5 engagement ring styles you might not see much of soon, according to a private jeweler

• Jewelry shoppers seem more aware than ever that engagement rings need to stand the test of time.
• Private jeweler Anna P. Jay predicts some ring styles will become less popular for practical reasons.
• Jay said you may see more chunky engagement rings, but gold might become less popular.

A diamond might be forever, but engagement rings change a lot with the times.

Some timeless styles remain popular, while brides-to-be lose interest in others as trends evolve or materials become more expensive.

Business Insider spoke with Anna P. Jay, a private jeweler based in Nantucket, Massachusetts, about engagement ring styles that may be less popular soon.

Microbands are out.

Engagement rings with extremely thin bands were popular for several years, as people favored the dainty look and how thin bands can make a stone appear larger. However, that trend has been on the way out, which Jay is excited about.

“I just love that we’re not doing these microbands anymore,” she said.

Jay previously told Business Insider that thin bands aren’t the most practical, as they can warp easily and aren’t as supportive of a stone. She’s excited that more “wearable” rings have gained popularity.

Indeed, celebrities like Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift favored chunkier engagement rings, and non-famous brides are gravitating toward thicker bands, too.

Jay said thicker rings “will stand the test of time.”

“I always tell people, ‘You’re going to be wearing this ring for the rest of your life. Let’s make it be able to stand up to the daily wears and tears,'” she added.

People might not experiment with the shape of their stones as much.

Larger stones on engagement rings have been increasing in popularity in recent years, largely thanks to the rise of lab-grown diamonds, which are typically more affordable than natural diamonds.

Jay told Business Insider that her clients now favor stones between two and three carats, whereas they previously stuck to stones between one and two.

With big stones becoming a mainstay of engagement rings, Jay said she thinks people will stick to classic cuts, such as emerald, oval, or round, thinking long-term about how a diamond may hold up as trends and tastes change.

She added that people may favor experimenting with their wedding bands instead.

“What I typically tell my clients is, ‘Let’s keep the engagement ring classic and then update and zhuzh with wedding bands, stacking bands, things like that,'” Jay said. “There are really fun, great ways to incorporate bands and things in the future that you can remove if you’re not feeling it.”

While emerald and oval remain popular, one classic cut hasn’t been as in demand.

Though Jay said her clients are sticking to classic shapes for their engagement rings, one more traditional style has been noticeably absent.

“Princess cuts are not as popular as some of my other styles,” Jay said.

Still, Jay said she hopes princess-cut rings come back in style. She thinks they’ll gain traction again if they’re done in a more modern way.

“That’s where this personalization and customization come back in,” she said. “How are we going to make that princess cut not feel like the early 2000s?”

People aren’t getting rings with high settings as often.

Jay told Business Insider she’s seeing more clients who prefer engagement rings with lower settings, meaning the stone and its prongs are more likely to butt up against the wedding band.

At the same time, wedding bands with diamonds set into them have gotten more popular, so Jay said customers are buying spacer bands more frequently.

A spacer band, typically a simple gold, white gold, or silver band, sits between an engagement ring and another band in a stack, protecting both a gem-encrusted band and the engagement ring.

Jay said she often recommends people use the spacer band as their actual wedding band, as a simple ring will give them more flexibility in the long run.

“If you want to do something fun and fresh for your eternity band or a stacking band, you have the freedom and flexibility that maybe in 20 years, you’re like, ‘OK, this was a lot for back then, and I want to just still wear my classic old band,'” she said.

You might see fewer engagement rings with gold bands.

Jay also expects engagement rings with gold bands to become less popular in the coming months, largely because gold prices have increased dramatically recently. Some market experts are predicting that the price of gold could soar to $10,000 per ounce by 2030.

While that’s a boon to the gold market, that isn’t as great for consumers. Jay predicts silver may become more popular in response to the rising sticker shock associated with yellow gold.

“Silver is going up in price as well, but I think it’s going to become more popular for fine jewelry,” she said.

Jay said that as silver gains traction, other metals with similar tones, such as white gold and platinum, could become more desirable while yellow-gold engagement rings become less common.

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