Colored Stone Recommendation for E-Ring?

[HikerGirl]

Does anyone have recommendations on what types of colored stones are good for e-rings?

I''d like something that is durable enough to stand up to daily wear, but also one that has some sparkle. I''d like something that''s a lighter, but still pretty, color.
I don''t want something in the red/orange/yellow genre, but am open to any other colors.

Traditional sapphires are a little too dark for me, although I know they come in ligher varieties. But since sapphires tend to have imperfections, are those imperfections obvious in lighter colored stones?

I like blue topaz, but hear they can fracture or chip easily.

I''ve looked at spinels, aquamarines, alexandrites, tsavorites, etc etc. online, but I''m a little overwhelmed. Plus, it''s hard to tell from pictures what they really look like. Are there characteristics that would make some of these stones more/less suited for an e-ring than others? Are some more sparkly than others?

Thank you!

 

[AustenNut]

There are some great experts here at PS and hopefully they will soon chime in. I''d say that sapphires & rubies, which are both in the corundum family, are your best best. They''re hard (hard to scratch) as well as durable (hard to chip). You can also find eyeclean specimens fairly easily in most colors.

Going beyond sapphires then the next most recommended stones are chrysoberyl (alexandrite is a special form of it) and spinel. Most people don''t recommend going below a spinel on the MoHs scale, at least not for an e-ring that will be worn 24/7. If you don''t plan on wearing your ring that frequently and you plan on taking special care with it when you do wear the ring, then other options become available.

FYI: Diamonds are a 10 on the Mohs scale, corundum is 9, chrysoberyl is 8.5, and spinel is an 8.

What colors are you interested in? What size stone? What shape stone? What price range do you want to work within? These factors will help to narrow down the types of stones you should be looking at and the people here at PS do a great job finding stones for people.

Good luck with your search and welcome to the colored stone e-ring crowd!

 

[ma re]

Do you have a size in mind? A budget? Would you like to wear it daily or just occasionaly? Try viewing some videos of youtube (type some gem name into a search and you'll come up with something), even those from shopping networks - that might give you an idea about how some stones shine, what shades of colors they can be etc. Even some vendors have youtube videos of their merchandise these days.

EDIT: AustenNut beat my by 22 seconds.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I'm a big fan of garnets, as they come in pretty much every color and every level of saturation, and have quite a nice sparkle. Here's a thread of garnet varieties (some lovely eyecandy)

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-me-your-garnets.112815/

I also second that sapphire is a good bet, you can certainly find ones in lighter colors that are eye clean if that's a concern for you. Light blues and pinks are probably easiest to find in sapphire.

Is there a size, shape, budget, and/or timeline you had in mind? The more specifics you have in mind about your ering the better!

Here's a nice spread of garnet varieties from the collection of Mr. Zeolite. I puffy heart this photo!

 

[HikerGirl]

Thanks for the ideas! I''m thinking I''ll be looking for ~1 carat size, round cut. I''d like it set in a bezel, if that matters. I think blues and greens a lot, although nothing tooo dark. Not sure about budget yet...

 

[icekid]

Given your predilection for blue/ green, I would lean toward spinel or sapphire for daily wear. As much as I adore garnets, it might be best to avoid them unless you''re very careful with your ring.

 

[marcy]

I would go for a sapphire or spinel for daily wear.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 12/26/2009 9:23:17 PM
Author: icekid
Given your predilection for blue/ green, I would lean toward spinel or sapphire for daily wear. As much as I adore garnets, it might be best to avoid them unless you''re very careful with your ring.

If she is planning on bezeling it, would garnets still be a bad idea?

Sapphire is indeed a tougher gem, but I rarely see it in light green, and same goes for spinel. So light blue would be the best bet in that case.

 

[LD]

For an everyday ring the best bet is sapphire/ruby/diamonds. Depending on your budget you could look at Alexandrites BUT if you get a good one, you''re looking at top $.

In your colour range we can rule out rubies because you don''t want red but sapphires come in a range of colours and, depending on your budget, you could get a lovely lighter colour one without inclusions. Alexandrite is a forest green during the day, changing to a purple/pink/red in the evening. Whilst it''s one of natures miracles, it''s not a stone that most people look at and go "WOW". So if you''re looking for sparkle this may not be for you.

One other thing to mention is that coloured gemstones (the durable ones) don''t really sparkle like a diamond. Coloured gemstones flash different colours but don''t perform like a diamond (unless you go for something like Sphene but that''s incredibly soft and not suitable for a ring really). If you want sparkle and colour how about opting for an irradiated/hpht diamond? You can get those in green, blue etc?

So, let''s start with the easy bits so we can help:-

1. What size are you looking for? If you tell us mm then we can guestimate the carat weight you''ll end up with depending on the gemstone.
2. Do you have a preference for shape? Oval, round, cushion, marquise etc etc?
3. What size is your finger?
4. What is your budget and is it for the stone or stone plus setting?
5. Do you like white gold, yellow gold, rose gold, platinum or palladium?

 

[chrono]

Your options are coloured diamonds, sapphires and spinels. I would not go with garnets unless you are willing to baby it (remove it once home and only wear it for "desk work" type activities). Aquamarines (beryl family) and tsavorites (garnet family) may not be suitable as an everyday e-ring depending on how you care for it.
Well cut coloured gemstones will show brilliance, liveliness and sparkle but it won''t necessarily flash a spectrum of colours like a rainbow. Of course, stones with lower refractive index and dispersion will be less flashy. As recommended above, diamonds, sapphires and spinels are your best bet.

Seems like you are open to blues, purples and greens only then in a light tone? What you are looking for is eye clean and should be doable even in something light coloured. Alexandrite is also durable but finding something with very good colour change in addition to having good colour on both changes is going to be a challenge plus pretty hard on the budget. Without knowing your budget, that is all I can advise based on your questions.

 

[Christiana]

I would recommend diamonds (not necessarily coloured) or emeralds. For something really light, an aquamarine e-ring would be perfect

 

[LD]

Date: 12/27/2009 1:21:43 PM
Author: Christiana
I would recommend diamonds (not necessarily coloured) or emeralds. For something really light, an aquamarine e-ring would be perfect

Not unless you are super careful with rings.

 

[vinkalmann]

+1 for sapphires! My fiancee gets constant compliments on hers. Like was said previously they come in almost any color you could want. From what I''ve seen, you should be able to find something in your budget since they range in price from really reasonable to absurd (absurd in this case not necessarily being a bad thing

)

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Date: 12/26/2009 3:02:03 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
I''m a big fan of garnets, as they come in pretty much every color and every level of saturation, and have quite a nice sparkle. Here''s a thread of garnet varieties (some lovely eyecandy)


https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-me-your-garnets.112815/


I also second that sapphire is a good bet, you can certainly find ones in lighter colors that are eye clean if that''s a concern for you. Light blues and pinks are probably easiest to find in sapphire.


Is there a size, shape, budget, and/or timeline you had in mind? The more specifics you have in mind about your ering the better!


Here''s a nice spread of garnet varieties from the collection of Mr. Zeolite. I puffy heart this photo!

I''d really avoid Garnets for an E-ring, they''re pretty soft and difficult to set properly for daily wear.... I''ve had to have garnets pieces re-set over and over again because of typical wear.

--Joshua

 

[zzbaron]

Hello everyone. This is my first time posting but I have read lots of stuff on this forum for years now. I would like to promise that I am not trying to start a fight about Tiffany rings and wanting to prove/not prove what a big rip off they are. I have observed how just the mention of Tiffany''s can bring happiness and anger all in one thread and I don’t want to be a part of that.

Any ways, my question is in regards to having the Tiffany Legacy aquamarine as an ering. My soon to be fiancé loves this ring. (She also loves the legacy with the diamond in the middle but it is out of my price range for the size I would want to buy). The color of the stone perfectly matches her eyes and she loves the bezel halo style of the ring along with the mini diamonds along the side, etc. My concern is will the aquamarine hold up with being worn all the time. She works in an office so it’s not like she should be hitting her ring on something crazy all the time and she says she would take it off if we ever went hiking or stuff like that. She would just ware her wedding band for those type of activities.

We have also found another ring she really likes made by Precision Set that is a platinum ring with a bezel halo setting where I can have a diamond of my choosing put inside it. This was her favorite ring until I showed her the tiffany ring online (we have since gone to see it in person)

The top of my budget would be in the 6-8k range.

Because of this website (and years of reading everything I can on the subject) I feel like I know too much to allow myself to buy a crappy diamond for the precision set ring. I think I will be having a hard time staying in my budget if I get this ring for the size of the diamond I would want to buy. I am willing to go with a smaller diamond and buy this ring if it is true that an aquamarine for an ering is without a doubt a bad choice.

If members on this website have firsthand experience with aquamarines I would love to hear your thoughts on how it has lasted throughout the years. Are aquamarines a bad choice for an ering? Should I stick with a smaller carat size to avoid potential damage? I have read anything and everything on the subject regarding an aquamarines hardiness and its seems its about 50-50 on if you should or shouldn’t have it as a ring you ware every day. I figured this would be the best place for actually hands on experience.

Thank you again for reading this and I look for to your responses.

 

[chrono]

zzBaron,
I suggest starting a new thread, and cutting/pasting everything you just wrote. This way, you will get replies specific to your questions and most likely more responses as well.

 

[MAC-W]

Hi HikerGirl,

I would sugest coloured diamonds or sapphires for what you are looking for. Both give plenty of sparkle and come in all sorts of colours and its as LovingDiamonds suggested you look at irradiated coloured diamonds then the prices aren''t too bad either.


ZZBaron,
Chrono is correct to suggest you start a new thread specific to your aqua request - you will get many more replies that way, but I will say here I had an aqua many years ago and wore it quite a lot (not 24/7 more like 16/5) and one day the stone broke and fell out of the ring. It was an inherited piece so I was understandably upset. I hadnt been doing anything hard with my hands either, just college lectures. As a result I dont think aqua is a good choice for engagement rings unless you can be sure that the wearer will ''baby'' it.

 

[zzbaron]

I will start a new thread, thanks for the suggestion!