Solitaire or Pave Rings?
You can’t go wrong buying a single solitaire diamond that is flanked by two other stones. The solitaire diamond can be cut as an:
• an oval,
• heart
• square
• oblong
• star
• marquise
• round
• pear
• baguette (oblong)
• You will also see rings that look like they feature one big stone, but in reality the sparkle is created by a cluster of tiny stones together. She would probably not like this type of ring as much as she would one large solitaire stone.
Sometimes the center stone in a solitaire ring is set a little higher than the ring in a clawed setting that resembles a cradle for the stone and sometimes it is embedded right into the band.
However, the main stone in the solitaire engagement ring does not have to be a diamond. The very old traditional route is to contrast diamonds (as either the flanking stones or center stone) with other valuable gems such as emeralds, citrines, topazes garnets rubies or sapphires. You can also buy an engagement ring that suits her birthstone. This is where knowing her favorite color or favorite stone might come in handy. For instance, if she is a redhead who wears a lot of green, she might appreciate a square cut emerald as the solitaire stone rather than the usual diamond.
A pave setting is one that features a row of five to nine glittering stones either raised or embedded into band. Common combinations are sapphires and diamonds, rubies and diamonds and emerald and diamonds. One benefit to buying this kind of ring is that it can serve either as a wedding band or an engagement band. If you present her with a pave ring, she then has the option of going out with you to choose her own solitaire stone.
Although the ancient belief is that diamonds were fired in the flames of love they are actually fired in the flames of the earth’s crust where they are compressed until they create unique four sided crystal that is harder than anything on earth. It is most likely that the diamond you find in today’s stores is mined in South Africa, but for years India and Brazil were the principle providers of diamonds. Diamond stores have also recently been found in the Yukon.
The brilliance of diamonds is accounted for by the stone’s high reflective index which is 2.42. This is many times higher than a rhinestone which is only 1.6. The ability of a diamond to sparkle is also depended on how the stone is hewn by the diamond cutter.