You're Not Imagining It: We All Want Smaller Diamonds Now

Jewelry trend expert and designer Tara Gannon started noticing millennials requesting smaller stones about two years ago-and by "Smaller," we mean those hovering around the one-carat neighborhood "This led to a trend of more stackable rings, unique bands, and smaller stones." FYI: The national average price of an engagement ring is $5,600, according to The Knot's 2018 Real Weddings Study, and that can get you anything from a grain-of-rice-size stone to a substantial-yet flawed-piece Smaller stones are so on-trend that Des Kohan, owner, buyer, and designer for her eponymous boutique in LA.

says over the past three years, she's helped dozens of clients redesign existing rings or make completely new ones with smaller diamonds "The common denominator is that these are all working women, and they don't feel comfortable wearing larger stones in downtown L.A., Venice, or even in Hollywood." Five years ago, she says she only had a couple of inquiries about redesigning rings, but today, she's seen a sudden spike in requests to make totally new, smaller, everyday rings Kohan has even found that clients who have larger rocks make excuses for their rings: "They'll say, 'It was a hand-me-down,' or 'It was my mom's stone,' to justify wearing it" BTW, the halo, a once-popular setting, mostly used to make smaller stones appear larger, is kinda dead unless it has a distinctive design element. Source