Gemstone Alternatives Instead of the Traditional Center Diamond

Purchasing a white diamond for the center of your engagement ring is no longer the only choice there is. You now have other choices based upon what you like as well as your moral and ethical positions.

If you are determined to purchase a diamond for the center of your engagement ring, and seek an alternative to a white diamond, yellow diamonds have become incredibly popular. They are more expensive than white diamonds, of similar quality, but really make an impact when seen on a woman’s finger.

Another popular choice is pink diamonds. These diamonds are rarer than yellow diamonds and also cost more than the traditional white diamond.

Still, many women have learned about an issue that has taken place for some years. This issue was dramatically brought to the world’s attention via a movie called “Blood Diamond” staring Leonardo DiCaprio. The issue, also known as “non-conflict” diamonds or “conflict-free” diamonds has forced some women, and men, to look at the ethical issue of purchasing diamonds that may have been the cause of torture, rape and murder.

When this issue became better known, some women, who still wanted a center diamond for their engagement ring, insisted upon learning where the diamond was mined and how it was delivered to the jeweler. If the jeweler is reputable, he can produce documentation showing the origins of the diamond and proof that the diamond is a “conflict-free” diamond.

However, some women do not accept this documentation as proof positive and have decided to go in a different direction. Some have opted for other precious gemstones including Sapphires, Rubies, Emeralds, and the rare, and very expensive, Paraiba Tourmaline.

If you are searching for a gemstone to replace a white diamond, there are two substitutes that I can recommend that most people will think are real white diamonds. There are cubic zirconia and white sapphires. Cubic zirconia is well known as an extremely low cost replacement for real diamonds. Then there are white sapphires. White sapphires cost a fraction of diamonds the same size, but good quality white sapphires are not that easy to come by.

Sapphires, rubies, emeralds and Paraiba tourmalines are all very good replacement gemstones for diamonds. They all come in either different colors or different shades. For example, sapphires come in white, green, pink, purple, blue, yellow and variations of all these colors.

Paraiba Tourmaline also comes in a few different colors with variations of blue and green being the most widely available.

 
There are quite a large number of precious and semi-precious gemstones that can substitute for the traditional center white diamond in your engagement ring. Here are just a few of the gemstones that you could substitute: Alexandrite, Amethyst, Andesine Labradorite, Apatite, Aquamarine, Blue Topaz, Citrine, Fire Opal, Green Beryl, Green Tourmaline, Kunzite, Mandarin Garnet, Morganite, Peridot, Pink Tourmaline, Precious Topaz, Red Spinel, Rubellite, Tanzanite, Tsavorite and Yellow Beryl (just to name a few).

Tags: Blood Diamond, blood diamonds, conflict-free diamonds, diamond alternatives, emeralds, Engagement Rings, paraiba tourmalines, rubies, sapphires

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Center Diamonds, Engagement Rings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.