If your bride-to-be wants a colored gemstone as the center stone of her ring rather than a diamond, she has made a choice many couples are considering to cut down on the expenses of an engagement and wedding.

Colored gemstones are a beautiful alternative to traditional diamonds, and can often cost much less. Walk into your nearest jewelry store, however, and you’ll be bombarded with natural stones, lab-created gems and imitation jewelry that can make it hard to tell what you’re buying. Before you shell out the cash for a gemstone engagement ring, you should learn a few things about colored gemstones to be as knowledgeable as possible.

Treated Gemstones

While all jewelers are required to let consumers know when they are purchasing a treated stone, there are still those who care only about the sale and will attempt to misrepresent a gemstone as natural when it isn’t. Gemstones can undergo a variety of treatments, most commonly to fix external or internal flaws. Stones can also be heat treated to enhance color. While treated stones are not necessarily bad and are a perfectly acceptable choice for some couples, some treatments are not permanent and will require repair when the treatment doesn’t hold up.

Natural Colored Gemstones

Natural gemstones come directly from the earth with no alterations to affect the outward or inward appearance of the stone. Natural gemstones will vary widely in price depending on the particular stone’s rarity and quality, so don’t assume you should shell out thousands of dollars just because a jeweler says the gemstone is “natural.” Natural simply means the gemstones haven’t undergone any type of treatment to fix imperfections, enhance the color, or otherwise improve the stones appearance.

Lab Created Colored Gemstones

Lab created gemstones, also referred to as synthetic gemstones, have been “grown” in a lab to mimic a natural stone in nearly every way. In fact, synthetic colored gemstones are virtually impossible to distinguish from their natural counterparts the vast majority of the time. Synthetic gemstones are an affordable alternative for couples who wants the look of a brilliant colored gem but simply can’t afford the real thing. Before you purchase a colored gemstone, however, ask to see a certificate from the lab – that way, you won’t get tricked into paying a lot of money for a synthetic colored stone that has been advertised as something different!

Imitation Colored Gemstones

Imitation colored stones have come a long way, and many now look like the real thing except to the trained eye. However, imitation gemstones are normally created from plastic or glass, and do not normally share any characteristics with a natural gemstone. Before you purchase a stone you think is real, it’s important to get as much information about the stone as you can and, if possible, have it appraised if you aren’t sure how to tell a real stone from a fake.

While colored gemstones are often an affordable way for couples to purchase a gorgeous engagement ring, it’s important to know what you are buying before you shell your hard earned cash for a gemstone that may not be the real deal.