lipping through the local paper last week, we found a great article about non-diamond engagement rings. Even with all the buzz around Prince William proposing with Princess Diana’s sapphire and diamond engagement ring, we were surprised to see that more and more couples are choosing colored stones for their engagement rings.
Now, fancy colored diamonds have always been popular, and pink and yellow diamonds are super trendy right now. But other colored stones are gaining popularity too. Let’s take a look!
Sapphires for the Princess in Your Life
Like we mentioned before, Princess Diana’s engagement ring was a beautiful 18 carat deep blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds. So why not surprise the princess in your life with a similar ring?
Our ring features a beautiful 3.26 carat sapphire surrounded by 1.00 carat of diamonds in a platinum setting. Less expensive than Princess Diana’s, but certainly stunning!
Besides being drop dead gorgeous, sapphires are also very durable. As part of the Corundum family of minerals, they measure an 8.0-9.0 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness (Diamonds are the hardest at 10.0).
They are also September’s birthstone, so if you play your cards right, you can knock out a birthday gift and an engagement ring in one shot!
Sapphires come in other colors besides blue, which is definitely the most popular. But did you know that a ruby is actually a red sapphire? We wonder if Jessica Simpson knew that when she got her engagement ring.
Ruby Slippers? She’ll Settle for a Ruby Ring…
From Dorothy’s toes to Jessica Simpson’s fingers, rubies have long been a luxurious addition to jewelry collections all over the world. They’re one of the four precious stones (Diamond, Rubies, Sapphires, and Emeralds) and have belonged to royalty for centuries (just ask Fergie, Duchess of York, who supposedly customized her engagement ring from Prince Andrew to include a ruby to match her hair!).
Rubies are also very durable, with hardness similar to sapphires measuring a 9.0 on the Mohs Scale. Historically, the finest rubies came from Burma (modern day Myanmar) but some have even been found in the state of Montana! Get some inspiration from the Far East with this Ruby ring set in 22k (typically used for Indian jewelry, it’s warm hue really enhances this ruby’s deep red color!)
The deepest, reddest ruby color is commonly known as “Pigeon Blood.” Don’t let the name get you down – it’s an absolutely beautiful color!
It’s July’s birthstone, and red is perfect for 4th of July!
Her Friends Will Be Green with Envy
Even though emeralds have been around for thousands of years, Queen Victoria of England may have been the first famous personage in recent memory to receive an emerald engagement ring. Designed by Prince Albert, it featured a gold snake set with emeralds (snakes were symbols of good luck in the Victorian Era) and since then, emeralds have been included in some dazzling engagement rings.
More recently, John F. Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier with an emerald and diamond engagement ring from Van Cleef & Arpels. As with anything Jackie Kennedy wore, emerald engagement rings became synonymous with quiet sophistication.
Why don’t you wow her with this beautiful Cabochon emerald set in yellow gold? Remember, natural emeralds often have inclusions called “jardin” from the French word for “garden.” These string-like imperfections are expected in natural emeralds. Actually, if there aren’t any of these inclusions present, it usually means that the stone has been heat treated or otherwise doctored.
We hope this little lesson will inspire you to take the road less traveled. Broaden your horizons and get a ring that is as unique as your one and only!
PS: A quick note – items that appear in our newsletters and blogs have a nasty habit of flying off the shelf! So don’t wait, come on in and take your pick home today!
The National Estate Jewelers Blog 
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