Stones Hard Enough For Every Day Wear?

[juxtaposed]

Hi all,
thanks so much for all of your help in the journey in creating this engagement ring. It's appreciated whole heartedly.
I made the purchase of the Alexandrite last night.

We've found a jeweler who is willing to create a setting similar to the one she's in love with. He did warn us again of the likelihood of the opals breaking and chipping.

Next question for you all is this:

Which stones have a mohs hardness appropriate for every day wear? Rubies, Sapphire, Topaz... Quartz. Others? I've been unsuccessful in finding some sort of list.

We're not sure if we're simply going to keep the diamond paving and surrounding stones or if there is another option.
Does anybody have any ideas for a stone hard enough that would complement the Alexandrite?

The picture included depicts her dream ring (with the opals) and the other is the regular diamonds that are typically shown in this setting.

 

[chrono]

The list is towards the bottom of the page.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-to-coloured-gemstone-buying-read-this-first.174284/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-to-coloured-gemstone-buying-read-this-first.174284/[/URL]

Diamonds, chrysoberyl, corundum (sapphire and clean unfilled ruby) and spinel are fine.

 

[minousbijoux]

What about baby Montana sapphires? They seem to be in the same color family - the light teal/blue green side that is. Does anyone carry Montana melee? You could also probably use lighter toned blue sapphire melee. But my mind is blank on other stones of similar hue family to the opals that could work. Other PSers are more creative though.

 

[T L]

Hardness is not the only judge of durability. For example, my mother chipped her diamond in two huge places, and cracked a diamond baguette in half. Diamond is the hardest known substance, so while it won't scratch, it can chip. Cleavage is important to in judging durability since some gems are more prone to chipping in certain directions.

Any stone can get abraded, chipped or scratched with everyday wear and if you're not careful with them. I even saw tons of abrasion on Elizabeth Taylor's ruby ring, and corundum is 9 on Mohs.

Consequently, I would say that any gem which is an 8 and harder is suitable for everyday wear IF you are careful, and you don't go digging ditches, playing sports, sleeping, or doing tons of housework in them.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Personally, I would limit it to sapphire, ruby, or diamonds for daily wear. But for an alexandrite, I would do diamonds for the side stones.

 

[chrono]

My choice is diamonds because white goes with all colours and your alexandrite will be changing colours all the time.

 

[pregcurious]

If you type in JAR and color change garnet, you can see how he has mixed other colored stones and with color change garnet, which can have a similar look at to alexandrite.

For a everyday ring, I would go with white diamonds.

 

[the_mother_thing]

My choice is diamonds because white goes with all colours and your alexandrite will be changing colours all the time.

Ditto! I had this same concern when I set my Alex, and am so grateful I went with diamonds for this exact reason.