Icon Icon
Blog

How to Make an Engagement Ring Look Bigger

Ever wonder how to make engagement ring look bigger in pictures or how to make your engagement ring look more expensive?

Regardless of your budget making your engagement ring bigger is possible. The following tips below can help.

What Diamond Shape Looks the Biggest?

The default consideration that any potential client of a jewel store must first look at is the shape of a diamond.

Unknown to many, the shape is considered as the biggest influence that affects the size appearance of any gemstone, especially diamonds.

Our own eyes perceive some shapes to be bigger in size when compared to other shapes. This is regardless if the stones have the same carat weight.

Although round brilliant cut is the most popular cut or shape in the market, an elongated shape may appear significantly bigger than it.

If you have the same 2-carat weight diamond engagement ring on your palms but of differing round and oval shapes, you may notice that the oval diamond center stone appears bigger than the former. This is because the oval shape is elongated.

Another shape that a buyer may consider is the marquise-cut or shape.

The marquise-cut diamond has a very large face-up area that will beat most of the diamond shapes. Despite this, this shape in the same carat weight will fetch a lower price.

Ways to Make An Engagement Ring Look Bigger

engagement ring

Other than choosing the shape of the center stone, here are some ways or considerations that you can do to have an affordable engagement ring but with a bigger look or appearance.

1. Prioritize Other Aspects Over Color and Clarity

The 4Cs of diamond quality set by the Gemological Institute Of America (GIA) is the biggest factor that affects the final price of every diamond stone or jewelry like an engagement ring.

This includes the cut quality, color, clarity, and carat weight of the stone.

If you want a bigger stone with an affordable price tag, you may choose not to prioritize the 2Cs of color and clarity.

Choosing a stone with some inclusions or miniscule dirt will get a lower price compared to a diamond stone that is considered near flawless. By doing so, you may now choose a stone that is bigger in size and heavier in carat weight.

Likewise, if you choose to prioritize carat weight and size over choosing a colorless diamond with Grades D, E, and F, you will definitely get a bigger diamond or precious gemstone with the same price.

2. Choose a Setting that Makes the Diamond Look Bigger

After the shape or cut and the 2Cs, another important factor that should always be taken into consideration is the ring setting.

Not everyone is well versed to the fact that both the prongs and band or shank of a ring can greatly influence the appearance of the center stone.

Choosing a slim prong setting may do the trick in making your center stone bigger.

The slimmer and smaller the prong is, the more visible the stone will be. So at the onset, especially if you are opting for a custom engagement ring, a three-prong or four-prong setting with slim metals should be your priority.

Choosing a six-prong setting will only equate to a lesser surface of the stone being shown.

Meanwhile, the ring band itself or shank should also be slim enough to highlight the center stone.

If you choose a thick shank, this will only take up space and will make the diamond stone smaller to the eyes.

So by picking a slim ring shank, you are letting the stone shine the brightest because the eyes of onlookers will be fixated on the diamond center stone.

3. Consider a Halo Setting

To add more volume and surface area, a halo made up of smaller stones can be placed strategically around the main stone. A single or double layer of halo can make a diamond center stone significantly bigger than what it will look without the smaller stones.

The great thing about adding smaller stones is that it won’t necessarily equate to a significantly expensive price tag. Diamond pricing doesn’t increase in a linear way in the sense that 1-carat diamond stone isn’t twice as expensive as a half-carat stone.

Moreover, the very light carat weight (averaging 0.02 carat) of the usual stones used in a halo setting won’t reach that threshold of diamond carat where it will be priced higher.

4. Choose a Retailer With Great Reputation

Choosing a jewel retailer wisely is something you would hear over and over again. But this is most especially true in this situation.

When you pick a retailer with great business dealings in its portfolio, this may also mean that you will be provided with the best service.

Having the best service in this context means being provided with the best selection of engagement rings with an affordable or reasonable price.

5. Colored Stone Over Colorless Diamonds

This fifth trick can be connected with prioritizing other aspects over color.

Colorless diamonds graded D, E, and F will always get the most expensive price. To assure that you can get a bigger stone with heavier carat, you may compromise in the color department.

For comparison, if you were originally planning to buy a D colorless diamond with 0.5 carat, why not choose a colored diamond with 0.75-1.0 carat weight for almost the same price?

But of course this is not definite as there are other factors such as clarity and cut quality.

6. Clean Stones are the Most Brilliant

The easiest and cheapest way to make your engagement ring look bigger is by cleaning it thoroughly whenever there is a need to. By doing so, the stone can shine its best brilliance without any hint of dirt or flaw.

Which One Should You Pick?

gold wedding ring

At the end of the day, you have your own free will to choose from the six steps on how you can make a small diamond appear bigger. Picking one way is already reasonable.

But perhaps pairing up several ways will render you with the best options.

No matter what it is, you can always lean on the expertise we have here at Shira Diamonds.

More from Shira Diamonds

Red Flags to Watch Out for When Buying Diamonds
How to Identify Laser Drilled Diamonds

BEST Price Guarantee We Will Beat ANY Competitor's Price, Guaranteed!
See More
  • Best Price Guarantee
    Best Price
    Guarantee
  • safe payment.
    Safe and Secure
    payment methods
  • Virtual Or In Person Consultations
    Virtual Or In Person
    Consultations
  • support hours
    Support 24/7
    Online 24 hours a Day