How to Match Your Partner’s Style With the Perfect Engagement Ring

If you’re planning a surprise proposal with an engagement ring (here’s a helpful how-to!), Bario Neal can help you figure out what style of ring will match your love’s taste. Here are dozens of ring recommendations to fit four styles: natural, contemporary, classic, and experimental. 

Engagement Rings That Fit a Natural Style

Your partner was into flea market finds long before that was a thing. Has a closet of cotton and earthy colors. Can’t take a beach walk without picking up at least one piece of driftwood.

• The free-form lines of our Gale Rose Cut Diamond Ring will resonate with someone who embraces the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which is about appreciating the handcrafted over the machine made.
• Hammered metal gives our Crescent Hammered Diamond Ring a natural feel, while the setting for five ethical diamonds keeps the look grounded for the person who favors campfires over fireworks.
• Remember the magic of being a kid and seeing your first bird’s nest? Our Arc Diamond Halo Ring with Robin's Egg Blue Enamel tells a story of craft (the art of enamel) and brings a splash of color that complements an organic palette.

For an engagement ring without a diamond or colored gemstone: Our handcrafted aesthetic is evident in each and every one of our textured bands, like our Aldine Band, which stands out with a classic metal braid. Our reticulated bands, like the Reticulated Three Band, are shaped by heating and quenching metal, and the Weathered Bronze and Gold Band has a patina that says its wearer prefers the scenic route.

Engagement Rings That Fit a Contemporary Style

Your partner feels most at home in a modern art gallery or a city park. Packs one tote bag for your three-day romantic getaways. Marie Kondo doesn’t have any tips that your spouse-to-be doesn’t already intuitively understand.

• The diamond pairs and bezel settings in our Half-Moon Dyad Ring and Trillion Dyad Ring have an alluring modern duality: They’re of the moment and timeless all at once.
• Minimalist doesn’t equal plain. If you’re proposing to a person who longs for clean lines and cringes at clutter, our Aira Diamond Ring plays up the strength and beauty of streamlining.
• Our Ray Emerald Ring is a classic solitaire with a modern twist that fits a contemporary style. If your love’s color scheme runs more to black-and-white basics, our Half-Moon Black Jade Ring makes an engagement ring with color that’s bold but delicate.

• For an engagement ring without a diamond or colored gemstone: The Shield One Band and Shield Two Band carry their shape and texture within the ring’s clean lines. If your partner’s a Le Corbusier fan, the asymmetry of our Icon Narrow Band or the architecture of the Icon Band and Icon One Wide Band are a good match.

Engagement Rings That Fit a Classic Style

Your partner says “no thank you” to fads. Knows all the details of your family traditions. Asks a vintage furniture dealer for the real story behind that hand-carved poster bed.

• When Anna Bario and Page Neal decided to design engagement rings at Bario Neal, they showed that “traditional” doesn’t have to mean “unadventurous” by creating the Avens Round Diamond Ring. Clients can personalize the adaptable classic too: The Avens Raw Diamond Ring version is perfect for someone who leans vintage.    
• The Allium Octad Diamond Ring gets stately flair with an octagon-shaped setting, and our Myrtle Ring takes your solitaire game up a notch with its dash-of-drama prongs.
• An antique cut for the center diamond in our Soma Rose Cut Diamond with Champagne Halo Ring brings history. The rose cut has been around since the 1500s. A pave of champagne diamonds around the diamond spills onto the band for sophisticated shimmer. If you’re looking for a simpler design, our eternity bands can be personalized with a gemstone in your partner’s favorite color.

• For an engagement ring without a diamond or colored gemstone: Our Milla Bands, like the Milla Thin Band and the Milla Shoulder Hammered Narrow Band and all of our classic bands, match even the most understated styles while still making a pretty statement.

Engagement Rings That Fit an Experimental Style

Your partner rearranges the furniture at least twice a year. Gets excited over Pantone’s annual color of the year announcement—but scoffs at fashion “rules” (and probably most rules for that matter).

• You’ve never heard your partner utter the words, “I like things just so,” so forget symmetry and go for a smattering of prongs and the contemporary cut emerald in our Sol Emerald Ring. You can create asymmetry with color too, by personalizing our Open Lash Mini Diamond Ring. One client mixed gemstones, cuts, and settings to create this Custom Open Lash Half-Moon Sapphire and Blue-Green Sapphire Ring.  
• Is your partner’s favorite part of doing a jigsaw puzzle that moment when you tip over the box and spread out 1,000 pieces waiting to be a picture-perfect scene? Cluster rings are sorta the jewelry version of that pastime. They’re a chance to experiment with shape and color, and two of our best examples are the Lash Cluster Triad Paraiba Ring and the Radial Cluster Yellow Hex Sapphire Ring. If your partner is a fan of the monochromatic, mix and match without the color like we did for our Fringe Cluster Diamond Ring and Burst Cluster Diamond Ring.
• Opals thrive when surrounded by vibrant color. Sound like someone you know? Then check out our new opal-centered halo rings, the Dasha Opal with Emerald Halo Ring and the Dez Opal with Rainbow Halo Ring. (Opals are more delicate than diamonds and sapphires so look to our “9 Do’s and Don’ts for Pretty Opal Rings” for care tips.)

• For an engagement ring without a diamond or colored gemstone: Our Senna Bands, with enamel choices in red, blue, black, and white, make a stand for color without a gemstone in sight. If you propose with more than one of these bands, your partner gets to have fun with stacking rings or swapping them depending on the outfit of the day.   

Not sure how to define your partner’s style? Torn between two of the styles above? At Bario Neal, we love to help people find the engagement ring that’s right for them, and we know that jewelry is a personal way to celebrate a commitment and also reflect your partner’s personality. Our engagement ring quiz is a good start, but it’s just the beginning of the fun. (The proof is in our “8 Ways to Simplify Engagement Ring Shopping.”) Make an appointment to visit our Philadelphia or New York City showroom today and find the right ring to match your partner’s style.