Is Morganite Suitable for an Engagement Ring?

In the past few years, colored gemstones have become quite popular, especially morganite – but is morganite suitable for an engagement ring?  What makes a particular stone suitable for an engagement ring is not just a person’s taste but also durability.  Durability means it’s ability to withstand chipping, cracking and scratching but along with those characteristics come other things that you might not think of.  For instance, if a stone is not hard enough, of course it will scratch which will dull down the surface. It will also absorb soap, lotion, sunscreen, oils… anything that you would get on your hands.

Unfortunately, morganite is a softer stone that falls into this category.  Morganite has a Moh’s rating (GIA scale) of 7.5 – 8.  Many websites and people will tell you this is a very durable gem that makes morganite suitable for an engagement ring but it definitely is not a stone for an everyday ring (such as an engagement ring). It will not stand the test of time like a diamond or a moissanite.  You want your engagement ring stone to look as beautiful 20, 30, 50 or more years down the road – bright, sparkling and void of chips and. scratches.

If your heart is really yearning for a pink stone, why not try a sapphire?  Sapphires score a 9 on the Moh’s scale coming in just under moissanite and diamond. They are very durable, don’t absorb oils, soap etc and are extremely resistant to scratching and chipping.  Sapphires come in almost every colour you can imagine – 4 shades of pinks! From champagne pink to light pink, hot pinks and deep pinks, even purplish pink. They also come in blues, yellows, greens, whites…a whole other blogpost really to sing the praises of sapphires or corundum as it is also called. (Stay tuned for that blog post – coming soon)

We don’t agree with mining or mined gems but we do offer synthetic sapphires – don’t leave at the mere mention of synthetic stones – they probably aren’t what you think they are. I have written an earlier post on synthetic gems, please check it out before ruling out synthetic.  Brief explanation: they are synthesized – originally grown from a seed of a sapphire so they are entirely 100% the same properties as a mined sapphire. They are then reseeded and so on and so on.  This makes them ecologically sound and a better price point.  We use Chatham synthesized gems which are of a high quality in clarity, cut and color.

I love seeing the variety in styles and the many colors of gemstones women choose these days but morganite is not suitable for an engagement ring.  If you still long for one, maybe chooses it for an occasional ring that doesn’t need to worn when washing the dishes, showering, gardening or many of the others daily tasks we tackle.

Is Moissanite the Best Diamond Alternative?

Is Moissanite the best diamond alternative or is Moissanite even better than a diamond?! We think it’s better no matter which way you look at it. When shopping for a diamond, let’s be honest – you are mostly looking at whether it first fits in your budget and then size and quality factor in after that. For many there is going to have to be some give – either go in to debt or sacrifice the size or quality or both. Moissanite however, is top notch in all of these areas – quality, budget friendly and it’s extremely strong (diamond measures a 10 on the Moh’s scale with Moissanite coming in just under at 9.25). A Moissanite competes head to head for strength with a diamond, therefore, can withstand the test of time and be passed down from generation to generation.

We have heard from many of our clients that their Moissanite engagement rings are by far the prettiest in their group of friends, co-workers etc. Unfortunately, it seems most don’t share that it’s a Moissanite. It’s a true testament to Moissanite, that no one suspects it isn’t a diamond so doesn’t ask.

My husband and I were chatting the other day that it would be interesting to have a Moissanite section or kiosk in a conventional jewelry store. For some, they would still need a diamond for superficial reasons but the majority would see that Moissanite is prettier than the average diamond (don’t believe the rubbish you read on diamond websites that it’s green or whatever other crazy things they say – diamonds and Moissanite are graded side by side on the same color scale so Colorless means exactly that – no color – no green). The average diamond in a jewelry store is a J color while Moissanite comes in DEF Colorless or GHI Near Colorless. Both the Colorless and Near Colorless Moissanite are a fraction of the cost of their equal diamond counterpart and I do mean a fraction. If purchasing an equal 1 ct flawless colorless diamond you would be spending approximately $20,000 USD compared to $500 USD. There is the added bonus that a Moissanite has 10% more sparkle than a diamond – nothing flashy, it just makes it look like it is the better quality stone when next to a diamond.

Back to our jewelry store scenario. For sure, most people would not see the value in a diamond when side by side with a quality Moissanite (we prefer the NEO and Charles and Colvard brands – high quality control and superior manufacturing). The reason you don’t see this section (a large Moissanite section in the local jewelry store) is the jeweler makes much more profit with a diamond sale than with Moissanite.  In fact, we have found many jewelers who have one token Moissanite ring in their store (to bring anyone in who might be calling around to locate a Moissanite engagement ring) and it seems they actually use it to dissuade people from buying a Moissanite (there are also many websites out there that advertise Moissanite, they know it’s popular so they use it as click bait but when you get to their website, it is void of Moissanite or they talk it down). In a physical jewelry store our experience is they either put the price of the Moissanite up to almost equal the diamond price or they try to shame you out of purchasing it or they have an older version that is not up to today’s quality. I wrote a prior blog post on our first experience with Moissanite shopping which has happened a few more times or the jeweler just acts disinterested in us. It’s amazing how unscrupulous some people are. It’s your money, don’t let anyone tell you how to spend it or make you feel inferior! In fact, you should feel quite superior for being financially and ethically responsible!

A customer called the other day to purchase his fiancé’s wedding band after purchasing her engagement ring with us last year. I shared the chat my husband and I had after he mentioned that his fiancé’s girlfriends all covet her Moissanite ring. He totally agreed and said we should rent a corner in jewelry store but when I told him we would take the business away from the diamond jeweler’s, he totally got it and agreed. Our hypothetical conversation was fun and it made both of us feel good about our Moissanite choice. So to say Moissanite is the best diamond alternative is actually quite an understatement. Moissanite is better than a diamond!