Most people spend their time choosing a diamond. The shape, the carat, the colour. The setting gets chosen last, almost as an afterthought.
That's a mistake. The setting is what keeps your diamond safe for decades of daily wear. And there are three specific design choices that make a meaningful difference to how durable your ring is.
Why Durability Deserves Attention
An engagement ring gets worn every day. Through cooking, exercise, work, sleep. It knocks against benchtops, door handles, gym equipment. The diamond itself is one of the hardest materials on earth, it's the setting around it that takes the damage.
Prongs bend. Bands warp. Stones loosen. Most of this is preventable if you design with structure in mind from the start.
1. Add a Basket or Cathedral Setting
A basket setting is a reinforced prong design where horizontal bands connect the prongs beneath the stone. Instead of individual claws reaching up to grip the diamond, the basket creates a cradle, a secure structure where the prongs are tied together and stabilised.
This matters because prong movement is one of the most common causes of a loose stone. When prongs flex independently over time, they gradually lose their grip. The horizontal bands in a basket setting resist this movement and distribute pressure more evenly across the whole structure.
A cathedral setting takes a different approach to the same problem. Instead of relying solely on prongs, arches rise from the band itself to support the stone from below. The stone is held from multiple points of contact rather than just the tips of the prongs. This adds structural integrity to the entire ring, not just the setting head.
Both options improve security without changing how the diamond looks from above. The engineering is underneath.
View our stunning Hailey & Monet Engagement rings.
2. Add More Prongs
The standard engagement ring uses four prongs. Four is clean and minimal. It also exposes more of the diamond to potential impact.
Six prongs distribute the holding pressure more evenly around the stone. Each prong carries less load, which means less stress on any single point. With larger stones especially, this matters, the heavier the diamond, the more force each prong absorbs with daily wear.
More prongs also reduce the risk of a stone falling out if one prong does get bent or damaged. With four prongs, losing one means you're down to three. With six, you still have five working in your favour.
The trade-off is minor. Six prongs cover slightly more of the diamond's edge, which can affect how much light enters from the sides. For most people, the security gain is worth it.
3. Use Platinum for the Setting Head
You don't have to build the entire ring in platinum to get the benefit. Using platinum specifically for the basket and prongs, while keeping the band in gold, gives you a two-tone look and meaningfully better stone security.
The reason comes down to how platinum behaves under pressure. Gold wears away. Over years of daily contact, gold prongs thin out and gradually lose material. Platinum behaves differently, it displaces rather than disappears. When platinum bends or takes impact, the metal moves but stays intact. The prong doesn't thin. Your stone stays held.
For people who want a yellow or rose gold ring, a platinum head is a practical solution. The contrast can also look intentional and striking. More importantly, the stone is sitting in a metal that will hold it securely for far longer than gold prongs would.
Beauty Is in the Design. Durability Is in the Engineering.
These three choices, a basket or cathedral setting, additional prongs, and platinum where it counts, don't require you to compromise on how your ring looks. They sit beneath the surface, doing their job quietly while the diamond does its.
If you're designing a ring that you plan to wear every day for the rest of your life, it's worth asking your jeweller about all three.
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View our full collection of lab-grown diamond engagement rings when you're ready to explore options.
Thanks for reading, Jared & Brie