I think I’m probably being overly cautious here, but I’d really
appreciate your opinion.
The engagement rings I’ve made to date have always been with stones
of 8.5 Mohs hardness and above. I was recently asked to use an
Aquamarine (7.5 - 8) in an engagement ring. The lady in question
doesn’t want to have to worry about whether her stone will scratch or
chip, and of course will be wearing her ring 24hrs a day for the rest
of her life. I will bezel set it to protect it. I remember seeing a
Tourmaline (7- 7.5) engagement ring after just 3-4 years wear and the
stone looked scratched enough to need replacing. I realise Aquamarine
is harder - but are other jewelers and gemmologists out there happy
that it’s hard enough and tough enough to stand 50 golden years of
marriage?
I think toughness might be a more important consideration than Mohs
scale hardness, which can be quite deceiving.
Even corundum, worn daily, will get scratched and somewhat chipped
after a few years of wear, and so will the aqua.
But re-cutting or re-polishing is an inexpensive alternative to
replacing the stone, and can be easily accomplished by any good
lapidary. I just re-cut and re-polished the crown of a 5 carat aqua,
and charged the jeweler $65, my minimum shop charge, plus shipping.
Wholesale value of this particular aqua is about $650-700.
The wearer should be reminded that jewelry is not indestructible and
that it WILL require maintenance from time to time; and that it
should not be worn for things like contact sports, weight lifting,
rock climbing, hot tubbing, etc. Wedding ring or not, common sense
need to rise over sentiment.
is harder - but are other jewelers and gemmologists out there
happy that it's hard enough and tough enough to stand 50 golden
years of marriage?
Nope-It’ll last fairly well, but it will get abraded - it is easily
chipped, too, like all beryl. If someone really wants it, though,
it’s not too bad. I’d say tourmaline is just not durable enough, as
you saw. Try a Ceylon or Montana sapphire, too - same general color,
but sapphire hard.
My personal experience was with having one myself. I had a warning at
the time of purchase, but chose to buy anyway because it was the ring
I most wanted. I wore it for 10 years daily and showed that poor baby
no mercy! I was a chef at the time and was constantly banging it,
getting it wet, etc. I did loose one small accent diamond, but the
aquamarine still looked great after ten years. The last time I had it
cleaned, the jeweler noted how surprised he was that it looked so
good after the life it had led on my finger! (I don’t still wear it,
because I got divorced!) The customer should definitely be made aware
of the lack of hardness of the stone, but my guess is that if this is
her choice, she will get it one way or another.
No, I wouldn’t recommend it. I’ve seen sapphires, which of course
are much harder than Aquamarine, which looked pretty dull after much
less than fifty years. Given the divorce rate now extant however,
the odds are against it having to last very long at all anyhow.
I see rings containing ruby and sapphire with highly abraded facet
junctions on a regular basis. Their hardness is 9. Then again, I
also see diamonds with nicks, chips, bruises and breaks at least once
a week. In the end, diamond will be the most durable gemstone for a
ring, but still may need recutting after a while.
Chances are that after a decade or two, any gemstone worn in a ring
will take some damage, whether it’s a diamond or something else. The
question is whether the customer realizes that no gemstone, even
diamond, is impervious to damage. People change, marriages grow, so
recutting or replacing an engagement or wedding ring stone
(especially with a larger one - something we do very often these
days) should be seriously considered.
Yes, I know De Beers’ catchphrase about diamonds being forever is
the romantic hook for selling diamonds as wedding and engagement
jewelry is firmly set in customers’ minds, and they don’t want to
consider the possibility of ever replacing their first diamond.
However, I am seeing it done quite often, and it’s nearly always the
woman’s idea. That considered, an aquamarine or any other gem can
represent anything a customer wants, as long as it is right for THEM,
not De Beers or anyone else.
As you know any stone will chip, scratch or abrade under the right
conditions, even a diamond. A stone of mohs 7-8 is fine for a ring
as long as it’s treated with a bit of respect, not outside doing
gardening or wacking it against pots and pans doing dishes. It
should also be kept away from extreme heat and also harsh chemicals.
I use alot of natural zircons (I shouldn’t even have to prefix
‘zircon’ with natural but alot of people still seem to think a
zircon is a CZ for some messed up reason) in rings and jewelry
because of the fire and sparkle. They are around a 7 on the mohs and
hold up pretty well as long as the person treats the piece nicely.
This is for the gemstone, think about the beating the setting is
taking at the same time.
If your customer has mentioned they were concerned about her
Gemstone holding up for 50 years without scratching you need to sit
down with her to make sure this is the Gemstone she wants to use.
The only Gemstone that will hold up to daily use without scratching
is a Diamond. Even Corundum worn daily has the potential to show
scratching.
To put it gently, don’t even THINK about using an aqua as the main
stone in an engagement ring if the customer doesn’t acknowledge IN
WRITING that it will eventually need to be replaced, maybe later,
maybe sooner, and that she holds you harmless in this regard.
Aquamarine chips, scratches, cracks, and breaks much too easily to
give her any other impression.
I have set many Aquamarines as engagement ring gemstones and over the
years as those customers came back to me for other jewelry items I
asked to inspect and clean the engagement rings.
Some stood up very well and others needed re-faceting after a few
years. I think it was how it was worn, I would council the clients
who wanted them to take them off during housework, gardening, rock
climbing, and other sports.
And YES, you can have a lapidary re-facet a scratched gemstone
rather than just replacing it.
If it is a high quality Aqua (fairly intense color in a smaller size
is rare) it is cheaper to re-facet.
Aquamarine is actually a wonderful wedding gemstone since it is a
legendary talisman for peace and harmony in relationships. Worn at the
throat chakra it is said to enable the wearer to speak calming words
that dispel discord. So, I would encourage the bride to buy a pendant
for her new mother-in-law. ;~D
Nanz Aalund
Associate Editor / Art Jewelry magazine
21027 Crossroads Circle / Waukesha WI 53187-1612
262.796.8776 ext.228
You’re not being overly cautious at all, bezel or not. My husband
surprised me with a ruby engagement ring long ago which had to be
repolished after 15 years. And ruby is a HECK of a lot (technical
term) harder than aquamarine. I’ve seen a lot of gems badly abraded
from years of wearing, and an aqua would be one of 'em long before
that 50th anniversary.
But I do have an idea for you. Several years ago I created a ring
for a customer with a pale blue sapphire. Not exactly the same look
as an aqua, but they can be found so close in color that no one would
guess the difference. The only thing harder (in a natural stone)
would be diamond.
The occasional polishing might be an issue with a bezel though. An
older bezel will get thinner and crankier as it’s worn (like some
people I know), and less likely to agree to being pushed around when
removing and resetting the stone for polishing.
I find all this discussion about what someone wants in an engagement
ring rather interesting. Maybe its time to allow the customer to
decide what SHE wants. No doubt she has many reasons… some of
which she doesn’t feel it necessary to explain to a jeweler. This is
very special to her and beyond explaining that she may have to give
her ring a little extra care the choice is hers.
Having been in this business for over 40 years I think I have seen
most of it. Durability is always a factor, but remember the wearer
can play a big part in that, One person can wear a ring for a week
and it will look like its been through a garbage disposal and another
can wear a ring for years and it will look as good as the day they
received it.
Diamonds are lovely but isn’t our ability to appreciate the gift of
color even lovelier?
My mother had a large Aquamarine in an old ring I used to wear and
play with as a child. She finally had it re-set a couple of years
ago into a ring she would actually wear. It was prong set but the
design did have a large section that did protect the stone somewhat.
I have to say after a few years of wearing it everyday, the stone is
very scratched. She no longer wears it as it needs to be re-cut to
make if look decent. So its not something I would suggest as and
wedding ring.
