Kate Bosworth confirmed her engagement to actor Justin Long on Instagram with a series of blurry photos of the 2 of them cuddling through the years.
“Mad Men” star Christina Hendricks announced her engagement to cinematographer George Bianchini with a low-key snap and the caption: “We proposed to one another and we said yes!!!” Allison Williams let her partner Alexander Dreymon quietly drop the news of their upcoming nuptials — the “M3gan” star hasn’t posted on social media in about two years.
None of those women posted ring pics.
They didn’t showcase the diamonds on their fingers or go on talk shows sharing how their boyfriends got down on one knee. (Bosworth, as a substitute, discussed the proposal on her betrothed’s “Life Is Short” podcast and let Long do the ring-pic posting.)
It’s not only the announcements which have gotten small; the rings have, too.
No more diamonds as big because the Ritz with flashy eternity bands. Brides are embracing simpler styles in traditional cuts.
“This yr feels very different from 2022, where the main focus was on really extraordinary rings: heart shapes, portrait cut, vivid colours — things that were unusual and stood out,” says Sam Broekema, editor-in-chief of Only Natural Diamonds, the Natural Diamond Council’s online publication. “There’s been an actual trend toward traditional and vintage styles — smaller natural diamond engagement rings, things that feel more understated.”
When newly betrothed celebs did walk a red carpet, fans needed to zoom into the event photos simply to catch a glimpse of their subtle sparklers.
“It feels more quiet and private,” notes Broekema.
Take Beanie Feldstein’s custom ring from fiancée Bonnie Likelihood Roberts.
The yellow-gold band’s inside has a tiny diamond that belonged to Roberts’ mother, while the surface sports an antique cushion-cut diamond surrounded by tiny pear-shaped stones, inspired by “a rare flower in bloom,” based on jeweler Michelle Oh.
It’s a sweet style that has an antique feel while remaining distinctly personal. “It’s definitely a retro throwback sort of look,” says Scott Udell, vice chairman of London Jewelers. “However it has a chic, Recent Age twist.”
Hendricks, meanwhile, opted for an antique-style ring that enhances her own preferences for Forties-inspired fashions. “It’s made up of a grouping of stones, like Beanie’s,” says Broekema. “It’s more in regards to the design than it’s in regards to the impact of a central stone.”
“I feel it speaks to the way in which they announced [the engagement] as making the choice together,” Broekema points out. “It was, ‘We made a commitment to 1 one other’ versus ‘He asked me and needed to wow me to say yes to the ring.’ ”
Udell says that brides who do go for a single central stone are paring them back as well: emerald-cut diamonds, in addition to round stones and oval shapes with easy yellow-gold or rose-gold bands, reminiscent of the case with Bosworth and Williams.
“I feel loads of brides today recognize that [an engagement ring] is something that they wear every single day, day in and day trip, and so they want something that’s not going to be out of fashion in three to 5 years,” he says.
Even a pop star like Vanessa Hudgens (who showed off her ring in a selfie in front of the Eiffel Tower) has reined back the glitz, choosing an oval sparkler set in yellow gold. Says Broekema: “It’s an enormous ring, yet it’s very classic.”