Zooey Deschanel does not follow trends. The 44-year-old indie queen has stuck with her quirky style since she first became famous more than two decades ago: the blunt bangs, the mod mini dresses, the opaque tights.
So, when it came to choosing an engagement ring for her upcoming nuptials to “Property Brothers” star Jonathan Scott, the actress went for something retro, bold and stubbornly iconoclastic.
Her Van Cleef & Arpels specimen — dubbed the Folie des Prés, or “madness up close” — features a colorful mix of purple and pink sapphires and white diamonds, clustered to resemble a trio of flowers.
“It doesn’t actually look like an engagement ring,” says Sam Broekema, editor-in-chief of Only Natural Diamonds, the magazine of the Natural Diamond Council. “It just looks like a beautiful piece of jewelry.”
“But it has a vintage flavor, which makes sense for Zooey Deschanel’s style,” he adds. “It makes sense that she would have a ring that doesn’t look like it’s from this time period.”
The “New Girl” alum’s stunner may go harder than the average engagement ring. But in some respects, a ring that looks out of time is — ironically — au courant.
“I’ve been seeing a lot of retro, antique-looking rings right now,” says London Jewelers Vice President Scott Udell. “Shapes that were trending in the past are now back: pear-shaped, marquise or ovals with a yellow-gold band,” he adds.
Yet brides are often putting their own, updated twists on these old-timey styles. They may opt for a pear-shaped stone but pair it with a more-modern thin band — a la Demi Lovato’s nostalgic sparkler from hip Soho boutique Material Good. Or they may take an old ring and reset or recut it to better suit their style.
“We’re seeing a lot of people that might have inherited an engagement ring resetting it,” says Broekema. “They’ll take it to somebody like a Brent Neale or an Ashley Zhang and remake it in a way that they would actually want to wear.”
Adds Udell: “The look is timeless, but in a refreshed way.”
Take Zoë Kravitz’s cushion-cut oval sparkler, with a subtle yellow-gold bezel setting and a thin band. The bezel setting not only sets off the diamond — really letting it shine — it also gives the ring its ageless appeal.
“It looks vintage, but you can’t quite say why,” Broekema notes of the ring given to Kravitz by Channing Tatum. “Even though it’s a modern ring, it does have that classicism where you can’t quite peg what year it might be.”
Millie Bobby Brown’s cushion-cut diamond from actor Jake Bongiovi has a similarly out-of-time feel. The “Stranger Things” actress went for a halo style, but she put the circle of smaller diamonds underneath the central stone — instead of around it.
“I’m not a huge fan of traditional halos, but this is like a cool, funky twist to it,” says Udell.
The hidden halo, he adds, “is a different take on a classic style that makes it look more ‘fashion.’ ”
Influencer Olivia Culpo’s ring from San Francisco 49er Christian McCaffrey also features a new take on a classic style: an oval with side stones, or epaulets, flanking it.
“It’s funny, because you see that in rings that people are resetting, like from the late ’80s and early ’90s,” says Broekema. “But the way it’s set — on an oval, and again, on this very thin band — creates a new diamond shape, where it almost looks like a 10-sided stone. It’s not just about the size of the stone, but it’s about the interesting shape, and the amount of light that can be created.”
Whether brand-new or revamped, traditional or radical, elegant or quirky, the most important thing to consider when choosing an engagement ring is that it feels true to the person and couple getting married.
“We live in a time where people see the jewelry they wear every day as a way of expressing something about themselves,” Broekema says. “The only rule when it comes to engagement rings nowadays is to wear it, and wear it joyfully.”
