Emerald rings have become a great alternative to diamonds for an engagement ring, but picking the right one can be troublesome for a variety of reasons. Of course, an emerald ring can also be worn as fashion jewelry, rather than you feeling it can only be bought for an engagement; emerald is the gift traditionally associated with the 55th wedding anniversary (but also used for the 20th and 35th anniversaries). There is huge variety both in the style of the rings available, and in the quality and color of the emeralds set into them.
The first thing to know about emerald rings, and especially if it is an engagement ring and worn all the time, is that they will not stand up to the same punishment as a diamond ring. Not too surprising when you consider that diamond is the hardest naturally occurring substance known. But for this reason, if you already have diamond jewelry and then go and get an emerald ring, keep them stored separately when you’re not wearing them, as diamonds can pretty much destroy emeralds if they are rubbing up against each other in a jewelry box. Emerald is a much softer and more vulnerable gemstone; it requires more care than the corundum stones (ruby and sapphire) or diamond. The same applies if you have a diamond wedding ring which could rub against and damage an emerald engagement ring. Take extra care.
High quality emeralds are light in color (see the picture above), but you will see emerald rings with all shades of green. Natural emeralds are very rare and you will know which rings have these because they will be much more expensive. If you do want to find a way to get your hands on a less expensive piece of jewelry, go for an emerald silver ring, because you can often make savings by opting for a cheaper metal band, rather than insisting on platinum or gold. In order to satisfy demand for emerald jewelry, many of these gemstones will have been artificially manufactured; you will often see these labelled as “lab created”. The cheapest of all “emerald” rings will not be genuine emeralds at all, but green cubic zirconia. These look nice and are very affordable, so they might be a good idea for an everyday ring when you feel like treating yourself.
If you are buying emerald rings for a more serious reason – like an engagement – it pays to be very picky and ask a lot of questions. Make sure you look very closely at the stone (or stones) itself, to make sure there are no imperfections or cracks. Emerald is extremely prone to internal cracking, called inclusions, and these weaken the stone itself. A sharp tap against a hard object could break the gem and leave you feeling very upset! So check before you buy. Ask the jeweler if the stone has been “oiled”. Sometimes emeralds are soaked in a transparent oil which can make the inclusions difficult to see – but they are still there!
Two other tricks can be used to help protect your emerald rings. The first is to make sure you buy rings where the gemstone is “bezel set”. This means that the stone is set within a metal collar that protects the sides of it from inadvertent impacts that might otherwise break it. The second option is to get a ring where the main emerald is part of a cluster with other gems, especially diamonds which, being harder, can offer some protection to the centerpiece stone. This type of ring is incredibly popular with common configurations being: alternating emeralds and diamonds in an eternity ring; a central row of emeralds escorted on either side by rows of diamonds; and three-stone engagement rings with a central emerald flanked by diamonds. There are also emerald cluster rings, which look amazing and the stones help to protect each other; a case of safety in numbers! This does not mean you can be clumsy though, but with such a beautiful piece of jewelry on your hand, you cannot help taking care of it.
Emerald rings certainly are available for any budget, from the expensive natural stones in clusters with diamond or the romantic antique emerald rings, to the more affordable and genuine albeit man-made emeralds, to the cheap but still pretty “false emeralds” or green cubic zirconia. There is something for everybody, but when you get yours, please treat them gently!
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how much is that ring pictured above priced at?
I get most of my pics for the site from Amazon, which is why I feel I should link those ones back to the Amazon site for people who want to investigate further or buy one. Both the pictures – the solitaire ring and the eternity ring – are featured in the carousel underneath the post; you can press the direction arrows and the prods should rotate around until you find the right one. With Amazon, the jewelry is all produced by third party “proper” jewelry stores, so obviously they can change their prices and specifications at any time.
The solitaire ring above is, I believe, around US$850, and the eternity ring US$300. You would need to go over to Amazon and check, but I do use widgets which are supposed to drag the current listed prices from Amazon, so those should be fairly accurate. Hope this helps, and thanks for visiting the site!
Hello Neal,
Thanks for the reply back. Information was very handy.I was not sure on how to leave a reply on the amazon website,I’m just new to it. Would you happen to know whether the emeralds used in that particular ring are real or man made emeralds?. I am after real emeralds and also can you get that ring in 18carat instead of 14?
Thanks a lot for your help
Julie
Yeah, Amazon is just a product selling site, so I don’t think they can answer individual queries such as whether they can offer a certain product in 18ct. I think with Amazon it is a case of knowing exactly what you are after, and then seeking it out – there is a search box on Amazon’s site, so you could try searching for “18K gold emerald rings” for example. The other option is to try out the third party sites that Amazon uses. I’m not sure which ring you are referring to, but the round cut emerald ring is from http://www.finejewelryvault.com and the emerald eternity ring is from http://www.myjewelrybox.com. You could visit these sites and have a good look around to see if there is something that fits your requirements. Hope this helps!
Neal,
Thanks a lot for your help:-)
I took my emerald ring to get resized and the guy cleaned the ring, now the emeralds don’t look nearly as perfect! The color in darker and the imperfections show. Is there a way to get the oil back on the emeralds so they look super nice again?????? Thanks
A jeweler we took my emerald ring to or sizing used gem cleaner. Now we can see all flaws in the stone. What do we do? Can we hold him responsible? We did not ask for the cleaning. Can the oil that hides flaws be replaced??
I cannot really give any advice on whether you can hold him responsible, but it might be worth going back and explaining that the look of the stone has suffered since he cleaned it, and ask whether he can do anything to hide the flaws. The other option is to take the ring to other reputable jewelers in your neighborhood and ask if they can do anything to mask them (if they think it’s an easy fix, get quotes from a few jewelers for the best price, or then go back and ask the original one to fix it without charge – he may say no to that, but you can ask). I’m presuming they are internal imperfections (which are common with emeralds) rather than surface scratches, which it might be possible to buff out. Hope you get it back to its old look again!
Hi Ariel,
Jeweler who cleaned your ring do not know the difference between diamond and emerald at all.
Most likely he must have used ultrasonic to clean ring and he killed your emerald.
Now best solution is take a regular pure coconut oil without any kind of added chemicals etc.
You find it in super market or any Indian or oriental grocery store.
Leave your ring with emerald in the same for a may be day or two if you see emerald is improving then may be leave it for a week.Then leave the ring in natural light for a day and then clean with simple Luke warm water. Wipe clean with clean towel and it should be better then before.
For future if any precious stones except diamond you want to get it cleans and if stone is center big stone then best way to let skilled jeweler remove the center stone clean it and again put back the.
stone. When ever we make ring we always put center stone last and that is the only right way.
If you need any other advise feel free to call me on 1-888-836-3645.
Hi Neal,
I see that you have large collections of Emerald rings and many are from our site.
We make all the rings in USA and we do make lots of emerald jewelry.
If any of people have any questions or advise please tell them to contact us on
at customerrelations@finejewelryvault.com. Out of experience I can say that majority of jeweler
do not have expertise to take care of Emerald as it is very soft stone and just put ring in” frying pan ”
as they don’t have slightest idea how to handle emerald.. Best advise always contact manufacturer of product Most of them have knowledge and they may not even charge you as customer relations.