How to Find the Best Gemstone for Your Engagement Ring
When you think of an engagement ring, you probably think right away of a glittering, icicle-like diamond solitaire. It’s the image we’re used to seeing in Valentine’s day marketing campaigns and romantic movies.
But these days many couples are looking for the most popular gemstones for engagement rings and a ring that stands out from the crowd, choosing gemstones in a wide array of colours - from oceanic sapphires to deep red rubies. With so many different stones to choose from, though, how do you know where to begin
Luckily, we have a few ideas. Here’s what to consider when trying to find the best gemstone for your engagement ring.
Your Partner’s Skin Tone & Eye Colour
Just like clothing, gemstones can set off the natural beauty of your partner’s skin tone and eye colour. A sapphire can be a perfect way to draw attention to a pair of stunning blue eyes, or an emerald may be a striking contrast to olive skin. Take a look at what colour clothing and accessories your partner tends to prefer, and what looks good on them, and this will act as a helpful guide to choosing a coloured stone.
Personal Style
Your partner’s personal style may influence the type of stone you choose. If she works in a corporate environment and has a more conservative style, bold colours may not be her thing. But if she’s a free-spirited bohemian, she may delight in a richly coloured stone, or maybe even a range of colours in the one ring.
You may also want to consider her lifestyle: some stones, like diamonds, are extremely hard and therefore difficult to damage if you live an active life, while others (emerald, for example) are softer and more prone to damage. Appreciating how your partner lives and how hard they are on their jewellery can help you choose the best gemstone and also to learn how to care for your engagement ring so it lasts a lifetime.
Incorporate a Birthstone
A lovely way to make your custom-designed engagement ring even more personal is to incorporate your partner’s birthstone, either as the main stone, or accompanying a more traditional centre stone. This is a particularly nice touch if you’re thinking of proposing on your partner’s birthday.
Traditions and Beliefs
Many cultures believe that gemstones carry particular properties, from healing powers to improving the wearer’s intuition.
In ancient Rome, women would wear amethyst in the belief that it would prevent their husbands from straying. European royalty believed that rubies would guarantee them good health and success in love, and King Edward VII wore peridot as a protection from magic spells. In parts of India, children wear pearl necklaces to ward off evil spirits. Even early Christian scholars associated gemstones with biblical stories and signs of the zodiac.
Today in the West, although we tend to put less emphasis on these beliefs, they are still strongly held by some (even the head gemologist at Tiffany’s wrote a book on the metaphysical properties of gemstones, that remains the go-to text on the subject today).
It’s a good idea, therefore, to check whether your partner or their family feel strongly about particular stones, or consider them to be especially lucky or unlucky, before choosing to incorporate them in your ring design. A few subtle questions over tea (or perhaps a whisky or two) should confirm any important cultural beliefs or latent superstitions.
Whether you buy into traditional beliefs about gemstones or not, they can nevertheless be a fun and romantic way to add colour and a unique story to your engagement ring. While a diamond solitaire can be a stunning, classic choice for an engagement ring, there are many other options to create a ring that’s as unique as your partner. Ask us today about finding the perfect gemstone for your engagement ring.
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