Meghan Markle alters her original engagement ring to make it thinner and 'more American'
Meghan Markle has reportedly altered the custom made engagement gifted to her by Prince Harry.
In November 2017, Prince Harry, 34, proposed to Meghan, 37, with a glistening ring of a solid gold band embellished with three diamonds, Daily Mail reports.
However, some highly observant royal experts found the Duchess of Sussex wearing a different band on recent outings. The ring appears to have been modified, per jewelry expert Arabel Lebrusan, who said it was more American in comparison to the original design.
Arabel said the thinner band was a popular trend at the moment. "Many celebrities do this, as the central stone looks bigger in comparison getting the wow factor," she said.
She also pointed out the exact difference in the said ornament. "She now has little diamonds set down the sides of her engagement ring and the band also seems thinner than before," she noted.
Furthermore, she said the glittering band emphasized Meghan's diamonds perfectly, adding "the diamond setting on the band looks like micro-set, this means there is very little metal in between the stones maximizing the sparkle of the tiny diamonds."
According to her, the new style suited the Duchess' personal style hand in glove. "It does suit her style perfectly, and it fits her dainty fingers as well," Arabel said.
The Duchess was seen wearing her three engagement diamonds set on a thin micro-pavé band at Trooping the Colour as well as at her Windsor Castle photo call with Prince Harry and newborn son Archie.
That said, a third diamond band was spotted on her hand, which many experts assumed was a "push present" or an anniversary gift given to her by her husband after the royal baby was born.
Leora Moreno, who owns jewelry brand Leo With Love, suggested the new changes could have been made to match the Duchess' new eternity ring. "It looks like the eternity ring has a channel pavé setting," she explained. "The engagement ring looks to have an even smaller pavé setting, but perfectly matches the eternity band."
According to her, the change may have been complex as it required "fine skill and craftsmanship to change the band to something more delicate like a pavé setting," adding that the modern style would suit Meghan for a long time and that it was "the perfect combination of eye-catching and dainty."
While it is unknown as to when the apparent alterations were made, it is widely speculated this was after her fingers possibly swole -- a common occurrence in late stages of pregnancy. Prince Harry had created Meghan's engagement ring with the help of jewelers Cleave and Company, with the original design featuring one diamond originally from Botswana and two smaller stones from Princess Diana's exclusive collection.
"The ring is obviously yellow gold because that's [Meghan's] favorite and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana and the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jewelry collection, to make sure that she's with us on this crazy journey together," the Duke said at the time.
Meanwhile, Meghan called it "incredible."
"Everything about Harry's thoughtfulness and the inclusion of [Princess Diana's stones] and obviously not being able to meet his mom, it's so important to me to know that she's a part of this with us. It's incredibly special to be able to have this [ring], which sort of links where you come from and Botswana, which is important to us. It's perfect," she said.