The Australian Engagement Ring Trends to Watch in 2026

Engagement ring styles shift as time goes by, with new styles and design elements bringing a freshness to designs. Unlike fashion which moves at a fleeting pace, engagement ring trends are more thoughtfully curated. The key is designing new elements into a piece, while also creating a timeless design that will feel as beautiful on your hand now as it will in decades’ time.

Here are 3 emerging trends I’m seeing at our Australian jewellery studio, to inspire your very own modern-yet-timeless engagement ring design in 2026.

1. Solitaire Engagement Rings with Unique Design Elements

Solitaire engagement rings have long been a favourite for custom diamond ring designs in various ways. While round diamonds are a traditional choice, we’re seeing more and more clients choosing a unique design elements for their solitaire engagement rings.

Even with a simple concept of one single stone in an engagement ring, it’s the detail of these elements that allow a piece to be made personal. Clients are increasingly customising their designs with alternative diamond shapes, band textures, and setting orientations to bring modern elements to their designs. Incorporated into a classic single stone design, it becomes a beautiful blend of modern design alongside timeless simplicity.

2. Engagement Rings with Local Australian Gemstones

Diamonds have been a loved choice of gemstone for an engagement ring for many decades, though Australian couples are increasingly looking for alternatives for their custom ring designs. We’ve seen a particular interest in locally sourced gems, and take great joy in incorporating Australian gemstones into beautiful handmade ring designs.

Australia is home to stunning gemstones, many of which can be incorporate into an engagement ring design that will be worn every day. We’re seeing a growing interest in Australian coloured diamonds in neutral shades, as well as Sapphires in shades of classic blue and unique green. Creating an engagement ring with Australian gemstones is a wonderful way of supporting our local industries, while also capturing an element of your engagement story in your design.

3. Trilogy Engagement Rings with Unique Shapes and Colour

Trilogy engagement rings have a long history, with their three gemstones thought to represent a couple’s past, present and future as they embark on their next chapter of life together. Traditionally, trilogy rings are made with three round white diamonds, though the three-stone framework creates so many opportunities to customise a design.

We’re seeing a growing creativity in shaking up the design elements of a trilogy ring in unique ways. Alternative diamond shapes, coloured gemstones, bezel settings, and gemstone proportions have all been incorporated into custom engagement ring designs to change the style and personality of a ring. Each of these combinations creates a personal design while also maintaining the classic essence of a trilogy engagement ring.

These trends have brought a fresh new shift to the custom engagement ring design realm, while keeping the timeless essence of a ring that’s going to be worn for many years. Whether you’ve found some inspiration for your own ring, or have sparked a new idea for a unique design, creating a ring that’s uniquely yours is a beautiful way to celebrate your engagement story.

To begin a conversation with a jewellery maker and bring your unique vision to life, book your complimentary appointment for our Canberra studio or virtual appointment.

Jewellery Trends to Watch in 2025

Fine jewellery sees trends in a different way to fast fashion. High end gemstone jewellery, gold jewellery, and platinum jewellery, are pieces we enjoy in our collections for years, decades, and even generations. So trends are less of a chop-and-change passing fad. Instead, trends add to the memories and stories the piece is all about. They’re trends that we’ll love in our collections for the long haul.

We’ve covered the trends in engagement rings we’re watching in 2025. Now, let’s look at trends of dress pieces entering your collections at the moment. Here are the 4 trends we’re seeing at our Canberra jewellery studio to watch in 2025.

1. Luxury Signet Rings

There’s a strong, growing love of signet rings for all occasions. In the luxury jewellery space, signet rings are a representation of who we are, what we value, and what we love. It’s this sentiment that’s soaring in popularity, with designs incorporating the nuances of the important things we want to be conscious of as we go about our days.

As well, there’s a growing trend of signet-like ring profiles for diamond rings, with bezel settings that flow seamlessly to a wide look band. Either as an engagement ring, or a dress ring, this style is both modern, and practical to wear.

2. Pink Diamond Jewellery

Australia’s Argyle diamond mine - the most significant source of pink diamonds in the world since the 1980s - closed its operations in 2020. So, for the last few years, collectors have taken the chance to include this gemstone in everything from engagement rings, to wedding rings, to pendants and remodels.

Knowing they’ll be harder and harder to get hold of makes these pieces true treasures for gemstone lovers. Whether it’s as a feature gem, or a minor accent, each piece featuring Australian pink diamonds are a tangible piece of Australia’s (and the world’s) history of gemstones.

3. Inset Gemstone Rings

Rings with gemstones set flush with the band are becoming a highly sought after ring style, for all occasions. This style has been a favourite for remodelling multiple jewellery pieces into one cohesive band, though it’s now extending far further into designing new one of pieces as dress rings, wedding band, and milestone celebrations.

These wider style bands are comfortable to wear, durable, and are a modern way to incorporate colour into a ring style you’ll wear day to day, with the bonus that the gemstone is protected within the ring. Blue gemstones in particular - in all shades and gemstone varieties - are seeing the spotlight in a big way for this style of ring, with meaning and personality showing through in gemstone selections.

4. Heirloom Remodelling

While heirlooms have always been a loved treasure, there’s a growing interest in remodelling family jewellery and pieces from former chapters in our lives, into new pieces we can wear all the time - rather than stashing them in a safe place, to never see the light of day.

We’re seeing more and more people redesigning meaningful gemstones and design elements into fresh and sturdy new designs that allow them to keep the memories their heirlooms hold as part of their everyday life through jewellery. Each treasure is an honour to help recapture.

Emerging trends are a great way of finding fresh inspiration for a unique jewellery design, and adding to the time capsule that fine jewellery represents in your life-long collection. For help designing a piece that’s uniquely yours in 2025, book your complimentary appointment to delve into the process.

4 jewellery trends to watch in 2022

With a fresh new year ahead, Harlequin Jewellers is back at the workshop, and pumped for a year of beautiful jewellery making. What will 2022 hold for us? While the last few years have taught us to expect the unexpected, here are my predictions for the jewellery trends ahead.

1. Pink Diamonds

It has been a little over a year since Western Australia’s Argyle Diamond Mine closed its operation, sparking a greater appreciation worldwide for the rarity of these incredible gems. With a complete halt of new gems, the remaining Argyle Pink Diamonds have been snapped up by buyers, and the jewellery world has been holding its breath to see what happens next.

In 2022, I see gemstone aficionados adding what remaining Pink Diamonds they can to their collections (be that in an engagement ring, dress ring, pendant, as accent stones, or simply a loose gemstone to treasure), with interest also spilling over to other coloured diamonds. Attention is being shared across to Yellow Diamonds in particular, and I see beautiful bright shades of yellow featuring in engagement rings and dress pieces throughout the year.

Following the Argyle Diamond Mine closure in late 2020, Pink Diamonds are an attractive choice for gemstone connoisseurs.

2. Spinels

Look back a few years, Spinels were a largely unknown gemstone variety, overshadowed by more well-known varieties like Sapphires and Rubies. Today, Spinels have established themselves as a beautiful mainstay in the jewellery scene, with admirers appreciating in particular its Red, Neon Pink, Cobalt Blue and Grey colourways.

In 2022, I see Spinels featuring in more and more pieces, both as feature gems and accent stones. The versatile gem is strong enough for engagement rings, and makes for beautiful dress rings, pendants, and earrings for day-to-day and occasion wear.

Largely unknown a few years ago, Blue Spinels like this one now hold a solid place in the jewellery scene.

3. Lab grown diamonds

Natural mined diamonds have been a long sought after choice for engagement rings, given their rarity and strength. While I expect this to continue, there’s also a quiet undercurrent forming, with a small but growing interest in lab grown diamonds. Some clients are beginning to specifically look for lab grown diamonds over mined diamonds for many reasons: be that a deliberate choice to steer away from large scale diamond mining operations, through to the ability to attain a larger size diamond for the same price point of essentially the same material. Whatever their individual reason, it’s clear that lab grown diamonds are here to stay this year, and I expect more clients seeking these gems for their engagement rings in 2022.

Lab grown diamonds, like this oval shaped one, are becoming an increasingly popular choice for engagement rings.

4. Meaningful day-to-day gems

The events of the last few years have forced many of us to direct our attention inward, rather than be distracted by the ordinary hum drum of external life. As a result? Many of us have become better attuned to ourselves, our likes, our dislikes, what we find meaningful, and what sparks our joy. Going into 2022, I see this guiding our decisions in everything from big picture life decisions, to how we spend our time, and right through to the jewellery we buy.

What does this mean for jewellery? I expect to see jewellery choices that create meaning and joy in our day to day lives. From heartfelt remodels of treasured family heirlooms that bring our history to the forefront of our minds, to highly tailored pendants with talisman-like meaning, or gemstones from exotic locations that muster up a sense of adventure in our lives. I see projects like these coming through my workshop doors, creating jewellery that wearers can hold onto day in, day out, as a reminder of who they are, what they love, and what they value.

Personal pieces that capture our identities and passions bring joy to our day to day lives, like this piece capturing the wearer’s love of the ocean.