated by diamonds. Unlike other detailed solitaires we have discussed, the upper band has been thinned. By thinning the upper strip of the band, you can see the accented shank sides from above, creating a milgrain textured illusion. But the color is the important detail to note in this design because rose gold is the most fashionable color right now. It is also becoming the new color of love, being heavily featured in Valentine’s Day jewelry.

R1045Y

Or you could always get a solitaire in the brightest gold, yellow. R1045Y is a great choice because it is not only set in yellow gold, but it also has filigree-detailed sides too. This bold design features three sharp peaks that fan off into delicate filigree twirls down the shank. The intriguing design contrasts with the soft white gold head and shimmering center stone. This contrast between the colorful shank and head is the main benefit of going against the classic white gold band and towards a burst of color instead. So, if you are looking to have minimalistic solitaire that truly shines, go with yellow gold.

Breaking Tradition with a Kiss

At Valina, we pride ourselves on offering brides a large assortment of modern solitaires. At their core, every Valina ring naturally breaks the rules of a classic solitaire ring because they all feature our signature kiss diamonds at the base of their shanks. The kiss diamond is found on both the engagement ring and the wedding band. This way, the diamonds match up together, signifying two people coming together. Therefore, every ring and band set is sealed with a “kiss,” just like you and your love on your wedding day.