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Flowers and romance have long been inextricably linked. The Victorians even went so far as to ascribe a language to flowers – florioraphy – which was used for the subtle art of courtly love. If you wished to accept a secret proposal, wearing – or sending – a solid coloured carnation would be your declaration of ‘yes!’. A striped carnation would be a regretful ‘no’. But while the Victorians formalised flowers (as they did everything else!) different types of flowers were used to communicate as far back as the days of ancient Persia. No wonder they are still such a popular choice for engagement rings today.

Floral engagement rings are both beautiful and feminine. They can possess naivety or deliver a more sophisticated look. The style you go for really is down to you. Especially when you’re able to design your own. So, how do you find that perfect look?

Flower-Inspired Engagement Rings

There are many things to consider when designing your floral engagement ring. Quite apart from the standard questions of taste, budget and assets, you need to think what you want your ring to say.

The meaning of flowers

While many people select a generic flower shape for their rings, others put thought into the bloom depicted. The selection may be based upon a straight personal preference or some kind of personal significance.  But it’s also possible to choose a flower design based upon the meanings they hold. A rose, for example, can denote lasting love and passion. The peony – not easy to do, but not impossible either – symbolises both gay love and happy marriage. While the daisy denotes innocence, purity and loyalty. You might even wish to create a ring around your partner’s birth flower.

Another route is to consider foliage. If you don’t want an obvious floral design, scrolling vines can represent ever-growing love. While fern fronds – perhaps embracing the central stone – signify shelter, protection. Two of the things you may want to offer your spouse-to-be. Think about what might be important to you, your partner and your relationship and build your design from there.

Different ways to incorporate flowers into your engagement ring

The beauty of custom-designing your engagement ring and using CAD to mock up a design, as Durham Rose does, is that the laws of physics and your imagination are your only real limitations. You can adopt a classic style and use your stones to create a flower shape. Or you can craft a very specific flower from your metal, using stones and inlays to highlight parts of the design. Almost anything goes. But these are some of the most popular options.

Halo

The halo engagement ring has been popular since the Victorian era. The design is built upon a central stone surrounded by a corona of – usually smaller – gems; the petals of your flower. In art deco design, baguette-cut gems were the favoured petals, but smaller stones in a lattice design can work just as well.

Floral mount

With technology comes flexibility. Crafting a life-like flower head as the focal point of an engagement ring is now entirely possible. A stone cradled in a halo of leaves raised from the ring shank can work magnificently.

Equally, latticework can be employed to fashion a flatter, two-dimensional design. This still renders the flower obvious, but may be easier to wear.

Scrollwork, filigree, engraved and relief design

For a subtler look, it’s possible to move away from large stone settings and embed your flowers into the ring’s band. Filigree flowers or scrollwork vines can be a beautiful way to incorporate flowers into a more traditional solitaire engagement ring. Equally, the use of stones can be minimised – or completely removed for wedding bands – with the employment of floral engravings or raised relief designs.

How you want your floral engagement ring to look is entirely up to you. Making that happen, is down to us. If you’d like to find out more about how to design your own bespoke floral engagement ring, please get in touch. We’ll do what we can to help.