From Kate Middleton and Prince William to Napoléon and Joséphine – how royal weddings have inspired engagement rings and bridal trends

Jewellers may tempt customers with beautiful gemstones and dazzling designs, but the most important collection in their repertoire is engagement rings.

An engagement ring is the first and most significant purchase a young couple will make: a ring that is laden with heartfelt sentiment, that will be worn every day and is often their most expensive jewellery purchase.

White gold and diamonds have sealed the deal since the 1980s (coloured gemstones were more prevalent in the mid-20th century) and brands such as Tiffany & Co., Harry Winston, Cartier and De Beers have been finessing collections over the years as tastes slowly changed. For instance, while white gold has dominated bridalwear for decades maisons such as Tiffany & Co. and Graff have recently introduced yellow and rose gold for some designs. They are less traditional and more ethereal, the rose gold particularly suiting all skin tones.

There are trends emerging in design; for instance, multiple-stone clusters such as Harry Winston’s popular Belle ring, a round brilliant diamond with micro-pavé frame and band, and designs where the bands stand out, such as the distinctive parted pavé set band that is Graff’s Legacy setting.

The princess cut and the round brilliant are the most popular for engagement rings, which is why Harry Winston has just launched the Attraction design – a classic round brilliant with 20 diamonds around the band – but there is a trend emerging for more original cuts that look dramatic. The marquise cut, which the French sometimes call the navette for its elliptical boat-like shape, is one of them. It features 58 facets and dates back to King Louis XV in France who commissioned a jeweller to design a shape that resembled the lips of his lover Madame de Pompadour. In more modern times, David Beckham proposed to Victoria with a marquise-cut diamond set on a yellow band. The marquise diamond is one of the cuts highlighted in Graff’s new Fall in Love With campaign.

Other original cuts breaking tradition, and in the campaign are the heart, the pear and the emerald-cut in Graff’s Promise setting (accented by two side stones). The Promise setting is one of a series of new settings based on legendary diamonds that have passed through the house. Others are named the Legacy and the Flame, which offers pretty pink diamonds around the band.

The distinctive emerald-cut diamond is also back in the limelight although it was always Harry Winston’s favourite and one of the house’s bestsellers. In its Bridal Couture collection of unique designs there is a gorgeous eye-catching emerald-cut with flourishes of little marquise-cut diamonds off to one corner.