The Edit: All The Right Angles: Akimbo Diamond Engagement Rings

Oct 23, 2023

Read the full S/S issue

Photographed & Directed by: Mark Lim Styled by: Herin Choi Words by: Marion Fasel

Crazy in Love isn't just a chart-topping hit from Beyoncé. The idea is real—but you know that. Just think back to how you got butterflies in your stomach when you first met your true love. The sight of your paramour still takes your breath away. In short, you are a little off-kilter in the best of all possible ways. And now you are looking for an engagement ring to represent your romance.

EARRINGS STEPHANIE GOTTLIEB • RINGS (L-R) LORRAINE WEST, THE CLEAR CUT, KATKIM, ARIELLE RATNER, LORRAINE WEST • NECKLACES (L-R) ARIELLE RATNER, RETROUVAI, KWIAT • FASHION (L-R): Katie wears Aknvas suit from Nordstrom, Jimmy Choo shoes. Hey Yeon wears Aknvas suit from Nordstrom, Jean Paul Gaultier tank top from Albright Fashion Library, Alexandre Birman shoes. Astrid wears Alice & Olivia suit from Nordstrom, Reike Nen shoes. Daniil wears Officine GÉNÉRALE suit, Alexander McQueen shoes. Coco wears Christopher John Rogers suit from Albright Fashion Library, Reike Nen shoes. Sonia wears Michael Kors suit.

RINGS (L-R) STEPHANIE GOTTLIEB, ANITA KO, OLIVER BLANDI • DRESS AREA

RINGS (L-R) OLIVER BLANDI, NATASHA SCHWEITZER, LORRAINE WEST, KWIAT • BRACELET JADE TRAU • CATSUITS RICHARD QUINN FROM ALBRIGHT FASHION LIBRARY

RINGS (L-R) WILLIAM GOLDBERG, SYLVA & CIE, GREENWICH ST. JEWELERS, STEPHANIE GOTTLIEB, WILLIAM GOLDBERG, JENNA BLAKE, JADE TRAU, REZA • BRACELETS (L-R) SORELLINA, STEPHANIE GOTTLIEB • FASHION (L-R): Sonia wears Mother of All dress. Coco wears SVNR top and skirt. Daniil WEARS Bite Studios top, Sally LaPointe pants. Katie wears Araks dress. Astrid wears Mother of All dress. Hey Yeon wears Forte Forte dress.

RINGS (L-R) BELPERRON, THE CLEAR CUT • BODYSUIT MICHAEL KORS

RINGS (L-R) THE CLEAR CUT, BELPERRON, ANA KHOURI • NECKLACES WORN AS BELT THE CLEAR CUT • FASHION (L-R) SONIA WEARS ACNE STUDIOS TOP AND SKIRT FROM NORDSTROM, KATY PERRY SHOES. COCO WEARS MICHAEL KORS BODY SUIT AND PANTS, TAMARA MELLON SHOES. DANIIL WEARS FERRAGAMO.

RINGS (L-R) JENNA BLAKE, JADE TRAU, REZA, WILLIAM GOLDBERG • BRACELET STEPHANIE GOTTLIEB • DRESSES (L-R) MOTHER OF ALL, FORTE FORTE, ARAKS

RINGS (L-R) LORRAINE WEST, THE CLEAR CUT, ARIELLE RATNER, KATKIM, LORRAINE WEST

RINGS (L-R): CLEAR CUT, ANA KHOURI, BELPERRON

RINGS (L-R) ELIZABETH OCTAVIA, ARIELLE RATNER, ANA KHOURI • NECKLACE SORELLINA • BRACELET KWIAT • FASHION (L-R): Hey Yeon wears Interior top and skirt. Astrid wears Ferragamo dress.

NECKLACE KWIAT

Well, designers are on to this feeling as a metaphor in jewelry. It's a tricky thing to do, but they have managed by turning diamonds a bit to the left or a bit to the right in engagement ring settings. In other words, the gems are off-kilter. Creating a pretty perfect design for what all the emotions feel like.

Where did this trend start? Honestly, no one is sure exactly. It's a rarity that a jewelry trend doesn't have a historical precedent. Yet there isn't one. Sure, you might be able to find an example or two from the distant past, but good luck searching…

The contemporary market, however, is a different story. When the Style Collective behind this Trend Report got together and batted around the idea of the setting, just about everyone named a different label where they saw it first. The idea has definitely been in the air.

It was, for a time, also on the third finger of the left hand of uber-influencer Emily Ratajkowski. Mind you, this is not saying she was the first to wear a diamond set at an angle. The model-actress was perhaps just the most high-profile person to ever do it. The ring she conceived in 2018 with her now ex-husband, movie producer Sebastian Bear-McClard (and an assist from jewelry designer Alison Lou) had a princess-cut diamond with a pear-shaped diamond set a little askew.

The Emrata jewel got a lot of attention at the time the couple was engaged, and it's still a subject of fascination. The ring helped catapult two-stone diamond rings (also referred to as Toi et Moi designs) to the forefront of fashion. The angle on the pear shape in Ratajkowski's ring was also clearly a point of interest because the mode has been popping up in two-stone rings for the last few years.

In the celebrity world of engagements, Ariana Grande's husband Dalton Gomez proposed with a custom-made Solow & Co Toi et Moi ring in 2020 featuring a stunning oval-shaped diamond set at an angle alongside a pearl. And there is Megan Fox's engagement ring. At the end of 2021, Machine Gun Kelly worked with designer Stephen Webster on the jewel featuring a pear-shaped diamond and a pear-shaped emerald tilted towards each other.

While this trio of celebrity engagement rings are all two-stone designs, the new wave are solitaires. The solo gem makes the slant of the single stone the primary focus. After that each designer puts their own signature style on the concept.

So, you must be wondering: what's this new look called? Well, it didn't really have a name. Explaining the design as stones set "akimbo" resonated with pretty much everyone in the Style Collective immediately. One of the definitions of the word akimbo is "to one side" or "askew" which is exactly how these solitaires are positioned. Either way, the style is here to stay.

According to Broken English's Laura Freedman, "The akimbo style is a fresh way to make a solitaire feel special." Jewelry editor extraordinaire Jill Newman adds, "I expect we will see more women reset their classic engagement rings, turning their stones slightly askew to create akimbo rings."

Eva Fehren

Hemmerle

Jade Trau

Jenna Katz

Jessica McCormack

Nadine Aysoy

Oliver Blandi

Photographer/Director: Mark Lim Stylist: Herin Choi Hair: Edward Lampley Makeup: Allie Smith Manicurist: Mamie Onishi Models: Astrid, Coco, Daniil, Hey Yeon Yoo, Katie Johnson, Sonia Creative Director: Lizzy Oppenheimer Creative Production: Petty Cash Production Director of Photography: Carl Knight Sound Op: Boris Krichevsky Photo Assistants: Hector De Jesus, Adam Kim, Mike Pardo Digital Tech: Yu Hsing Lin Fashion Assistants: Jasmine Fontaina, Sevn Rodriguez