A diamond or coloured gemstone ring that is surrounded by many smaller diamonds is called a ‘halo’, and this style of engagement ring has been hugely popular over the last few years.  They look great with stones of all shapes and sizes and there is a surprising amount of variation and customisation options open to you.

You can choose the gemstones, metal, stone shape, and exact design of your halo ring to create something totally unique and special to you.

Halo rings can be made in any metal, but the most popular by far for engagement rings are yellow gold, white gold, or platinum.  

Halo Diamond Setting

Claw Setting for the Centre Stone

The central stone in a halo ring can be set one of two ways - claw or rub over set.

A claw setting is where a stone is kept in place by small cylinders of metal known as claws.  There are different types of claws for different shapes of stone and some stone shapes have different amounts of claws.  Round stones will almost always have no less than 4 claws, but can have 6 or 8, whilst marquise stones can have as few as 2, but rarely more than 6. 

The job of the claws is to keep the stone securely in place whilst also allowing you to see the stone from the side with some of the girdle on show.  The tips of the claws can either be rounded or filed into a pointed shape, sometimes known as ‘talon claws.’

Rub over setting

A rub over setting has metal all the way around the stone so that from most angles only the top of the stone is visible.  Metal is pushed over the side of the stone to keep it in place and these types of settings are slightly more secure.  If you lead a particularly active lifestyle and want to keep your ring on, then you might want to consider a rub over set halo style.

Halo stones

The stones that make up the halo can also be set in different ways and, as with the centre stone, there are two main types of setting them: micro claw and pave.

Micro claws are a miniature version of the typical claw setting and halo stones set in this way will either have 4 individual claws per stone or use shared claws in between the stones.

Pave set stones have a thin layer of metal around the outside to make a frame, known as a thread, and are kept in place by small beads of metal. Pave comes from the french word for pavement and stones set in this way resemble a paving of diamonds.

Mill grain pave setting

Sometimes a mill grain edge is added to the frame around the stones.  A mill grain is tiny beads of metal that are applied using an extremely fine wheel and this style is often associated with antique jewellery.

Mixed metal halo ring

A  mix of metals can be used in one ring. If diamonds are being used, then the stones could be set into a white metal like platinum or white gold and the shank (the part of the ring that goes around the finger) could be made out of yellow or rose gold.

Coloured gemstones, like emeralds, sapphires or rubies, are often set into yellow gold, so the setting could be yellow gold, the diamonds around it set into white gold and the shank could be yellow gold!

Centre Stone

As diamonds are the hardest gemstones, they are best suited to engagement rings. However, any gemstone can be made into a halo engagement ring.  Often if the central stone is something other than a diamond, say a ruby or sapphire, then the surrounding stones will still be diamonds, though they don't have to be.  You could have a central ruby surrounded by diamonds or a central diamond surrounded by rubies, the choice is yours.

What shape halo ring should I get?

Round brilliant-cut diamonds are the most popular cut for engagement rings, though they make up a smaller percentage of halo rings. Other shapes like cushion cut, pear shape, and radiant cuts all lend themselves beautifully to this style of ring.

As many coloured gemstones are cut into cushion shapes as opposed to round, many-coloured gemstone halo rings will be cushion-shaped.

The shape of gemstones that you go for is totally up to you and you’ll find that different stones may appeal in different shapes and sizes.  

Diamond shoulders

A lot of halo rings will also have diamonds on the shoulders, though they don't have to.

Double Halo Ring

A ring that has a central stone with 2 rows of smaller diamonds around it is called a double halo. Often the diamonds that form the halos will be the same size, however they could be different.  Having slightly larger diamonds on the outside ring is a popular style and these halos could contain gemstones of different colours that are set in different coloured metals.

Ethical Halo Rings

To make an ethical halo ring you need to know where the materials used in the ring have come from as well as where the ring was made.

In terms of materials, there is the metal and the gemstones used in the ring to consider, and today there are a few options for ensuring that these have been sourced ethically and responsibly.

For gold, there are two recognised sources of responsibly sourced gold: Fairtrade and Fairmined.  Both of these organisations work with small scale artisanal gold miners in South America, Africa, and Asia to provide gold that is traceable and that benefits the communities in which it was mined and minimise environmental impact.

Ethically Sourced Diamonds

Although the diamond industry as a whole has been slow to address the issues with its supply chain, today there are some genuinely ethical sources of diamonds.

Canada Mark Diamonds - Diamonds mined in Canada where environmental standards are high, as are workers’ rights and pay.

Ocean Diamonds - Small scale marine mining, diamonds picked up from the ocean floor off of the coast of South Africa and Namibia.

Ethically sourced coloured gemstones

Although they have not received as much attention as diamonds (at least, there hasn't been a film about them), many of the same issues that have affected the diamond trade affect the trade in coloured gemstones too.

This means that you have to apply the same scrutiny when buying coloured gemstones to ensure you buy a gemstone that has been ethically sourced.  

Fortunately, there are now several sources of responsibly sourced coloured gemstones, many with direct links to the communities that mine the gemstones.

Where was the Ring Made?

Knowing where your ring was made means you can have some kind of idea about the conditions it was made in.  For instance, if your ring was made by a local jeweller, whose shop or studio you have maybe visited, then you know exactly the conditions it has been made in. In the UK, we are fortunate enough to have a high standard of living and rules that protect workers’ rights and pay.

Jewellery is made in many parts of the world, though Thailand, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, and India are well known for their jewellery manufacturing industries and standards of workers’ rights, pay, and conditions can vary widly from country to country. Some workshops in these countries are state of the art and employ skilled craftspeople who are well paid for their work, however, some workshops employ children who work long hours in dangerous conditions for very little pay. The upshot is that if something is being made thousands of miles away its very hard to know what conditions are like and even harder to know where the materials have come from.

Does Having a Halo Make my Centre Stone Look Bigger?

It's sometimes thought that having a centre stone surrounded by smaller stones will make the central stone look bigger, however, I don't think that's really the case and the halo style is an attractive style of ring in its own right.