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The 5 Best Ways to Wear Diamonds [Expert Quick Guide]
Find out how to wear diamonds along with some of our best tips, with our diamond styling guide.
Diamonds always look spectacular with their sparkling glimmer that catches the eye from across the room. Diamonds are also extremely versatile to wear. Read to the end for our handy diamond jewelry buying checklist.
Read to the end to discover diamond alternatives and ethical diamonds…
Contents
- 5 Best Ways to Wear Diamonds
- Affordable Diamond Alternatives
- Considerations when Choosing Diamond Jewellery
Here are our 5 Best Ways to Wear Diamonds…
1.Diamond Stud Earrings
If you have pierced ears then you can’t go wrong with a pair of diamond studs. Available in many different sizes and price points, from tiny 1 or 2 mm ice sparkles, to as large as your wallet will allow. Typically under 5mm will be a nice everyday size for most people looking to wear their studs often. Larger sizes can also be heavier. Ensure the back of the earrings are secure and the settings are strong enough to withstand something like getting the stud caught on a piece of clothing or hair. You can choose from a multitude of diamond cut’s, shapes and colours for ears. Arguably you will never go wrong with a pair of diamond earrings.
You can also opt for a single diamond stud. Especially if you have different types of piercings on your ears. This can be the perfect way to add some eyecatching sparkle to your ear jewellery.
If you don’t have pierced ears you may consider a pair of clip-on earrings, which often look more like hoops.
Keeping Your Diamonds Safe
There are many different kinds of safety backs for diamond earrings, as well as other safety devices, like small chains attaching the front and back of diamond earring whilst allowing enough room to open and fasten the earring. Or even a small chain to another earring. For most people a simple secure safety back that doesn’t affect the earring style will suffice. Alongside taking care when moving hair and clothes around your earrings.
2. Diamond Solitaire Necklace
A single diamond solitaire necklace is often a person’s first introduction to wearing diamonds. Whether you have a larger diamond or a daintier sparkle there are a multitude of diamond shapes and cuts to choose from. Again a white diamond is very classic, yet simple enough to be modern too. The setting can be contemporary, minimalist, or historical. This gives you a wide variety of options to make your diamond necklace personal to you.
If you’re intending on a single diamond pendant necklace, then it’s look will be important, as will the metal you choose as its setting, colour, shape, etc. This is because a diamond that sits around your neck and chest area will act as a focal point for attention. Therefore you will want to consider colour and also necklace length so that you can wear your diamond necklace to all the occasions you want.
Choosing your necklace length
14-16 inches
This is a small size which for most people will sit close to the neck like a choker or cat collar. If you choose this length it’s usually best to have an adjustable chain so that you can find the right size for your own neck that’s not too tight or too loose.
18 inches
Generally the most popular length is around 18 inches. This length sits around the collar bone for most adults, unless you have a particularly large or small neck.
22-24 inches
This length is usually a comfortable length for your necklace to slip under the top of most standard round neck tops and work clothes. So you may want to go shorter or choose what you wear with it a little more carefully. At the longer length, it should be able to be worn over the top of things like jumpers without getting stuck. This allows for more casual wear. Whilst low cut and dressier tops will look great with this length, which should sit roughly between the centre of your breastbone and your clevage.
24+ inches
Generally considered a long length necklace. If you want a pendant this length then it ideally needs a heavier setting to keep the weight down. In this case, you may find you prefer a diamond alternative. Either that or more metal around your diamond. This length will swing more and there’s more risk of it getting damaged if you’re not careful. A necklace of this length needs to be durable enough to withstand harder wear.
Safety Features
Whilst most smaller diamond necklaces are unlikely to have many safety features, higher carat diamonds and more expensive necklaces will. Or you may want some added to your necklace to help prevent accidental loss.
This includes safety chains that attach across the closures and enable you to slip on and off the necklace. If the clasp should fail they offer an extra added security to stop your necklace falling off.
3. Diamond Tennis Bracelet
A beautiful piece of jewellery to own, a tennis bracelet adds fantastic sparkle to your wrist. There are a number of different types of tennis bracelet, however, all are essentially a row of diamonds encircling the wrist. Round white diamonds are the norm, however, alternatives include coloured diamonds, the choice of setting (eg channel, bezel or prong), diamond shape or metal type. For the most versatile look, white stones tend to work best, as does a silver or platinum setting. Platinum is stronger than gold to hold diamonds in place but does carry a higher price tag too. Some people like the white metal against ice white diamonds and so silver is preferred. Whilst yellow or rose gold as a setting can really make diamonds stand out.
4. Diamond Solitaire Ring
Once considered only for engagements, now diamonds can be worn on the fingers by anyone. Due to their value, they are popular as life milestones and birthdays. Whilst the trend for right-hand diamond rings is also popular. So much that we wrote a 5-minute guide on it (see link below). There’s no need to stick to a white diamond here. There are black diamonds, salt and pepper diamonds, mermaid blues, and many other colours to choose from. If you opt for a small diamond, like one of our tiny diamond rings, then you also have the option of adding more diamond rings (or other gemstones) to create a ring stack thats personal to you.
5. Diamond Hoop Earrings
Diamond hoops come in an array of different sizes and thicknesses. There’s also the option of single diamonds or a whole row of them around the hoop. You might want to wear a single hoop or a pair of hoops. They also can work well in a number of different piercings on the ear. If you have multiple piercings on your lobe they can form part of an attractive gradient of earring sizes. You can also choose different colours of diamond too to suit your mood.
Diamond Hoop Sizes
Huggie Hoops
As the name suggests, these hoops hug your earlobe, or just below. They make a great easy-wear everyday hoop that can be worn with anything and look great on men and women.
Small Hoops (6mm -13mm)
Generally a nice dainty hoop size for everyday wear for a number of occasions. From the office to semi-formal, and formal, this type of hoop is attractive and subtly eye-catching. Even hoops this size that are thick are usually still small enough for you to get a lot of wear from them. The smaller sizes in particular can be worn in multiple places on the ears, whilst 8mm+ is a good general small size for the lobes.
Medium Hoops (14mm – 40mm)
A great size for wearing out and about. Meeting friends, casual dinners and for all occasions where you want to look a little more dressed up, or transition from day to night.
Large Hoops (41mm-60 mm)
A great sized hoop for dressier occasions. Large enough to act as a focal point and draw attention to your face. Large hoops are a fashion that’s been with us through the modern era, stretching from the ’70s to the present day. It’s unlikely to go away any time soon. Depending on the size of these hoops you may prefer simulation diamonds, or diamond alternatives.
Extra Large (XL) Hoops (60+ mm)
Trendsetting-sized hoops that look great for that fashionable dressed-up look. Usually more suited to diamond simulants and slightly less expensive gemstones.
Affordable Diamond Alternatives
Moissanite (Eco alternative)
Very popular and virtually impossible to distinguish from a mined diamond. Moissanite is considered an ethical diamond and is a gemstone in its own right. It is classed as a lab-grown diamond, not an imitation. The difference being that this lab-created diamond is cultured in a tightly controlled environment by experts, rather than being dug up from the ground and processed that way. It’s 9 on the moh’s scale, which means that it’s more durable than many other popular diamond alternatives. It also tends to have a little more fire in it than diamond. Moissanite makes for a perfect alternative stone at an affordable price.
Caring for Moissanite
Genuine Moissanite can usually be cleaned just like diamonds. This includes an ultrasonic cleaner or steam cleaner.
White Sapphire
With a similar look to white diamonds, you should be able to wear these just like a diamond. Smaller-sized gemstones are most closely similar to diamonds, whilst larger ones will look more like sapphire and beautiful in their own right. Not to mention sapphires come in a number of other colours that can be very attractive. Though again, the most versatile ones tend to be the white ones. Sapphires can be either lab created or natural mined.
Caring for White Sapphire
Sapphire is another durable gemstone, so has no special requirement different from looking after diamonds.
There are many other gemstones to choose from in an array of colours if you want to move away from traditional white stones. You may want to choose something meaningful like birthstones, or stones with metaphysical properties.
Considerations When Choosing Diamond Jewellery
What metal type should I choose?
The metal colour and type will play a major part in selecting your perfect piece of jewellery. Diamonds themselves can look amazing set in all metals, from silver to gold to platinum, but as diamond jewellery is usually an investment bought to last many years (and for many people- a lifetime), selecting something durable that will last is important. If you’re planning on wearing your diamond jewellery often, and not just on special occasions, then consider what metals you usually wear and what suits your skin tone.
Sterling silver is an all-around classic metal setting gemstones. There are usually endless possibilities of style available. It’s versatile and comes in at a lower price point than other white metals. The downside is that if you have a beautiful and expensive diamond, do you want to show it in less valuable metal, or show it to its full worth in a more expensive metal? It’s a personal choice with no right answer only what works for you and your personal preference.
Platinum’s cool white grey makes a great setting for diamonds due to its strength to hold them in place for a long time. Despite its initial cost, it also has added benefit of not wearing down over time like gold, though it should still be checked for wear to avoid your precious diamonds coming loose.
Yellow gold is less common in tennis bracelets but can add traditional elegance to your outfits. The warmth of yellow gold looks great against warm skin tones and tanned skin. Whilst rose gold is known for suiting all skin tones. Its warm pink hues tend to suit all, though it doesn’t tend to receive the same popularity as yellow or white metals (like silver, platinum or white gold).
You can read more about the virtues and drawbacks of different popular metals in our ‘Know Your Metals’ article.
Diamond Jewelry Buying Checklist
*coming soon*
