What's the Best Gemstone for an Engagement Ring?

Mark: Hi, it’s Mark, Top Local Lead Generation and we’re here with Sheetal Gupta of Maharani Jewels in Vancouver. How’re you doing today Sheetal?

Sheetal: I’m doing really well, thank you so much Mark.

Mark: So we’re going to talk about gemstones for engagement rings. What’s the best gemstone for an engagement ring?

Sheetal: That’s a really great question. The most important factor to look at when you’re choosing a gemstone for an engagement ring, is the hardness of the gemstone. So hardness - how you define that is - hardness is the resistance of a gemstone from scratching. So a gemstone like a diamond which is extremely hard will be a fantastic choice for an engagement ring. I’m going to take you over to the Mohs scale of hardness which is just a little graph here that I’m going to take you over to just so you have a great visual as I’m talking. So this scale over here, shows you the relative hardness of a number of different gemstones. A diamond is a number 10 which is the hardest on this scale and talc is number 1 which is the softest on the scale. This is really relevant because when you are wearing an engagement ring, it is a ring that you wear everyday, so it’s incredibly important that you choose a stone which is not going to scratch, is not going to chip and crack. So a diamond is a fantastic choice. So you’ll see right next to the diamond is a stone called Corundum. Corundum is actually the rock forming mineral which is the family of minerals that sapphires and rubies come from. So that would be the next best choice for a gemstone. Though this graph doesn’t show it, I’m going to take you over to this other graph right here which shows you down about a third of the way down you will see Beryl with Emerald in brackets. Now Beryl is a family of minerals which Emeralds and Aquamarines fall into and so, a lot of times people ask me is it ok to have an emerald as an engagement ring. Because it is a third of the way down on the scale, it is soft, therefore, it is susceptible to getting nicks and scratches and chips, so it is not the best choice for an engagement ring which is a gemstone to be worn every day. The other gemstone is Pearl. A pearl on that scale falls between a 2.5 and a 4.5 so it’s definitely not the best choice for an engagement ring. Then you’ve got a gemstone called Tanzanite. Tanzanite is this beautiful purply-blue type of gemstone which has a lot of rich colour, it is a 6.5 to a 7 on the scale, which is again not a strong enough and a hard enough for an engagement ring. The other one is an Opal. I often get asked about an opal because it’s a really unique gemstone, it’s a 5.5 to a 6.5 on the scale, again not a very good choice. And so that goes back to the original question, you know diamonds are a great choice but what if you’re looking for something different and a sapphire and a ruby may not be your preference.

What other options do you have for a gemstone? Well, sapphires actually come in a wide range of colours. So you’ve got sapphires that are pink, you’ve got sapphires that are yellow, you’ve got sapphires that are white which are a great alternative to diamonds because it’s a lower price point and it also looks a lot like a diamond. So you do have a lot of variety to choose from within gemstones that are Corundum which are the rubies and sapphires, as well as diamonds which may not be white. If your price point is a little bit larger, you can look at a fancy coloured diamond which is very rare and therefore valuable which also does come in a wide range of colours. So you do have a large selection of diamonds to choose from as well as other coloured stones such as corundum.

Mark: so if you want expertise and the truth from your jeweller, the person to call is Sheetal Gupta - you can reach her at 604-727-0149. Call that number to book an appointment to see her, you must book ahead or go to the website

maharanijewels.com Thanks Sheetal

Sheetal: Thanks Mark