Prounis Wants You to Take a Vow

Prounis creates new diamond commitment rings with an old soul.

Written by: Jill Newman
June 17, 2025

Prounis Vow Collection X Desert Vintage (Photographed by Roberto Cowan)

It’s a fact: marriage rates are declining. But that doesn’t diminish people’s yearning to commit. They’re committing to partnership, love, friendship, and an oath to themselves. And they want to make the pledge with a ring – more often a diamond ring.

“People want to express the individuality of their commitment with a ring that reflects their story,” New York-based designer Jean Prounis tells Only Natural Diamonds. The increasing requests for custom devotion rings motivated her to create the new Vow ring collection, which “are designed to mark modern commitments.”

The concept of the devotion ring dates back millennia, when people pledged their allegiance to the church, the crown, a chivalric order, and simply love with a ring.

Meet the Expert

Prounis Creates New Diamond Commitment Rings with an Old Soul

Jean Prounis founded her eponymous jewelry brand in 2017.
Shaped alongside expert craftspeople in Manhattan’s Jewelry District, the brand’s modern heirloom jewelry is handmade in New York City.
Each piece is handwrought in signature recycled 22-karat gold and finished with sustainably and responsibly sourced gemstones, diamonds, pearls, and corals.

For Prounis, the reference to antiquity comes naturally. Her designs are rooted in history and art, with inspiration coming from her Greek heritage and the visual language of her great-grandparents’ nightclub, Versailles. The jewelry is handwrought in 22-karat gold by artisans in New York, giving it the appearance of worn heirlooms.

In a perfect union, the Vow collection was unveiled alongside Desert Vintage’s stylish period clothing from the turn of the century through the 1970s at an installation in Brooklyn in April. She also has a Vow salon in her New York showroom, where clients can select loose diamonds and create custom rings or purchase one of the limited-edition Vow designs by appointment.

It’s all about finding the ring that speaks to you, she says. “People love being part of the design process because it’s such a personal item. They don’t want what everyone else has; they want a ring that feels true to themselves.”

People want to express the individuality of their commitment with a ring that reflects their story.

The Vow collection is at once different and old in spirit but with contemporary details. Rings showcase antique diamonds and new cuts with the characteristics of old stones, with wider facets that portray a soft sparkle. Gold rings with inset diamonds are heavier and sturdier than the typical prong-set diamond rings, such as the chunky Hamer signet ring or brushed gold Capsa ring. Diamonds are backed with platinum or rhodium-plated gold to magnify their whiteness. “The diamonds have faceting on top, which reflects the light from above and creates the brilliance,” she says.

In the hands of Prounis, eternity bands aren’t just a simple line of diamonds. These are handmade rings with old mine or cushion-cut diamonds, each stone in an individual gold setting, reminiscent of old Georgian bands. The Masona band, made with cushion-cut diamonds, takes its name from ancient masonry, which, like the ring, endures the test of time. The Vow rings start at around $10,000 and up.

After years of collaborating with clients on custom rings, she observed a recent shift in what people want. Some are buying diamond eternity bands in place of a solitaire ring, and others want two rings, a large diamond solitaire and a special eternity band for a more casual option. It’s a movement echoed by many jewelry designers, who see a growing interest in a wide range of diamond styles, especially chunkier styles that aren’t as delicate as the traditional prong set rings.

As commitments evolve, so do the rings that represent these unions. The Vow collection—timeless, sturdy, enduring, tactile, and hand-touched—seems to epitomize the kinds of commitments people are seeking.