Have you traded in your diamond for a colored stone...

[lknvrb4]

I was wondering if anyone has decided they preferred a colored stone for an ering instead of the diamond they had? The reason I am asking is because I have been tossing around the idea of selling my diamond and getting a sapphire art deco style ering. I was wondering if anyone missed having a diamond? My budget does not allow me to have the best of both worlds. I was also wondering if those of you with sapphires find that they get dirty more easily than diamonds? I was also wondering if sapphires sparkle well? I would look but I live in a small rural community 100 miles from Chicago so I figured I would ask the experts first. Thanks!

 

[LD]

On this forum you may find that a large number of posters have a coloured stone e-ring! I have both (I'm greedy) but mix and match as I want.

Do coloured stones get any dirtier than diamonds? No. In fact, the performance of a diamond is affected much more when it's a little bit dirty than a coloured stone (that tend to hide the dirt better). Of course all gemstone jewellery needs regular cleaning but my diamonds are the ones I wash much more frequently.

 

[minousbijoux]

Hi - I can't answer your question about trading in an e-ring, but I have some thoughts on sapphires for you. First of all, there is a pinned thread at the top of this page called "New to Colored Stones - Read this first" written by one of our resident consumer experts (and jewelry maker extraordinaire). That will give you much information you need about sapphires. You probably know that sapphires don't have the same level of dispersion as diamonds so they won't sparkle as much. In my experience, there are very few sapphires which exhibit a high level of sparkle close to diamonds, spinels and other stones high on the refractive index; those sapphires that do, are light to medium dark in tone, well cut, with a high crown. In other words, not dark, not badly cut, etc., which rules out the majority of sapphires available. If you want a lot of sparkle in a sapphire, you might consider a concave cut - but it seems either you love them or you hate them, there's no inbetween.

Good luck.

 

[minousbijoux]

Ahh, in fact I see that the resident expert I was referring to has already posted a response!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I thought about selling one of my nicer diamonds for a CS but changed my mind. I loupe my stones under a 30x loupe ever once in a while and have found my CS's have tiny scratches and dings, but not my diamonds. I know you can get your gems repolished but for daily wear I prefer diamonds.

 

[wordie89]

I love the sparkle of my oecs but am enjoying the splash of color on my right hand. Haven't worn colored long enough to see dings although I know my diamond has a rough spot on the girdle... Possibly a chip. Have to be gentler all around (no more gardening in rings)

 

[chrono]

Have you asked yourself if you will be happy with a blue stoned ring for umpteen years to come? How many blue sapphires have you seen in person? Do you drool more when you see a diamond or when you see a sapphire?

I think seeing a few sapphires in person will help you decide. I'm all about coloured gemstones so I'm obviously biased. I find that diamonds tend to be grease magnets and that sapphires can go longer without cleaning than diamonds before looking grimy.

 

[distracts]

Why would anyone prefer something that is clear over something that is colorful??????????????

(Sapphires DEFINITELY do not show dirt more easily than diamonds. LOL. The only reason I clean my ring so often is to keep the diamonds sparkly. The sapphire is blue and gorgeous no matter what, even when I haven't cleaned my ring in three months. Which has happened before. Some sapphires are sparklier than others - depends on the inclusions, silk, and cut. Mine is very sparkly. I don't think I'm allowed to post a video of it though. But trust me. SPARKLES GALORE.)

 

[lknvrb4]

Have you asked yourself if you will be happy with a blue stoned ring for umpteen years to come? How many blue sapphires have you seen in person? Do you drool more when you see a diamond or when you see a sapphire?

I think seeing a few sapphires in person will help you decide. I'm all about coloured gemstones so I'm obviously biased. I find that diamonds tend to be grease magnets and that sapphires can go longer without cleaning than diamonds before looking grimy.

I have only seen the cheapy sapphires in person, not a beautiful one that I can see on PS. I may have to take a trip into the city and look before I decide anything.

 

[chrono]

Forget mall and department store jewellery. Stop by the higher end stores to see better quality sapphires although there's no guarantee either, but that's still going to be better looking than cheapy black sapphires which many try to pass off as blue sapphires.