Alternative Gemstones Sure to Dazzle: While diamonds are beautiful gems, many people want gemstones sourced with fewer environmental and political issues. The latest trends in gemstone jewelry involve alternatives to diamonds, giving wearers more choices that fit their styles. Some people choose lab-creating or sustainably sourced gems with plenty of shine, sparkle, and special meaning.
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Moissanite
Moissanite is a crystal-clear gemstone with a hardness just below diamonds. This gem has more fire than diamonds.
Moissanite is rare in nature, but labs make it at an affordable price. The durable and brilliant stone is quickly becoming a favorite for people who want a stone that resembles a diamond but at a lower price, as you’ll find at on-trend jewelers like Diamonds Forever San Diego (https://diamondsforeversandiego.com).
White sapphires
Another clear gemstone with sparkle and hardness is the white sapphire. Miners find the stones in nature, and labs make affordable ones. Many manufacturers use a treatment method to improve the appearance of gemstones, but most jewelers do not treat white sapphires because they are beautiful as is.
Because white sapphires are affordable, shoppers can buy larger stones. White sapphires of all sizes have beautiful fire and brilliance in the right setting, making them fair competitors with diamonds.
Morganite
A gemstone that is growing in popularity is the rosy pink morganite. Diamonds and moissanite have a higher hardness rating, but morganite’s 7.5-8 hardness makes it a safe choice for daily wear.
Because of the lovely, gentle pink hue, morganite looks lovely set in rose gold and platinum. It also looks beautiful in settings accented with clear stones like moissanite and white sapphires.
Colored precious gemstones
Other popular choices for people who want an alternative to diamonds are traditional colored gemstones. Couples often choose their favorite colored gemstones like rubies, garnets, emeralds, sapphires, and amethysts for their engagement rings.
As many colored gemstones serve as birthstones, couples choose them to symbolize special dates, making them more meaningful engagement ring stones than diamonds.
Along with emeralds, rubies, and sapphires, couples can choose unexpected colored stones like yellow citrines, minty-green tourmaline, or green peridot. Shoppers can also turn to topaz, which comes in several colors like brilliant blue, pink, green, and red.
Quartz
Couples that want an eco-friendly and unique stone are turning to quartz, especially rutilated quartz with color stripes in the stone. Rutilated quartz can be crystal-clear or have a milky white or pink hue. The rutilation can be yellow, black, silver, or copper. The stripes are needle-like inclusions of a mineral called rutile, or titanium dioxide.
Pearls
Shoppers can also turn to pearls. While they may not have the same sparkle as moissanite or gemstones, pearls have special meanings to them, too. They do scratch easily, so shoppers considering pearls might want to wear them on necklaces or earrings because they are less likely to be damaged through daily wear.
Wrap up
The world has beautiful gemstones. Despite diamonds dominating the engagement ring marketplace for decades, the other gems draw more attention and show up on more brides’ fingers as time passes.