How do you choose what ring you will be rocking for a lifetime? Defining your forever style is no easy task. St. Louis Best Bridal spoke with Chris Phillips of The Diamond Bar, which offers premium rocks and libations in Town and Country, about the leading trends for rings in 2021.

“Comparing apples to apples in a similar quality and carat-size, our stones outperform,” Phillips says. “It’s a bold statement, but they do! The best advice I can give is to do your homework. Get an education and shop a few different stores, so you really get an idea of what you’re purchasing versus buying what’s being shown and sold to you.”

The Metal

The more traditional metals, white gold and platinum, are taking a back seat in 2021. “We’ve done a lot in rose gold and yellow gold,” Phillips reports. “A lot more colored metals than [in previous years].”

The Shape

Phillips says oval and round diamonds are of-the-moment, but notes that emerald-cut has been taking the lead in recent months. “It’s ever-changing,” he says. “We specialize in finding the largest dimensional spread – the best example in quality of stone in its category.”

Couples are also favoring cushion, radiant and marquise diamonds.

“One really cool thing that I love to see are the old, European-cut diamonds – or the modified cushion brilliants, as they’re called,” he says. “We’ve gotten to create some beautiful rings around antique-cut, 60-plus-year-old stones.”

The Gems

The Diamond Bar hand-selects all of its stones to guarantee premium quality, believing it best to build a ring around the gem it houses. Although diamonds are a forever-favorite, sapphires are gaining in popularity, ranging from the dazzling blue for which the gemstone is known to brilliant shades of orange and yellow.

“We’re starting to become known for … the most exquisite, color-shifting sapphires,” Phillips says. “Most people don’t even know they exist. Indoors, they’re this hunter green color; as soon as you go out into daylight, they turn this incredible bright blue.”

The Band

While a lot of grooms still favor the classic yellow gold band, some are going bold with distinctive ring styles, from mixed-metals bands that feature rose and white gold to bark-style bands.

“In the last couple of months, we’ve made five or six diamond men’s bands in yellow and white gold,” Phillips describes. “Like big diamond bands. Just something unique and different for guys, who [are] more into style.”

The Details

Hand-engraving is quite common, Phillips says, with couples choosing to inscribe a date, phrase or initials, even sometimes on hidden parts of the ring.

“We’ve hand-engraved the sides of rings to give a more … vintage or organic feel, [with] vines or leaves,” he relates. “A lot of it, [though,] is the stone choice. There’s truly a difference in the quality of how our diamonds sparkle and the size in comparison to everything else you will see.”

The Diamond Bar, 13360 Clayton Road, Suite 103, Town and Country, 314-548-5100, thediamondbarstl.com