Best Engagement Rings for an Active Lifestyle
Have a hobby or job that involves using your hands a lot? Does it seem like you mess up a new manicure 10 minutes after you walk out of the nail salon? More likely to flash jazz hands than a royal wave? You can still have your perfect engagement ring. We’ve handcrafted rings for rock climbers, swimmers, people who bike everywhere, avid gardeners, glassblowers, teachers, and doctors.
Everyone needs to take off wedding rings sometimes depending on the activity, but those who are athletic or always have their hands in motion will want to consider settings, gemstones, and metals that are ideal for an active lifestyle. Once you’ve found a partner who can match your energy, you’ll need an engagement ring that can do the same. These Bario Neal designs won’t fail you.
Bezel Engagement Rings for Active Lifestyles
The closer your entire engagement ring sits to your finger, the less chance there is of it running into trouble. You can skip a gemstone and not give up the flourish with a piece like our Bend Ring. But if you really want a gemstone, the bezel setting is a go-to for hands-on ring wearers. No prongs means no snagging. A full bezel surrounds a gemstone, while a half bezel leaves the sides open. Even if you choose one of the hardest gemstones—diamond, white sapphire, moissanite—a bezel setting makes a more safely ensconced home for a stone. (Avoid soft opals altogether unless you don’t mind taking off the ring often.)
Some people think a full bezel setting might overshadow a gemstone, but try telling that to the show-stealing diamond in the tapered bezel setting in our Allium Diamond Ring. Our Pear Trillion Ring, Allium Octad Diamond Ring, Half-Moon White Sapphire Ring, and Trillion White Sapphire Ring prove you don’t need prongs to shine. They also show how you can play with shapes of bezel settings, from octagonal to triangle. Our bezel-set Half-Moon Dyad Ring with two ethically sourced white sapphires is adventurous (its open space hints at exploration) with feminine strength.
Aira Diamond Ring embraces the bezel boldly. In the 14k yellow gold version, this ring is a good reminder of how metal choice is a factor when thinking about best engagement rings for an active lifestyle. Platinum and 14k metals are tougher than 18k metals, so keep this in mind as you pick a metal.
Our Crescent Diamond Oval Ring is part band, part diamond engagement ring and is great for people whose active lifestyles, jobs, or personal preference make them not want two rings. Five diamonds shine from their subtle setting, and the ring tapers in the back for comfortable daily wear.
If you prefer the look of a prong setting but want to stay very low profile, the Ray Fringe Diamond Ring manages to wink both at bezel and prong settings and still do its own thing—with a fringe on top. You can also go with smooth prongs: Our Lash Blue Sapphire Ring is a nice combo of both, with a top row of smooth prongs and a half bezel setting. The lineup of smooth prongs in our Linear Diamond Ring keep a whole row of ethically sourced diamonds safely nestled in a low-profile engagement ring that fits an active lifestyle.
The bar setting in our Baguette Diamond Ring is another alternative to a bezel-set engagement ring. It has enough solitaire style to make it a modern classic.
Stacking Rings
We love to break supposed “wedding ring rules” at Bario Neal. And we’re always ready to help couples find something that might not match formulaic national jewelry store ads. If you love the look of a classic prong-set solitaire ring like our Avens Radiant Diamond Ring, but you just know that won’t fit your lifestyle, stacks can be a way to stand out with wedding jewelry.
Stacking wedding rings works well if you’re looking for flair with the security of low profile. Our Reticulated Two Band and Half Eternity Wide Diamond Band are a perfect pair for a wedding ring finger. Go for a 14kt gold tower of pretty rings without gemstones, such as our accessibly priced Reticulated One Band, Fishtail Band, Dais Narrow Band, and Ray Fringe Band. Or get a sculptural mix with a wedding stack foursome from our Vibrant Collection: Fishtail Fuchsia Sapphire Ring, Reticulated One Fuchsia Sapphire Band, Ray Fringe Fuchsia Sapphire Ring, and Dais Narrow Fuchsia Sapphire Band.
Engagement Rings for Active Lifestyles With Small Gemstones
Many Bario Neal clients pick engagement rings with small gemstones due to their work environment. Some people get two engagement rings: one appropriate for their work or daily lifestyle, and another for dressier times. Either way, when you visit one of our showrooms in Philadelphia or New York City to talk about buying an engagement ring, we don’t make any assumptions about your perfect pick or push any agenda about spending budget or gemstone size.
Although many jewelers can’t attest that their smaller diamonds are conflict free, we found an ethical source for melee diamonds (small diamonds) for the ring designs below and all of our eternity bands like the Half Eternity Wide Diamond Band.
With a small gemstone, metal design has a role in making your engagement ring feel personal, like with our Bend Diamond Ring, which plays with open space.
For a more delicate-looking but still durable engagement ring, there’s our petite Aira Mini Diamond Ring, Reticulated One Diamond Band, or Fishtail Diamond Ring.
Whatever engagement ring you choose, and no matter how fit to an active lifestyle, you should take it off for swimming, lifting weights, hiking, or rock climbing—or any outdoor activity that involves heavy use of your hands. (Really, this goes for all your jewelry, such as drop earrings, bangles, bracelets, and necklaces.) Get in the habit of storing jewelry in the same place at home when you remove it. Make that a spot that’s out of reach of kids. You might even put your engagement ring back in its porcelain Bario Neal jewelry box if you have one. If you need to stow in your car or a locker, put your engagement ring in a small zippered pouch made of a soft material like cotton or silk (don’t toss into a gym bag’s bottomless pit!) and lock it up tight. Always remember to insure your fine jewelry, so that in the case of damage or loss, you are covered for repair or replacement.
For more inspiration, shop our engagement rings and wedding bands. Or, next time you’re done summiting that mountain or harvesting that organic garden or winning that tennis match or on break from that tough job, visit one of our showrooms. We promise: We’ll help you find a ring that can keep your pace.
