Is An Emerald Engagement Ring Right for Your Fiancee?
So you're about to get engaged. Congratulations on finding that special girl. Now all you have to do is find the right engagement ring, and you'll be all ready to pop the question.
Choosing the right engagement ring involves making a lot of decisions. What size should the stone be? What color should the stone be? What metal should the stone be set in? One choice that is becoming more and more popular is an emerald engagement ring.
Emerald - The Green Stone
Emeralds are unusual stones, mined in South America, and believed to have special spiritual powers. Some people believe that wearing an emerald stone will increase a person's psychic abilities; others believe that emeralds have special healing characteristics.
In any event, an emerald engagement ring is a fresh alternative to a traditional clear, colorless diamond. If your bride-to-be likes to think of herself as a free spirit who marches to the beat of a different drummer, an emerald engagement ring may be just the ring for her.
An emerald engagement ring will have a green stone in the setting; however, emerald stones come in a variety of colors, so the green you expect to find in an emerald may not be the green you find when you begin to shop for her emerald engagement ring.
The most common emeralds are a yellowish hue of green; these emerald engagement rings cost less because of the more common stone. An emerald engagement ring with a blue-green stone is at the other end of the price range, because blue-green emeralds are quite rare.
If your fiancée was born in the month of May, she will be especially pleased with an emerald engagement ring, because the emerald is the birthstone of May. If you're not sure whether an emerald is the right engagement stone for your fiancée, think about the clothes she wears most often. Does she like to wear green every day, or only on St. Patrick's Day? Notice her accessories; if she is already wearing green stone jewelry, chances are good that she will like an emerald engagement ring.
Emeralds are not as hard as diamonds, so there is a chance that the stone was cracked or marred during the faceting process. Ask your jeweler to disclose any flaws in the stone to you before you buy it, and ask specifically if the stone has been treated, and whether it is a natural or synthetic emerald. Natural emeralds are, of course, rarer than manmade emeralds, and the jeweler should be willing to put this information in writing, either way.
