July 2nd, 2009 by George C.Baycan

When it comes to shopping for gemstone jewelry, the possibilities are quite endless for finding an absolutely gorgeous piece that will be cherished and treasured for many years to come. With a full rainbow of colors to choose from, including a dazzling array of shades and hues in all variations imaginable, you’re sure to find plenty of gemstone rings to suit your needs, taste, style, and budget.

Unlike diamonds, which are indeed beautiful in their own right, colorful gemstones are so versatile and appeal to so many different people, and yet another benefit is that they can also be considerably less expensive. Emeralds, rubies, and sapphires are considered to be among the most valuable of all the precious and semiprecious gemstones in the world and are available in a wide variety of values, settings, cuts, and types.

Sapphire rings are available in shades of blue along with several other colors, although the deep blue remains the most popular color of sapphires, which are the birthstone for the month of September and one of the hardest of all gemstones second only to diamonds.

Rubies have long been the gemstone representing love and passion. Emperors and kings the world over have coveted these beautiful gems for their beauty scarcity and they have been worn by royalty for centuries. Given as a token of love, rubies are also the birthstone for those born in July. These rich red gemstones are also hard and rank high on the Mohs scale which is the scale used to measure the hardness of a mineral.

Emerald rings in a gorgeous, deep green color are some of the most costly of all the colored gemstones, however, emeralds created in a lab rather than by nature can be considerably less expensive if price is a concern. For natural emeralds, the deeper and greener the stone the higher its value will be.

When buying gemstone jewelry you will want to consider the cut of the stone. There are a wide variety of cuts and most often the cut is chosen to show off the brilliance of the particular stone. The “brilliant-cut” is most often chosen for large stones as it is the cut that will encourage the light to pass through the stone and reflect its color and brilliance. It used with marquis shaped stones as well as round, oval and pear shaped stones. Other popular choices in cuts are the princess cut, heart shaped cut, emerald shaped cut, radiant shaped cut and trillion shaped cut.

When you are shopping for a gemstone ring, you will find gems set as a solitary stone and those clustered with other stones, either the same stone or a variety of complimentary stones. Be sure and choose a gemstone and a ring that you will enjoy throughout your life.

Take your time to find just the right piece of gemstone jewelry. Be sure and learn the best methods of caring for your new jewelry. Gem stones are durable and don’t need a whole lot of attention, but cleaning them regularly will allow them to show off their spectacular beauty every time you wear them.

And finally, remember to never clean your gemstone rings, or any other type of jewelry for that matter, over or near a sink, use a bowl instead to be extra sure you won’t ever lose your most favorite piece down the drain.