Emeralds for an Engagement Ring
J8505 | play | right | medium | “Jewelry ID: J8505- Emerald Weight: 1.15 Carats – Origin: Zambia ” Vivid, forest-green emeralds make for fantastic engagement rings. They are very scratch resistant, and can tolerate being knocked around a bit in items like rings and bracelets. Don’t go hitting them all the time though, even a diamond will break with enough abuse.
Moreover, emeralds are the symbol of true love and poets! In an engagement ring it is like saying your marriage will always be faithful and love-filled. Emeralds are also associated beauties like the legendary Cleopatra.
For all the wonderful properties of emeralds, there are a few things to keep in mind. E100 | play | left | medium | “Emerald ID: E100 – Weight: 1.56 Carats – Origin: Zambia”
- Emeralds are almost always treated for clarity. Even the snobbiest auction houses proudly display treated emeralds, though they are not heavily treated.
- They are almost always visibly included, and this can make them brittle. High quality emeralds with minor or insignificant clarity enhancement are not prone to durability issues the way their highly treated versions are.
- They cannot go in an automatic jewelry cleaner, otherwise the oil or resin (the stuff used to treat emeralds) will come out and make your emerald look completely different. Those cleaners are usually meant for diamonds only, and damage almost every other gemstone.
Durability
Contrary to what their highly included nature might imply, emeralds are very durable. A gem’s durability is ranked in three parts; hardness, toughness, and stability.
Emeralds are a 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs hardness scale, depending on the precise chemistry of the emerald. This measures scratch resistance, meaning very little can possibly scratch them.
The toughness is what most people worry about with them, since emeralds are on the brittle side from the inclusions. Just realize that the gem-cutting process is brutal, and only the toughest gems can take being faceted and polished. This means if the emerald in a ring gets cracked from being hit, the finger it’s on is messed up too.
Mohs Scale
| Stone | Hardness |
| Diamond | 10 |
| Corundum | 9 |
| Topaz | 8 |
| Quartz | 7 |
| Feldspar | 6 |
| Apatite | 5 |
| Fluorite | 4 |
| Calcite | 3 |
| Gypsum | 2 |
| Talc | 1 |
Stability refers to a gemstone’s chemical resistance to things like light, heat, and chemicals. This applies to their color too. Emeralds are stable in light, heat, and with exposure to most chemicals. Their oil and resin fillers on the other hand are susceptible to extreme heat and chemicals. However, most people do not stick their hands directly into a cooking oven without protection and jewelry is not to be worn while handling household cleaners anyways. Bleach and chlorine will leave pits in most settings since they are alloys made of different metals, not pure silver or gold.
For most day-to-day activities, emeralds are quite durable.