One of the primary requirements for dress diamond rings is that they be breathtaking.  These diamond rings are never meant to be ignored or overlooked.  Instead, dress diamond rings are meant to stand out in a crowd and draw as much attention to themselves as possible.  Originally, cocktail diamond rings were intended solely as a means to display wealth and standing in society and as a way for women to outwardly express their assets in the form of jewellery.  This was primarily done during times of prohibition or financial woes, using the diamond rings as a means to display either the fact that they were immune to the legal system when it cam to alcohol or that their financial standing remained unharmed by situations around them.

Dress diamond rings commonly feature pave settings in their design.  Even with larger stones set into them, dress diamond rings were designed to appear as costly as possible from a distance.  By using pave set stones, the diamond rings were essentially given the illusion of containing massive stones, even larger than the ones that many of the did hold.  Pave set diamond rings also helped to increase the perceived cost of the diamond rings as the extra sparkle tended to contribute greatly to the estimated value.

Other dress diamond rings relied solely on large stones to create their grand appearances.  Many times, the diamond rings were also set with a variety of other gemstones as well, using splashes of colour to garner even more attention.  Single stone diamond rings were often seen, however, cluster dress diamond rings were more prevalent.  These allowed for multiple stones, both large and small, to be worked into beautiful patterns and designs in the diamond rings.

Regardless of which style was chosen, dress diamond rings were the perfect way to turn heads and get noticed.

The most basic diamond ring of them all is the diamond solitaire. Consisting of a single stone in a precious metal setting, the solitaire ring was long considered the standard for engagement ring purposes. Over the years, however, styles of acceptable engagement rings have broadened, creating a much larger design pool to choose from. The solitaire ring, while not the only style of engagement ring, still remains highly symbolic with regards to marriage proposals.

A diamond eternity ring is designed for two primary purposes. They are intended to be used as gifts to celebrate a wedding anniversary, sometimes replacing the wedding band itself, or they can be given to commemorate the birth of a couple’s first child, sometimes including the child’s birthstone as well as diamonds. Both the full eternity rings and the half eternity rings can be used to represent these two milestones in a relationship.

The three stone ring, like the eternity ring, is also used as an anniversary gift. The stones are symbolic of the couple’s past, present, and future. While some brides to be are choosing a three stone ring in place of an engagement ring, they are typically reserved for anniversary purposes.

The right hand ring, or dress diamond ring, was intended to be marketed towards single women who didn’t feel the need to be in a relationship in order to be able to wear a diamond ring. Because there is no specific style associated with the right hand ring, any of the above designs can be used to represent a woman’s independence.

While there are several other styles and types of diamond rings on the market, these are the primary categories. Keep in mind, however, that just because a ring is traditionally used for one purpose that doesn’t mean you can’t choose your own tradition to create.