When it comes to the main stone for engagement rings, diamonds reign supreme and remain a fixture on a soon-to-be-married person’s hand. You can attribute their popularity to the unique sparkle and timelessness they bring.

Such is the case of two-carat diamond rings. They are favored for the size of the center stone and the price that can fall in the range of affordability. What’s more, you have plenty of choices for this carat weight when you shop for diamond rings online.

To be fair, colorful gemstones have been used for engagement rings. Their rarity adds to their appeal as only a few can possess such colored gems. You see and hear the likes of nobles and wealthy families giving away these jewels as heirlooms or display items in museums.

Your choice is undoubtedly set in stone, but it’s interesting to know how colored gems will fare in the engagement department.

Sapphire

Sapphires are typically blue in hue because of the presence of titanium and iron. Still, the gem can appear in other colors, except for red, as you will learn below, and such colored ones are called fancy sapphires.

Sapphires are classified as the most popular precious stones because of their transparent quality and lovely blue hues. Also, they are nearly as hard as diamonds, making them ideal as jewelry. They are often cut to catch the light and shimmer in the sunlight. Finding the right one will be easier with high-quality photography. This article will help you make professional and beautiful photography of sapphires.

Like all precious stones, sapphires have various colors and patterns that have cultural significance. Blue sapphires represent harmony, love, and faith. Yellow sapphires represent happiness, joy, and joyfulness. Red sapphires represent passion, energy, and power. Green sapphires are peaceful and serene. Lastly, purple sapphires bring together the positive energies of harmony and spirituality.

While sapphires have enjoyed popularity among the rich and royals, it was Princess Diana who made the gemstone and the style popular for engagement rings. Hers was an oval blue sapphire with solitaire diamonds; it stirred controversy at that time for being a commoner’s ring. But the public’s reaction to the ring says otherwise, and it is now in possession of her daughter-in-law Kate Middleton.

You can view a wide selection of this jewelry from reputable online sellers, such as https://tinyrituals.co/.

Ruby

Why are there no red sapphires? Because then they would be called rubies, thanks to chromium. Ruby is a member of the corundum family of stones. It's often referred to as the "salt of the earth" because of its ability to withstand extreme heat. 

In ancient times, rubies were worn by warriors because of their ability to stand out in battles. In fact, rubies are so popular today that you'll see people wearing these at cocktail parties, meetings, and even in casual clothing.

Both sapphires and rubies are varieties of corundum, whose name came from kurundam, a Tamil-Dravidian word for “ruby sapphire.” Corundum ranked number 9 on the Mohs hardness scale, and this level of resistance to scratching has been passed on to both gemstones.

Back to rubies. Their hue sparks passion, love, and romance. One of the most famous ruby rings belonged to Elizabeth Taylor. The piece, which looks like a flower with diamonds for petals and a bold ruby center stone, was a gift from her husband. It was auctioned for $4.22 million, and along with other jewelry, it raked in a combined total of $116 million.

The stone has a very vivid red hue, which means that it has a high natural carat weight. However, the stone's color can also vary from one variety to another. A ruby that's slightly yellow in color can be described as a bloodstone. The most expensive variety is the "seed" variety, which is red in color and has a slight seed in its center.

Emerald

Emerald-cut diamonds continue to shine, and that says a lot about the green stone. Emeralds have a hardness of 8, but they are known to get easily scratched. You also have to set them in bezel or V prong to protect them from breakage or falling off. They also have to be reoiled to maintain their appearance.

Indeed, the beauty and value of emeralds lie in their color and clarity. One splendid example is Chalk Emerald, a 15-carat ring with an emerald at the center and 60 pear-shaped diamonds surrounding it. Lest you forget, John F. Kennedy gave Jacqueline Bouvier an ornate engagement ring that featured a marquise-cut diamond and emerald. 

Topaz

You often see topaz in shades of blue, but it can be colorless when without impurities. Its other colors are yellow, brown, orange, gray, red, and pink. Topazes have a Mohs hardness score of 8; still, great care is required to avoid fracturing them. They also don’t sparkle as much because of the low refractive index.

Nonetheless, topazes are often mistaken for diamonds, with white topaz a known substitute.  Legend has it that three men unearthed a stone of hefty weight in Brazil. The stone was named after Portugal’s royal house of Braganza and was later known as the Braganza diamond. It is now widely believed that it was not diamond but topaz. Minas Gerais, Brazil, is home to the most exquisite imperial topaz.

Colored Diamond

Impurities can lend color to gems, and that’s what happened to colored diamonds. Their most common colors are browns and yellows. Pinks, reds, oranges, greens, violets, and purples range from rare to extremely hard to find, and you can imagine their price.

A colored diamond possesses brilliance and a hardness of 10 on the Mohs scale. Owning a colored diamond will put you in the ranks of Scarlett Johansson and her light-brown diamond ring, Blake Lively and her light-pink ring, and other celebrities who have colored diamonds for their engagement.

Keep It Classic

Trends, including styles, cuts, and colors in engagement rings, come and go, but diamonds in their sparkling white splendor stay. Notably, diamonds have a color grade, and they can have tinges of yellow that are noticeable or not to the naked eye.

Follow your instincts online and buy the diamond engagement ring that captures your intentions perfectly. Put a ring on it!

Photo URL: https://unsplash.com/photos/wEsPKE4dEdI