The Best Solitaire Engagement Rings: Timeless Single-Stone Styles Ranked

There is a reason the solitaire has been the engagement ring of choice for more than a century. One stone. One band. Nothing competing for attention. When the setting disappears, the diamond takes centre stage — and that is exactly the point.

Solitaire rings look effortless, but they reward careful choosing. The cut you select, the way the stone sits in its setting, the metal underneath — all of it shapes how the ring looks and how it wears every day. This guide walks through the best solitaire styles in the Gemiros collection, what makes each one worth knowing about, and how to decide which version belongs on your hand.

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What makes a solitaire different from every other ring style?

Most ring styles add things: a halo of pavé stones around the centre diamond, accent stones along the band, milgrain borders, or split shanks. All of these are beautiful additions that can amplify sparkle and create visual complexity.

A solitaire does the opposite. It removes everything that is not essential — and what is left is just the stone and the metal that holds it. That restraint is the whole point. When there are no surrounding stones competing for attention, every ray of light that hits the ring lands on a single, perfectly positioned diamond.

This is why solitaires tend to read as expensive and intentional, even when the stone itself is modest in size. The setting is not distracting the eye or adding visual noise — it is framing the stone and stepping back.

The round brilliant solitaire: still the most widely chosen cut in the world

Round brilliant is by far the most popular cut for solitaire engagement rings — and for good reason. The geometry of a round brilliant is specifically engineered to maximise light return. Every facet is angled to catch incoming light and reflect it back toward the viewer. The result is that signature fire and brightness most people associate with the word "diamond."

When you set a round brilliant in a solitaire setting, there is nowhere for the light to go except straight back to you. A 4-prong setting — which holds the stone at four cardinal points — exposes the maximum amount of the stone's crown, letting more light enter from the sides. A 6-prong setting grips the stone at six points, which is marginally more secure and gives the ring a slightly more architectural silhouette.

The Stella Ring is our round brilliant solitaire. A generously sized stone sits at a flattering height in a clean 4-prong setting that keeps the focus entirely on the stone. Available in both white silver and warm rose gold, it is the ring most people picture when they hear the words "engagement ring."

The oval solitaire: the same brilliance with a more flattering silhouette

Oval engagement rings have grown considerably in popularity over the past decade, and the oval solitaire in particular has become a modern classic in its own right. Visually, oval offers nearly everything the round brilliant does — the same faceting structure, the same light performance, the same fire and sparkle — but in a shape that does something extra: it elongates the finger.

Because the oval stone runs lengthwise along the hand rather than sitting as a symmetrical circle, it creates a slimming, lengthening optical effect on shorter or wider fingers. For many people, the oval solitaire is a more flattering choice than the round, even when the stone is exactly the same carat weight.

There is also something slightly more distinctive about an oval solitaire — it reads as a considered choice rather than the default, which appeals to buyers who want something classic but with a quiet individuality. The Odette Ring in gold captures this beautifully: a 3.5 carat oval stone in a clean setting, finished in a warm tone that suits a wide range of skin tones.

Beyond round: three stone shapes worth considering for a non-traditional solitaire

The round brilliant dominates sales figures, but it is far from the only shape that works beautifully in a solitaire setting. If you want the clean, unfussy aesthetic of a solitaire with a more distinctive silhouette, three shapes are worth serious consideration.

The Asscher cut: architectural and timeless

The Asscher cut is a square stone with heavily cropped corners and a stepped faceting structure — a series of concentric squares that draw the eye down into the stone rather than bouncing light outward. Where a round brilliant is bright and sparkly, an Asscher is deep and mesmerising: jewellers often describe it as having a "hall of mirrors" effect.

Asscher cuts were the stone of choice during the Art Deco period, and they carry that precision and geometry with them. An Asscher solitaire is an architectural choice — it suits women who are drawn to clean lines, graphic shapes, and a certain confident understatement. The Échelon Ring is our Asscher solitaire: sharp, structured, and quietly spectacular up close.

The pear cut: versatile and unexpectedly bold

A pear-cut solitaire is perhaps the most versatile of the non-round choices. The teardrop shape works beautifully in a traditional north-south orientation — point toward the fingertip, which elongates the finger further — or in the increasingly popular east-west setting, where the stone rests horizontally across the finger for a modern, confident look.

The Ondine Ring takes the east-west approach, and it is quietly one of the most striking rings we carry. The 2.0 carat pear-cut stone sits horizontally in a fluid wave-shaped band, creating a silhouette that is genuinely unlike anything you will find in a conventional jewellery window.

How to choose your solitaire: four things worth knowing before you buy

Once you have settled on a stone shape, a few practical considerations will shape how your ring looks and wears every day.

Setting height. A higher setting lifts the stone further from the band, which maximises light entry and gives the ring a more prominent, jewellery-box look. A lower-profile setting sits closer to the hand — less snagging, better comfort during activity, and a slightly more understated silhouette. Neither is better than the other; it depends entirely on your lifestyle and what you find more appealing.

Prong count. Four prongs expose the maximum surface area of the stone to the light and create a clean, minimal look. Six prongs add two more grip points, which is marginally more secure and gives round stones a more symmetrical circular appearance. For ovals and other non-round shapes, four-prong settings are generally the cleaner choice.

Metal tone. White-toned metals make the stone appear as bright white as possible and suit cool skin tones particularly well. Rose gold adds warmth that works beautifully with warmer or olive complexions, and it carries a romantic, slightly vintage quality. Yellow gold gives the ring a rich, traditional feel and currently reads as a confident, intentional choice. All three metal tones work with all stone shapes.

Stone size versus face-up size. Carat is a measure of weight, not surface area. Different cuts use their carat weight differently: an oval or elongated pear stone will cover more area face-up than a round stone of the same carat weight, simply because of its shape. If maximum finger coverage matters to you, elongated cuts offer more visual presence per carat than round.

Frequently asked questions

Whether you are drawn to the reassuring familiarity of a round brilliant or the architectural confidence of an Asscher cut, the solitaire rewards the decision to keep things clean. Take the time to explore the styles above — a ring this meaningful deserves as much consideration as you want to give it.