2026 retailer data shows bezel interest doubles as oval cuts climb

PrismNews’s Feb. 20, 2026 summary of retailer-sourced purchase data delivers a clear market signal: one retailer, Queensmith, reported a 100% rise in interest for rubover (bezel) settings even as round-cut share among purchases declined to 36%. The concrete takeaway is that bezel silhouettes are moving from editorial novelty to commercial demand, and that shape and stone mix are shifting in measurable ways.

The bezel resurgence has visible retail and celebrity faces. Whowhatwear framed the movement as “The New Bezel,” noting that “Thanks to a few notable 2025 celebrity engagements (Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, and Zendaya!), engaged couples to be are looking closer at east-west bezel-set diamond engagement rings.” Whowhatwear highlighted product examples that illustrate the look - Frank Darling’s The Plutch XL and The Ray, and Jessica McCormack’s 2ct East-West Emerald Cut Diamond Button Back Ring - pointing to chunky bezels, Georgian cutout references, and east-west orientations appearing in merchandise assortments.

Cuts and proportions are being renegotiated as round dominance softens. PrismNews’s reported round-cut share at 36% implies growing appetite for alternative shapes; VRAI’s trend coverage enumerated several such directions in December 2025, including cushion and marquise among the “eleven most popular engagement ring trends shaping the year ahead.” Valeriemadison explicitly links cushion-cut centers with the new emphasis on heft, writing that “slim bands are taking a step back as couples turn toward chunky, bold, sculptural settings,” and citing Miley Cyrus’s cushion center set in a chunky gold band as a visual precedent.

Stone choice is shifting with force: Austenblake Us reports that sales of colored gemstones rose 55% year-on-year, while colored diamonds, including black and yellow diamonds, increased 22%. Austenblake Us also described Dua Lipa and Callum Turner’s 2025 engagement as an example of the new aesthetic, estimating Dua Lipa’s ring to feature “a 2 carat round-cut diamond set within a thicker yellow gold band” with a semi-bezel or tension setting. In the same piece Sophie Lomax observed, “This has meant that customers now have access to larger carat weights or higher-quality diamonds,” and added that “Customers may also be seeking lab created diamonds to reduce the environmental and ethical impact of their jewelry choices.”

Sustainability and studio-grown product narratives are accompanying stylistic change. VRAI, in a Dec. 08, 2025 piece by Kimberly Zerkel, positioned its offering with phrases such as “Cut for You™ VRAI created diamonds” and a “zero-emission foundry,” and argued that 2026 is about “refined details, modern-yet-timeless designs, impeccable craftsmanship, and meaningful personalization.” Leah Blundell, content editor for Rock My Wedding, connected color and alternative stones to a broader cultural shift: "Ultimately, engagement rings are becoming less about conformity and more about creating a piece that reflects a couple’s identity."

Retail-sourced metrics give weight to editorial signals, but gaps remain in public reporting. PrismNews’s summary reports the Queensmith 100% rubover increase and the 36% round-cut share, but the analysis published Feb. 20, 2026 does not disclose sample size, geographic scope, or exact baseline periods for those measures. Still, the combined picture from Queensmith, Austenblake Us, Whowhatwear, VRAI, Valeriemadison, and Rock My Wedding points to a market where bezel settings, colored stones, thicker bands, and lab-created options are shaping assortments and aspiration.

If “data-led trends based on real purchase behaviours provide a more accurate picture than seasonal fashion shows,” as PrismNews frames it, the 2026 market appears to be rebalancing around durability, individuality, and sustainability while jewelers adapt collections to meet that demand.