Jessica McCormack's new signature engagement rings offer a piece of her Mayfair magic at any budget

The 19th-century Mayfair townhouse filled with contemporary art and antiques; the gobstopper-sized diamonds that populate her Instagram feed, the celebrity fan-base including the likes of Liv Tyler and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley…for most people, the house of Jessica McCormack seems a fantasy-land to be admired from the pages or magazines, or added to the lottery-win wishlist. Affordable? Not so much.

But most people might be surprised. The New Zealand-born designer has always created bespoke designs for all budgets, including diamond engagement rings starting at a modest 0.2 carats - with surprisingly humble prices to match.

“We’re known for our extravagant, couture designs,” says McCormack, referencing the six fantastical engagement rings she unveiled two years ago. “But we offer the same design and house style no matter what the budget.”

Her latest bridal collection celebrates her signature design touches in six unique styles which can all be handcrafted in the workshop underneath her showroom, with diamonds ranging in size anywhere from 0.2 to 20 carats.

When you’re familiar with Jessica McCormack engagement rings, her style is as recognisable as any logo. There’s the contrast between blackened white gold and polished yellow gold which makes the diamonds sparkle all the more, used to wonderful effect in the Daisy Halo ring, her take on the cluster rings popular in the Georgian and Victorian eras.

Elsewhere she uses other traditional techniques to give her rings a vintage feel, such as the Georgian Cut-Down setting, in which diamonds are fully surrounded by white gold that’s cut away to leave ‘claws’ around the perimeter - said to exaggerate their size - and the minimalist Button Back, where the back of the stone is covered with a rounded gold dome - a style that works with any shape diamond, from hearts to cushions to emerald-cuts.

The range also includes the Classic Six-Claw setting, because “some men are worried about metal covering the back of the diamond because they’ve heard that won’t let the light in,” says the designer. Even this more typical design comes with a Jessica McCormack twist: double stoppers on the band either side of the diamond.

Intricate details on bands such as these are another house signature, most recognisably in the beautifully textured ‘bamboo’ rings, which work well as wedding bands. The Georgian Loop ring riffs on this theme with two ribbons of gold which split away from the shank and loop up towards the central stone, as if hand-tied in place.

The final signature engagement ring ups the embellishment factor quite significantly. The Little Mermaid ring is the most obvious reference to the couture design of the same name.

While that was set with a whopping 12.14-carat cushion-cut diamond among frothy diamond waves and engraved gold seashells, the signature design is a more pared-back, but no less unique, affair, with a gently swirling band clasping an oval diamond between two sweet little scallop shells.

Engagement rings | The best styles to suit all tastes

All six designs can be personalised to suit each client. Like the antique style of the Daisy Halo? Ask the in-house diamantaire to source you an old-mine cut diamond for added authenticity. Prefer the fairy-tale feel of the Little Mermaid ring? Indulge your Disney fantasy further by embellishing the band with tiny sapphires, or swapping the central diamond for a mermaid’s-tail-green emerald.

With bespoke designs going from sketch to reality within that dreamy Carlos Place townhouse, every piece contains a bit of that unmistakable Jessica McCormack magic - whether you’re spending ￡5,000 or ￡500,000.

7 Carlos Place Mayfair, London W1K 3AR; ?jessicamccormack.com