Heart Engagement Rings

Heart cut: what to look for in a heart shaped diamond

A heart is a brilliant cut in the shape of the symbol, with two rounded lobes, a cleft between them and a point at the bottom. Symmetry decides it. Hold the ring at arm's length and the lobes should match in size and height, with the cleft sitting dead center. A lopsided heart looks off across a dinner table, even when its color and clarity grade well. Too wide and it reads squat, too long and it starts to pass for a pear, so ask the desk how the center measures, length against width.

The ring here: the 1 carat lab-grown heart engagement ring

This page holds one ring. Its center is a 1 carat heart, lab-grown, graded E for color and VS for clarity. Small round lab-grown diamonds run along the band, and prongs hold the heart. It comes in 14K yellow or white gold. Sizes run 5 through 8, half sizes included. The ring weighs 1.50 grams, a slim band that keeps the eye on the heart. It sold 18 in the year.

Bigger heart: a larger heart diamond, grown or mined

For a bigger heart, ask the desk before you pay, because a different center makes it custom work, which cannot come back. Grown and mined hearts are both diamond, cut and graded the same way. Grown, a heart can go well past a carat and still look clean to the eye. Mined, an H or I color with SI2 clarity leaves room for a larger heart than E and VS, the grades on the ring here. On either one, ask for the cut, symmetry and fluorescence grades as well.

Setting: prongs for a heart, a halo, or a toi et moi

Look for a V-shaped prong over the point, because the tip is the thinnest part of the stone and chips first. A prong at each lobe holds the rest, and some settings add one in the cleft. A halo of small diamonds around the heart makes it read larger, and the desk can say whether this center takes one. A toi et moi sets two stones side by side, like the heart and pear ring among the picks. White gold is plated with rhodium, so expect a fresh plating every year or two.

Size: her ring size for a heart engagement ring

Keep the surprise by measuring a ring she already wears on her ring finger, and say which hand it came from. A friend who can keep a secret will know whether she would love a heart. Between two half sizes, take the larger one. A quarter size, or one outside 5 to 8, goes through the desk first, and the refund policy makes a ring made or changed to fit her final. The ring size chart prints a sizer for home. A slim band slips on a little easier than a wide one of the same size. Start in the live chat, or call or text 212-872-9692 from 10 AM ET.