0.19 ct Thin Band Solitaire, Yellow Gold

0.19 carats, GIA certified E colour and VS2 clarity, set on a narrow band of 18K yellow gold.

The thin shank is the whole idea, and it is the most effective thing you can do for a stone of this weight. The eye does not measure a diamond in millimetres; it measures it against whatever sits next to it. Narrow the band and the same 0.19 ct stone reads noticeably larger, because the reference beside it has shrunk. Widen the shank and the stone appears to shrink with it.

The honest cost of that: a slim shank is less rigid than a broad one. It will bend more readily if caught, and the underside wears thinner over years of daily wear. Both are ordinary workshop repairs, but they are the reason we do not make every ring this way.

E is the second colourless grade. Against yellow gold, only the metal actually touching the stone reflects into its pavilion — in a fine claw setting that is very little — but starting high keeps the diamond reading white where the band meets it.

The same band in a warmer metal: thin band in 18K rose gold. Different heads at the same price: six-prong and twist shank.