Diamonds are a girl’s best friend right? But what about sapphires? Can they be a girls’ best friend as well? Or what about opals or rubies or emeralds?
Diamonds have a long history of being used for engagement rings and other beautiful jewelry that signifies a person’s love and commitment, but they aren’t the only option.
Engagement rings are not required to have diamonds as their gemstone. There are many choices for rings that use replacement diamonds like moissanite or cubic zirconium. Gemstones like opals, sapphires, and emeralds can also make beautiful engagement rings.
We will discuss all of the options available to those who are looking for a beautiful engagement ring to begin a new life together with the love of their life.
Engagement rings and diamonds are only a small glimpse into the world of different gemstones and ring designs.
Why Diamonds are Most Popular
Diamonds are a solid form of carbon that has been crushed and compressed into a crystal.
Diamonds are a common adornment for engagement rings and has been since the late 1940s when it was popularized by a man named De Beers.
He owned a large number of mines in the southern part of Africa. Business was pretty good during the 1920s and before.
Once the great depression hit, the sale of diamonds dropped significantly.
It dropped so much that De Beers went to the New York ad agency of N.W. Ayers and asked him to make people fall in love with the diamond again.
The ad campaign put together by N.W. Ayers was probably one of the most successful ad campaigns ever created.
In the first 3 years of the campaign, the sale of diamond rings was up by 50%.
A few years later, something really put the nail in the coffin.
A slogan was created for the ad campaign stating “A Diamond is Forever.”
This slogan was so successful that it is still being used today and most new ads are just a play-off of this one line.
Diamonds remain popular to this day because of their beauty, timeless nature, and durable construction.
Diamond Replacements
If you are looking for a cheaper alternative to diamonds, then there are multiple choices for you out there.
If you do your research you will be able to find something that you love, while still maintaining that eye-catching look.
A great start for a replacement for a diamond is moissanite. Moissanite is a gem that is very similar to a diamond.
It is actually the closest substitute that you can get to a diamond.
A moissanite gemstone is actually more brilliant than a diamond, meaning that it will sparkle, or reflect light better than a diamond will.
The best part about moissanite is that it is only a fraction of the cost of a diamond.
If you are looking for something simple like a .5 carat moissanite, it will only cost you about $90 compared to the price of $1,100 or more for a diamond of the same size.
Another alternative to a diamond that is still going to look very good is cubic zirconia.
Cubic zirconia is a man-made gemstone that was first discovered in 1973 and hit the markets for the first time in 1976.
It is made by melting a white crystalline powder called zirconium oxide at a very high heat and then is polished to make it look like a diamond.
It appears very similar to diamonds but usually is completely colorless. Diamonds give off more of a white light and have been described as a fire.
On the other hand, cubic zirconia gives off more of a rainbow light.
A cubic zirconia ring will probably cost the least of all types of gemstones. You can find a 1-carat cubic zirconia for as little as $24.
If you are looking for something that looks exactly like a diamond but do not want to pay the ridiculous price that is associated with mined diamonds, then you are in luck.
It just so happens that there are diamonds out there that have been grown in the lab.
This may seem like a cop-out to some people, but in reality, there is no way to tell the difference between a lab-grown diamond and a mined diamond unless you look at it under a microscope.
Even if you do that, most people will have a hard time finding a significant difference between synthetic and natural diamonds.
Lab-grown diamonds cost about $800- $1000 per carat. This is still very expensive but is a huge difference compared to a mined diamond.
Other Gemstones
If you are looking to spice up your ring and get something unconventional, then there are multiple options for you as well.
Gemstones come in all types of colors and shades that help you create a more customized ring.
- The first of these options is an opal. Opal is a silica-based gem that gives off color flashes that dance when rocked from side to side. The best part about opal is that it comes in a variety of colors.
- Another great choice for something different is a Ruby. Ruby is a precious stone that is usually deep blood-colored. It is a variety of the mineral corundum and can be cut in any number of ways and make your engagement ring look beautiful.
- Another variety of corundum is sapphire, this is almost exactly the same as ruby except that it has iron, titanium, and chromium impurities in it. This combination often gives it a lovely blue color.
- The emerald is another great choice for an engagement ring. It is a nice bluish-green color. However, because of the way it is formed, it can only be cut in a rigid way. This is why you see many square and rectangular cuts of this gemstone.
In conclusion, you can have whatever gemstone you and your fiance want in your engagement ring!
There are many replacements, but there is also the real thing.
It all comes down to what you find beautiful and what matches your dream for an engagement ring.
