5 Beautiful Alternative Engagement Ring Stones if You're On a Budget

When dreaming about your engagement ring, it’s hard not to imagine a flawless white diamond as the focal point. From glittering round shapes to elegant ovals and striking cushion cuts in yellow, white, rose gold, or platinum, every style of engagement ring is synonymous with white diamonds. But alternative ring styles in colored gemstones or pearl, moonstone, and opal variations are becoming more and more popular for modern brides—especially for those on a budget. But we get it, not every bride wants to eschew tradition to such an unexpected extreme. If you like the idea of saving some cash but want a ring that’s as close to a white diamond as possible, there are a number of spectacular white diamond alternatives for your engagement ring from champagne, gray, and salt-and-pepper diamonds to white sapphires, moissanite, and morganite.

If you’re dead set on a certain carat size for your engagement ring, there are plenty of gorgeous options in the diamond department that go beyond a classic white diamond (because let’s face it, it’s easy to get priced out of engagement rings that are above two or three carats). Champagne, gray, and salt-and-pepper diamonds are perfect solutions and come in a range of colors from slightly tinted to unique and saturated—it all depends on the cut, setting, and number of inclusions within the stone. Of course, smaller stones will be the most affordable in this category, but if you’re really hoping for white diamonds to be part of the design, you can opt for a colored diamond as the center stone and have white diamonds as accents such as a pavé band or halo, side baguettes, or as part of a cluster ring.

For the bride-to-be who's focused on carat size (zero shame in the game!) and doesn’t need to have a diamond, white sapphires, moissanite, and morganite rings are the perfect solution. Sapphires come in a wide array of colors: popular blue shades, pink, green, orange, and more. Because sapphires are such durable stones, they’re perfect for an engagement ring, making a white sapphire ring a flawless (and nearly identical!) alternative to a white diamond ring. For something a little more unique, moissanite (which is one of the a rarest minerals found in nature) and morganite (which is a pink colored gemstone) are affordable options that also look similar to white diamonds whether you go for a classic pear, round, oval, cushion, or emerald cut as a solitaire stone, with a halo, on a pavé band, or in a bezel setting.

If you have your heart set on a dazzling (and sizable) engagement ring but think a white diamond alternative is right for you, ahead scroll through the edit of stunning and more affordable engagement ring styles ranging from under $500 to those topping out at just under $8,000.

See more: The Zero-Drama Guide to Your Engagement Ring: Get More Bling for Your Buck