Sunburst Halo Engagement Ring Designs

Nothing brings the sparkle like a sunburst halo. These halos don't just look beautiful, it really makes us happy to look at them. There's something jubilant about the way the ring's halo jumps out from the center stone, casting its sparkle like rays of sunshine every which way. We dare you not to smile as you scroll through the warmth and brilliance of the sunbursts we gathered up below.

1

Our style discussion with this customer led us down the path toward a sunburst halo and a vining band design, but with a key goal of keeping the look understated. So we kept the halo stones relatively small, alternating bigger and smaller stones to bring out the sunburst design without overwhelming the center stone. The curves of the band alternate between delicate pave and an even-more-delicate beaded band, echoing the balance of small and larger diamonds in the halo. The centerpiece of this ring is a diamond our gem specialists helped the customer select with near-perfect Hearts & Arrows symmetry. This ring won't look at all bulky on her hand, but it will sparkle and shine like crazy!

2

This ring's design has much more vintage inspiration, partially created by using larger halo diamonds in the sunburst halo and spreading them just a bit wider as they surround a dark blue, marquise cut sapphire center stone. A tapered band uses just a few graduated accent diamonds to create gorgeous curves into the striking center setting.

3

This ring stretches the sunburst halo to a more unusual place. Literally. By making the four outer gems long marquise diamonds, the halo takes on the appearance of a compass rose or a Star of Bethlehem. We thought about referring to this as a starburst, but the candy implications were a bit distracting. The resulting look is delicate and whimsical, creating a bright and unique frame around the understated opal center stone. Understated in size, that is. Those colors are anything but. It's like the northern lights captured on her finger.

4

How about a pithy turn of phrase to highlight the perfect blend of contrasts in this ring? A salty bit of sunshine? A well-seasoned rosy sunburst? There's vintage inspiration in the choice of a rose cut center stone, and the classic look of yellow gold. But the salt and pepper diamond center stone and the sleek, delicate band are quite modern. A wonderful balance between the classic warmth of the setting and the cool, modern gray of the diamond.

5

The vintage character of this ring's design downplays the sunburst halo. We used chunky diamonds to create a scalloped halo around the gorgeous oval center stone. Even though the prong settings on the diamonds create a sunburst-style outer point, its size is understated and draws less attention. The overall look is clearly vintage-inspired, bold and elegant.

6

At the other end of the design spectrum, this opal ring uses smaller halo diamonds and, like #1 above, alternates smaller and larger sizes. Combining with the cooler blues and greens of the white opal, though, this halo has a bit more of a snowflake character. Still bursting with sparkle, but more like the cool and crisp reflection of light on snow.

7

We actually call this style a ballerina halo, with its baguette halo gems creating a bold, geometric array of shapes a bit like a ballerina's tutu around the center stone. But the setting style is very much like a sunburst, so it seemed only right to show one of them here. In place of the more typical (and more subtle) round halo stones, this ring uses a mix of tapered baguettes of different lengths and paired round diamonds to extend the rays of the halo further from the morganite center stone. The result is a much more striking halo whose shapes are inspired by Art Deco design, but which have become very popular again almost 100 years after that style was at its peak.

8

Of course, we have to include at least one less traditional design. For this ring, we broke up the classic sunburst halo, creating two semi-halos that never quite connect, but fit into the bypass-style curves of the band around them. The center opal's warm colors fit with the warmth and sparkle of the almost-halo and with the natural, organic curves of the ring's shank.

9

And, with the modern trend toward ultra-delicate rings, we found a way to bring this bold halo style to a sweetly subdued look. Setting a half-halo of diamonds with a sunburst-style outer prong brings the sparkle in a modern, asymmetrical look. And pairing it with a delicate gold band and sweet, bezel-set opal completes a look that's minimal, understated, and still perfectly sparkly.

10

Last, but certainly not least, we couldn't end this round-up of sparkling halos without showing how at least one of these dances in the light! You'll have to forgive our slightly wobbly turntable. In the controlled light of our photo setup, we can't quite capture the natural sparkle this gives off on someone's finger, but hopefully this gives just a hint of how pretty the light movement will be coming off a sunburst halo. This particular ring's design has a triple-split band design that we love for the way it opens into a few of the halo's points.