Engagement Rings

Yellow sapphires are absolutely gorgeous and a perfect choice to bring a little light to your days! In all the excitement and anticipation, it’s easy to be fooled by fake stone. To help you avoid fraud, we’ve prepared a list of ways how to identify an original yellow sapphire!

Ask For a Certificate

Possibly the easiest way you can check the authenticity of a stone is to ask for a certificate. This way you are sure the stone was examined and approved by a trusted, official organization.

Certificates provided by some of the national gem societies (like the Gemological Institute of America or the American Gem Society) are good indicators that you have a pure sapphire on your hands.

Compare It With (Yellow) Glass

Many might claim that yellow glass and yellow sapphires are not so different. The truth is – of course, they are! One of the easiest ways to check if you’ve got a real gemstone is to compare it to a piece of yellow glass.

When placed next to each other, the difference between a real yellow sapphire and glass is drastic. The sapphire will be rich in shading and clearness, while the chunk of yellow glass will look pale in comparison.

Bubbles Or No Bubbles?

Any inclusion a yellow sapphire might posses shouldn’t be visible to the naked eye. So, if you notice tiny bubbles, or anything resembling liquid glass, inside your gemstone, it’s most likely fake.

Check for Scratches

Sapphires are unbending, hard stones that rank at 9.0 on the Mohs hardness scale. The only stone higher on the scale is a diamond, at 10.0! As a comparison, your fingernail ranks at 2.5.

Knowing this, it’s easy to check if your yellow sapphire is fake. If there are any scratches on your stone, it’s sadly not a real sapphire.

The X Sign

Carefully check the facets of your stone. An “X” cut, also known as scissors cut, is often present on fake (mostly synthetically manufactured) gemstones.

Is It Groovy?

If you’re in the possession of a 10x loupe, you can easily check for groves. A real yellow sapphire will be completely smooth, while a phony stone will have noticeable imperfections.

Under 10x magnification, you might notice grooves similar to that on a vinyl record. If that’s the case, the sapphire is synthetic.

Fillings

Negative space and inclusions can be found in any stone – of course, yellow sapphire is not exempt from them. When cutting gems, these imperfections can “rip” and cause a small hole to develop.

Trustworthy jewelers will keep the hole intact, perhaps as proof of the sapphire’s authenticity. Jewelers of a different kind might choose to fill this hole with paste or glass to make the stone look as though it’s of a higher quality than it actually is.

Shine a light on your stone and examine it – uneven patches can be a good indicator the stone has been filled. Fillings in your stone are something you want to avoid.

Hold It Close And Check For Warmth

If you’re dealing with a loose stone, you can simply hold the yellow sapphire in your hand to see if there’s a chance of it being fake.

A real, natural sapphire should feel warm in your palm. If, on the other hand, you don’t feel anything in particular, you should suspect that the stone you’re holding is synthetic.

Whether you’re choosing a perfect yellow sapphire for an engagement ring, a necklace, or a bracelet, you can make sure you have the real deal on your hands using these tips. Drop by one of our jewelry stores in Miami and make your pick today!
And if you want to match your sapphire jewelry with your clothing we got you covered in our another article.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON

Scarlett Johansson’s fiance French journalist Romain Dauriac has unique taste! The dazzling Art Deco sparkler created a stir at the Venice International Film Festival, and rightly so-it features three round diamonds surrounded by a vintage rectangular setting with more diamonds.

OLIVIA WILDE

This is one serious sparkler! Funny man Jason Sudeikis asked for Olivia Wilde’s hand in marriage with a round diamond surrounded by an emerald halo (to match her eyes!) and set in gold.

FERGIE

Fergie’s engagement ring from husband Josh Duhamel features a wide band with a 4-carat brilliant cut diamond. The H. Stern design also has cognac diamonds in a starburst pattern around the center stone.

HALLE BERRY

Halle Berry’s fiancé Olivier Martinez popped the question with a diamond and emerald Robert Mazlo engagement ring.

REBECCA ROMIJN

Husband Jerry O’Connell proposed to Rebecca Romijn with a 6-carat yellow diamond engagement ring. “Since I had to get my ring resized when I was pregnant, I decided to change my setting with the help of my friend Lorraine Schwartz,” Romijn told InStyle. “There’s something sexy about a diamond dangling from your finger.”

JESSICA SIMPSON

Eric Johnson gave Jessica Simpson a 5-carat ruby ring in honor of her July birthday. “The ruby design for Jessica was perfection,” says Neil Lane, the celebrity jeweler behind Simpson’s engagement ring. “It’s a classic design with a twist because the side stones are pear-shaped.”

ANGELINA JOLIE

Angelina Jolie’s 10-carat diamond is a one-of-a-kind cut thanks to Brad Pitt. “Brad had a specific vision for this ring,” Beverly Hills jeweler Robert Procop said in a statement. “He wanted every aspect of it to be perfect, so Robert was able to locate a diamond of the finest quality and cut it to an exact custom size and shape to suit Angelina’s hand.”

KATE MIDDLETON

As a sweetly romantic and commemorative gesture, Prince William presented Kate Middleton with his mother’s Garrard Jewelers sapphire-and-diamond ring. He explained his decision, saying, “It’s very special to me, Kate’s very special to me as well, I thought it only right to put the two together.” The 18-carat oval sapphire is surrounded by 14 diamonds and set in 18-karat white gold.

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When you are ready to take the next step and get engaged, the first thing you might start thinking about is the ring. What does she even want in a ring? How will you make it special enough? This is a ring that she will be wearing for the rest of her life, and you’ll want to put a lot of thought into finding the perfect ring for her.

Now more than ever, people are really looking for something unique for that special woman in their lives – something that no one else has. But, one thing that is often overlooked in the quest to find that special ring is the possibility of custom designing a ring.

Custom engagement rings are becoming incredibly popular. It allows you to have the power to bring an idea to life and create something that is so unique and special. Custom designing an engagement ring is a great way to create a ring from scratch that no one else will have. It’ll forever be a one-of-a-kind ring that she can pass down for generations.

Curious to find out more? We’ve compiled a list of 7 ideas for custom engagement rings that’ll help spark your creativity:

1. Adding Colored Gemstones

To kick things off, you can always add colored gemstones to a ring in order to give it some personality and flare. It’s a perfect way to take an otherwise standard diamond engagement ring and make it colorful and unique!

Gemstones come in almost every color, but some of the most popular that are used for engagement rings include sapphires (blue), rubies (red), and emeralds (green). The gemstone can be used to replace a diamond as the center stone or it can be place next to the center diamond along the sides. The gemstone can even hold more meaning based on the color chosen or maybe a symbolic birthstone.

It can be difficult to find rings with colored gemstones, and the selection can often be limited. Talk to your jeweler’s design team to see how they can incorporate a pop of color into the engagement ring.

2. Getting a Vintage Inspired Look

Many people love vintage engagement rings. They are unique, one-of-a-kind and usually hand crafted. But, sometimes there can be some drawbacks to getting a ring that is actually vintage. The diamonds in vintage rings are a lot different than the ones that are used in more modern rings. Some of the charm and draw of vintage engagement rings is that they can be a little inconsistent because they were individually crafted. This may not appeal to some people, however, who would prefer their ring be new and more uniform.

A good solution for a woman who likes the vintage look but who may not want a vintage ring is to get a ring that is “vintage inspired.” These include rings that have beautiful filigree details and unique patterns and shapes. You could create your own vintage engagement ring look by working with a designer and adding newer stones.

3. Adding a Unique-Shaped Diamonds

If you have your heart set on adding a unique-shaped diamond to the engagement ring, it may be difficult to accommodate that diamond in average ring settings. A jeweler could certainly make sure that the diamond you want will be placed properly into a setting, but it may not look exactly the way you were hoping.

Using a unique diamond could also prove difficult if you want to add a diamond halo around it. This is when you really should consider creating your own custom engagement ring. That way, you could make sure the ring fits perfectly with the diamond shape that you’ve chosen. The below examples show custom ring designs that feature unique shapes like heart and a flower pattern with marquise diamonds. If any of these diamond shapes appeal to you, and you want to make sure the ring looks exactly the way you were hoping, then custom designs may be the way to go.

4. Accommodating Larger Diamonds

When you want to add a large diamond, over a few carats, you may want to consider creating a custom engagement ring for the diamond. In some cases, it wouldn’t make sense to add such a large diamond to a more traditional setting because the diamond might not be well supported. Or, the proportions could look off.

If you want to go all out with the diamond, create a custom ring that completes the big diamond look. Working with a ring designer, you could add large stones on the side of the diamond or put the diamond on a larger band. The examples below illustrate how a large diamond could look if you were to get it custom designed. Think big!

5. Incorporating Rare Diamonds

Fancy colored diamonds are all the rage these days. Everyone wants to find a ring that is unique, and one way to accomplish this is to add a fancy colored stone to an engagement ring. Fancy diamonds, like yellow or pink diamonds, are formed when there is an anomaly in the diamond forming process. Normally, a diamond that you would feature in an engagement ring would be colorless. Fancy yellow diamonds, however, are formed when there is an excess concentration of nitrogen in the diamond which adds a vivid yellow color to an otherwise colorless stone.

These types of stones are incredibly rare, making them a great choice for a woman who likes color. Because they are more rare, the selection of colored diamond rings that you will have to choose from will be much smaller than the selection of classic diamond engagement rings. Working with a ring designer, you can create a unique design for the engagement ring that features these beautiful colored stones in a way that really accentuates the diamond.

6. Using a One-of-a-Kind Setting

If you really want something that is creative and one-of-a-kind, you can work with a design team to think of a custom ring setting that is different than anything else you’ve seen before. You could walk in with an idea in mind or you could let the designer help you come up with something. This is an incredible opportunity to get her an engagement ring that would be truly unique and special.

Below are just a few examples of one-of-a-kind ring settings that you could create with a designer. But, the opportunities here are really limitless. You could mix and match different metals to give the setting a fashionable look or twist and turn metal to make the ring different than any other ring that currently exists.

7. Adding Sm all Symbolic Details

A great way to make the engagement ring unique is to add a small symbolic detail in the ring that will be meaningful for her. There are many different ways that you can accomplish this. You could add a love knot on the bottom of the ring that only you and her will know about. The love knot is made from two parallel cords that tie together in two interlocked overhead knots and is meant to symbolize eternal love between the couple. This is just one small way to add some unique personality to the ring.

Another idea is to add a small gemstone or diamond on the inside of the ring. Maybe it could be her birthstone or a color that is meaningful to both of you. Whatever the reason behind your choice in stone, you can have the jeweler insert these in hidden spots in the setting of the ring.

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Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar: You’re browsing jewelry stores with your one and only, but all of the engagement rings seem to look the same. In fact, you could swear you already saw that exact ring at three other stores. Yet none of them stand out – none of them are really you.

If those cookie cutter engagement rings just aren’t wowing you, getting a custom engagement ring designed by a trusted local jeweler might be the way to go.

Here are some helpful tips and things to think about when getting a custom design made from a local jeweler.

1. You might be able to transform a family heirloom into a modern masterpiece. Jewelers can often remove diamonds from old jewelry to create a new design. They’ll melt down the metal, take out the stones and create a brand new mold. If Great-Aunt Mildred’s antique ring isn’t your style, you can still keep the heirloom stone in the family while wearing a ring that’s much more your taste.

When I got engaged, I actually “recycled” my great-grandmother’s diamond ring. The jeweler removed the diamond, melted down the gold setting and created a beautiful two-tone setting that I loved!

2. You can shave some serious money off your ring purchase by cutting out the middlemen. Generally speaking, custom designs can be more expensive, but for an “out of the box” ring, an independent jeweler might be a better bargain. They often wholesale to retail stores, who mark up the pieces anywhere from 200% to 300%.

3. When you work with an independent jeweler, you’re getting years of expert experience and knowledge. Often, when you visit a retail store, you’re dealing with a sales clerk as opposed to a certified gemologist or custom jeweler. With all of that expertise, an independent jeweler can help you bring your dream ring to life through sketches and photos – a truly custom piece, designed from scratch. You can also pick an existing ring design and suggest a few minor changes with a jeweler!

4. An independent jeweler can create your ring in any metal you like – titanium, gold, platinum, etc. – because the molds are created for you. Plus, your jeweler will be very well versed in the current metal prices and will be able to advise you on how to get the best bang for your buck.

5. Getting a custom design and working with an independent jeweler might give you a little wiggle room on price but most importantly, you’ll be getting highly personalized customer service. Some jewelers will actually give you a credit upgrade should you want to get a bigger stone for your engagement ring down the road. So, if you have an independent jeweler design your ring now, and your other half wants to rock your world with a carat-size upgrade for your anniversary, that upgrade credit can go a long way to help reduce the impact on your wallet. You can also ask your jeweler about his or her policies on warranties, repairs and routine maintenance.

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According to WeddingWire, an online wedding marketplace that connects vendors with couples and party planners, the criteria modern couples use to shop for engagement rings differs according to whether they’re on the giving or receiving end.

Associate Director of Creative Services Jeffra Trumpower shared the results of the company’s 2016 market research with show-goers at JCK Las Vegas Tuesday.

WeddingWire asked couples who were married in 2016 to rank different engagement ring shopping criteria in order of importance.

For those who were proposed to, they were most concerned with the visual big picture. The single most important aspect of the ring they received was its overall design and setting.

Next was the type of metal, followed by the type of stone, as in a diamond versus a moissanite or a colored gemstone.

Their fourth greatest concern was the cut of the stone, and the quality of it came in fifth place.

Their last concern was, somewhat surprisingly, the size of the stone.

For the proposer, the quality of the stone was the most important aspect of their engagement ring purchase, something that made sense, Trumpower explained, because the proposer had been educated by salespeople while ring shopping in-store.

So while quality was low on the list of importance for the person receiving the ring, the proposers were more educated about the value of diamonds, and therefore prioritized quality above all else.

The second most important criteria for proposers while ring shopping was the ring’s type of metal, which had also ranked second for the individual to whom they proposed.

Next came the engagement ring’s design and setting, followed by the type of stone. The fifth most important type of shopping criteria was the stone’s cut.

Proposers and those receiving the ring placed the same import on the size of stone–it ranked last out of all the criteria.

Trumpower went into more detail about the results WeddingWire’s research had yielded.

Though couples were in agreement that the size of the stone was the least important part of the ring they gave or received, that didn’t mean they necessarily wanted a small stone.

Forty-nine percent of those polled preferred a center stone that was between 1 and 2 carats.

Twenty-eight percent liked a stone that was less than 1 carat, a finding that was a bit more in line with the overall lack of priority when it came to size.

Nineteen percent said that a stone between 2 and 3 carats was their preferred size, while 4 percent indicated that a stone above 3 carats was their ideal weight.

When it came to the popularity of ring stones, diamonds were the stone of choice for 73 percent of people polled.

Nine percent preferred colored gemstones, followed closely by “raw diamonds,” which were preferred by 8 percent of the group.

Four percent wanted a pearl ring and another 4 percent marked “other,” a category that encompasses stones like moissanite.

Round brilliant diamonds have long been the most popular cut of stone in engagement rings and this held true in WeddingWire’s study, in which 22 percent of people ranked it as their cut of choice.

Princess cuts were a close second at 21 percent, with a big gap between it and the third most popular cut, ovals, which received 8 percent of the votes.

That was followed by emerald cuts at 7 percent and heart cuts at 6 percent. Cushion cuts, rose cuts, marquise cuts and pear cuts each received 4 percent of votes.

When it came to the process of ring shopping, WeddingWire’s survey indicated that 57 percent of people look at rings 1 to 6 months prior to proposing while 24 percent said they didn’t do research at all, though that was overwhelmingly because they were proposing with a family ring.

Both proposers and those set to receive the ring looked at an average of six rings in-store and 49 percent of women from heterosexual couples had tried on engagement rings prior to getting engaged.

Thirty-five percent of those who wanted a ring showed pictures of rings to the proposer from visual platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, and 66 percent of people had shared their engagement “just- said-yes” moments on social media.

Interestingly, while 47 percent of the proposers said that they purchased a customized ring, the person who received the ring had no idea if their ring was customized or not.

Trumpower also indicated that with so much information about weddings, engagements and rings available online and on social media, couples were having difficulty cutting through the noise, with most of them saying they had a hard time making decisions and felt stressed due to the amount of information available.

This underpinned a need for ultimately working with jewelers in-store when it came to engagement ring shopping, as human connection helped cancel out the digital-decision fatigue.

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