Reaching your diamond anniversary, or 60th wedding anniversary, is a terrific achievement. Just like with other significant anniversaries, it’s traditional to give your partner a gift to symbolize and commemorate the 60 years you’ve spent together.
As you’ve probably guessed from its name, the most common gift for your diamond anniversary year is diamond jewelry.
Diamond jewelry comes in a huge variety of options. The most traditional gift for your diamond anniversary is a diamond anniversary band, either for your partner or as part of a matching set of rings.
Just like buying other jewelry, finding and purchasing the right diamond anniversary gift can be surprisingly difficult. Below, we’ll walk you through:
- How to choose the right diamond anniversary ring
- Which settings are best for a diamond anniversary ring
- The basics of choosing high quality diamonds
- Alternative gifts for your diamond anniversary
Why you should trust us
To help you with the diamond buying process we lean on our expertise and experience. The author of this article, our CEO, Mike Fried has over 20 years of experience in the diamond industry. Mike started from the bottom, sorting and evaluating hundreds of thousands of diamonds to learn every facet (pun intended) of diamond quality and value. Mike followed that up by spending years buying and selling diamonds on the wholesale market as well as selling tens of millions of dollars worth of diamonds to diamond retailers.
How to Choose a Diamond Anniversary Ring
Anniversary rings come in several different styles, from traditional eternity bands to anniversary rings designed for larger diamonds.
There’s no best diamond anniversary ring for everyone. Instead, a good diamond anniversary ring should match and complement your partner’s existing engagement ring, wedding ring and other jewelry.
First, it’s important to decide on the type of anniversary ring you think is the best match for your partner’s tastes.
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Diamond Eternity Bands
Diamond anniversary bands, such as eternity bands, usually have a lightweight, simple design that gives your partner lots of flexibility regarding where to wear their ring.
Because they’re usually fairly simple in design, it’s okay for your partner to stack their diamond eternity ring with their engagement and wedding rings. If your partner likes jewelry that’s light, simple and uncomplicated but still beautiful, a classic diamond eternity band is a great choice.
As well as their light weight and simplicity, eternity bands offer several other advantages over more ornate, complicated anniversary rings.
First, since they usually don’t contain large diamonds, eternity bands are often more affordable than other anniversary rings. Second, their simple design makes them easy for your partner to wear on any finger, from their left ring finger to any finger on their right hand.
Third, eternity bands are exceptionally versatile. As the American Gem Society points out, you can wear a ring of this type “on its own for a touch of sparkle,” or layer several eternity bands for added texture and individuality.
Finally, a diamond eternity band is a very safe choice. If you’re not sure what type of ring your partner will like, it’s hard to go wrong with a classic, timeless anniversary band.
- Ladies Angled Common Prong Diamond Eternity Ring from James Allen
- Floating Diamond Eternity Band from Blue Nile
James Allen and Blue Nile both offer a large selection of diamond eternity bands, ranging in price from affordable to undeniably high-end.
Diamond Anniversary Rings
Anniversary rings also come in a range of more ornate, complicated styles. If your partner likes their jewelry to stand out a little more, a five-stone ring like this one from Blue Nile, channel-set ring or bezel-set diamond anniversary ring like this from James Allen could be a great choice.
Choosing a more complicated anniversary ring is a great way to give your partner a statement piece of jewelry. If you know your partner’s tastes and want something that stands out from the crowd, a ring with a larger diamond or more complicated setting can be a good option.
For more elaborate designs, it’s traditional for your partner to wear their diamond anniversary ring on their right ring finger.
As always, there’s no “right” and “wrong” choice for an anniversary ring. Choose based on your partner’s tastes and preferences — after all, it’s their opinion of the ring that’s the most important.
Not sure where to shop for an anniversary ring? We generally recommend buying from Blue Nile or James Allen, both of which offers a great selection of diamonds and a huge range of different setting options.
Diamond Weight, Color, Clarity and Anniversary Rings
Just like engagement rings and other diamond jewelry, the diamonds used in anniversary rings can range from small and inexpensive to large, costly and flawless.
If you opt for an eternity ring, the small size of the diamonds used in this type of jewelry means there’s usually less of a need to worry about factors like diamond size and quality. These diamonds, which are referred to as melee diamonds, offer excellent value for money when compared to larger diamonds.
Many eternity rings, such as this pavé eternity ring from Blue Nile, have as many as 45 separate diamonds. Eternity rings and other rings with multiple small diamonds are usually classified by a certain total carat weight, referring to the total weight of all of the separate diamonds.
The diamonds used in these rings usually have a color grade ranging from G to I, meaning that they’re “near-colorless,” with a tone that’s usually only detectable upon close inspection or when compared to higher-grade diamonds.
Since the diamonds in an eternity band aren’t very large, these near-colorless diamonds can be a great option if you’re searching for high quality jewelry that’s still reasonably affordable.
If you opt for a ring with larger diamonds, factors like diamond color and clarity begin to become more important. For example, this Asscher-cut eternity ring from Blue Nile has a total carat weight of seven, with significantly larger, more visible diamonds than the pavé ring we linked above.
While there’s no need to look for colorless diamonds for this type of anniversary ring (after all, the diamonds are still less of a centerpiece than on an engagement ring), it’s generally best to choose a ring that features diamonds with a high color and clarity grade.
All in all, the most important factor is whether you think your partner will like a certain type of diamond anniversary ring. Use factors like total carat weight, color and clarity as a guide — in the end, you know best whether or not a certain ring is suitable for your partner.
Need help choosing the right diamond jewelry? Our guides to diamond color and diamond clarity go into more detail on the two factors you’ll want to keep in mind when shopping for anniversary rings, as well as the effects they’ll have on the price of diamond jewelry.
Other Diamond Anniversary Gifts
While it’s traditional to give a diamond ring for your 60th anniversary, there’s nothing wrong with giving other diamond jewelry.
Diamond bracelets, earrings and necklaces all make great gifts for your diamond anniversary, especially if your partner already has a diamond engagement ring, wedding band or several other anniversary rings.
Need help choosing the right diamond anniversary ring? Send a message to our experts and we’ll get in touch with personalized advice and information on the best rings for you and your partner.
What we love about them:
- No questions asked returns within 30 days of shipment. James Allen will send you a paid shipping label to return the ring.
- Lifetime Warranty
- Free International Shipping
- Free prong tightening, repolishing, rhodium plating and cleaning every 6 months
- Provide insurance appraisals
- One free resizing within 60 days of purchase
- Free ring inscriptions
- Best-in-class high quality imagery of all diamonds in stock
- 24/7 Customer Service
- Best-in-class packaging
What we love about them:
- No questions asked returns within 30 days of shipment. Blue Nile will send you a paid shipping label to return the ring.
- Lifetime Warranty
- Free Shipping
- Free prong tightening, repolishing, rhodium plating and cleaning every 6 months
- Provide insurance appraisal
- One free resizing within the first year of purchase
- High quality images of about half of their diamonds
- 24/7 Customer Service
- 100% credit towards future upgrades (must be at least double in value)
- Best in class fulfillment
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