With the diamond hype dominating the global engagement ring markets, non diamond engagement rings, necklaces and earrings are continuing to grow in popularity, both for humanitarian reasons and cost considerations. More specifically this implies two distinct subcategories – ruby necklaces and gemstone engagement rings in general. A variety of ruby necklace designs are typically made of 14K white or rose gold or sterling silver. Gemstone engagement rings and necklaces, ranked by popularity, are ruby necklaces, sapphire engagement rings, emerald engagement rings and ruby engagement rings – typically blue, green and red. Perhaps the concept of universality is less important for the purpose of this issue, but we are often asked to qualify the design possibilities with respect to these three popular gemstone engagement rings and necklaces. Are mainstream gemstone engagement rings designed the same as their diamond counterparts? Are gemstone necklaces such as ruby necklaces totally different in their complexity and incapable of sustaining design standards comparable to diamonds? Interestingly enough, the answers depend on the gemstones, such as ruby, emerald and sapphire. Just as with diamonds, each gemstone has its own unique properties, characteristics and resulting design possibilities. For instance, a red ruby of the proper size, cut and clarity can often be set in a solitaire engagement ring or a round halo necklace, just as it can be set as the center stone in a round cut diamond halo. Lower quality ruby gemstones, on the other hand, are occasionally set as side stones in side stone engagement rings. In this issue of DT Era we review a handful of possibilities in the context of sapphire, emerald and ruby engagement rings and necklaces.
Ruby necklaces have undergone a slight transformation in recent years, offering more gemstones in addition to overwhelmingly high quality diamonds. The ruby necklace shown above presents a gorgeous ruby halo, featuring a 1 carat, round cut dark red natural ruby gemstone, highlighted by twenty three gorgeous round brilliant hand cut diamonds, and an 14k white gold shank. Notice that unlike a typical diamond engagement ring, in this Italian design, all focus is directed to the red ruby gemstone.
The Italian emerald engagement ring pictured above offers a slight variation of the traditional side stone engagement ring. Note that the side stokes are Italian round cut diamonds, and the center stone is an Italian oval cut emerald gemstone. With an 18 karat white gold shank, this Italian engagement ring speaks aesthetic volumes and delivers exceptional quality.
Another Italian masterpiece, this ruby engagement ring is a unique, asymmetrical design with Italian round cut diamonds, highlighting the oval cut red ruby gemstone. The two additional round cut Italian diamonds on the opposite side of the gemstone further assist in directing all focus onto tbe red ruby. With 18k white gold shank, this Italian engagement ring lives up to the expectations of some of the harshest jewelry critics in the industry – the authors of DT Era.
This issue of DT Era was dedicated to three of the more popular gemstone engagement rings. As always, with gemstone engagement rings we caution prospective buyers with regard to universality. A blue sapphire engagement ring sensationally complements a blue or black dress, but it may not always work with colors like green or, in some cases, even pink. An emerald engagement ring may work great with green and grey, but sometimes falls short with black, yellow and other colors. For these scenarios, when the gemstone engagement ring must be left at home, cheap engagement rings under 100 and cheap wedding rings under 100 dollars can help fill in the gaps with impeccable precision.
