Go for a ring that's truly one-of-a-kind, like this cushion cut moissanite with trillion cuts on either side. The double prongs add subtle visual interest and keep the eye glued to this gorgeous stone.
Check out the Ring Sizing Guide to find your ring size.
Each year, 75% of the world's mined gold is used to make jewelry. Gold is a symbol of enduring love and heritage, making it the coveted choice for jewelry that will be passed from generation to generation. As well, it has earned its place as the traditional gift for 50th wedding anniversaries.
The unrivaled permanence and emotion attached to gold result from many factors. The most obvious is that gold is aesthetically pleasing. The warm golden color is much loved, as are alloys that can be used to create a rainbow of different shades of the metal. Gold is extremely rare, requiring several tons of ore to produce just one ounce of gold. In fact, estimates are that all the gold ever mined could fit beneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris!
Gold's durability gives it an incredibly long-lasting value. Ancient gold jewelry, coins and artifacts on display in museums worldwide are testament to gold's enduring beauty. Additionally, gold is a heavy metal. In fact, one cubic foot weighs half a ton! When alloyed with other metals, the relatively soft metal becomes exceptionally strong, durable and indestructible. As well, gold is a pure substance resistant to the effects of air, heat and moisture. Thus, it resists tarnish and remains pleasing to the eye for lifetimes and beyond.
In spite of gold's strength and heaviness, it is very malleable, making it easy enough to work with that just one ounce can be worked into a continuous strand approximately 60 miles long. As well, it can be melted or shaped into an infinite number of designs, making it quite versatile for creative and beautiful jewelry designs.
History & Significance
Gold has been romanticized in popular culture for eras, used as currency and treasure in great civilizations, and even ascribed miraculous powers. Gold's long and winding history has traversed the world many times over. The Etruscans crafted objects by hand with threads of gold. Ancient Egyptians reserved gold's use for pharaohs only, equating it with the sun. The Incas called gold "the sweat of the sun" and the Chinese thought of gold as the sun's yang.
Chinese and Indian culture today remains that brides wear 24K gold on their wedding day for a lifetime of luck and happiness. Furthermore, in some cultures people eat gold to treat ailments that include arthritis, tuberculosis and ulcers.
In addition to gold's historical value, the tangible lasting value of gold has been established by its use as currency. Gold has been used for more than 5,000 years as currency. It holds its value and boasts a sense of permanency that paper currency does not. People tend to buy it in large quantities during times of crisis.
Beyond even the historical and monetary value of gold, the rare precious metal is an alluring aesthetic material with which some of this world's finest and most prized jewelry is crafted.
Finishes on Gold Jewelry
Gold jewelry is often "finished." This refers to surface treatments for gold jewelry, creating patterns and designs. Different types of finishes are often used in tandem to create contrasting effects.
Brushed: A satiny finish produced by a stiff metal brush applied in linear or circular patterns.
Diamond Cut: Tiny angled cuts into the surface create a bright faceted look.
Diamond Laser: Hammering the surface with a faceted, diamond-tipped tool creates a highly reflective finish.
Embossed: A relief pattern shaped in sheet metal.
Enameled: Colored glass fused onto a metal surface.
Engraved: A design cut with a sharp tool.
Etched: Chemical or hand-created designs or patterns cut into the surface to make a textured finish.
Filigree: Delicate patterns created by twisting together fine wires and flattening and bending them into intricate designs; these patterns are surrounded by a sturdy gold framework.
Florentine: Parallel lines are engraved in one direction with lighter perpendicular cross-hatchings or curved strokes; these lines are deeper than on brushed or satin finishes.
Granulated: Small and round gold particles hand-placed on a gold surface, then fastened by heating.
Hammered: Varied light to deep hammering applied directly to the surface to create a design.
High Polish: Bright and shiny, highly reflective finish.
Matte: Velvety finish lacking shine but boasting a soft luster.
Satin Finish: Soft and lustrous appearance resulting from light parallel lines that sharply reduce the metal's reflections.
Gold Karat
Gold's softness and malleability make it a wonderful metal to work with when creating virtually any design in jewelry. But this softness can be a drawback as well. To make it stronger and more durable, gold is usually alloyed, or mixed, with other metals such as copper or silver. The higher a metal's percentage of gold content, the softer and more yellow the jewelry piece. The karat weight system used to measure gold in a piece is the same for all hues, including white and yellow gold.
The word “carat” is Arabic, meaning “bean seed.” This is because historically seeds were used to measure weights of gold and precious stones. In the United States, “karat” with a “k” is used to measure gold's purity, while “carat” with a “c” is used in measuring a gemstone's size. The karat mark of gold represents the percentage of pure gold to alloy.
In order to determine the karat weight of a specific item, simply look for the quality mark. Jewelry items will bear the stamp of their karatage based upon the United States or European system of marking. The United States system designates pieces by their karats—24K, 18K, 14K, 10K, etc. The European system designates pieces by their percentage of gold content. For instance, 10K gold is marked “417,” denoting 41.7% gold; 14K is marked “585,” denoting 58.5% gold; and 18K is marked “750,” denoting 75% gold; etc.
Created exclusively by Charles & Colvard, Moissanite is a model of sheer beauty that is fast becoming a shining star in today’s hottest jewelry designs. It is a high-quality, uniquely created stone unlike any other.Created Moissanite has very high dispersion and displays 2.4 times more fire than diamond (0.044). Its inherent high refractive index gives Moissanite a dazzling sparkle, while its precisely calibrated and carefully hand-cut facet patterns intensify fire and maximize brilliance.
Moissanite is extremely durable. It is harder (more resistant to scratching) than ruby or sapphire – second only to diamond – and it is resistant to breakage.
Larger sizes of near-colorless Moissanite (6.5mm or 1 carat and larger) might appear to have a slight color. A variety of factors, such as dispersion, tint and the type of jewelry setting, can create and affect this unique color appearance. Moissanite aficionados enjoy the slight hue that results in a very natural-looking gemstone, even though it's lab-created.
Natural mined diamonds are slightly heavier in weight than Moissanite stones because of Moissanite's chemical properties and structure. Essentially, Moissanite is less dense and therefore lighter than a diamond of the same size. For instance, an 8mm diamond with a 2.00 carat weight would compare to an 8mm Moissanite that has a carat weight of approximately 1.73. That said, the Moissanite would be classified as a 2.00 DEW (diamond equivalent weight) because of its size. This is a useful comparison tool when shopping for Moissanite as a diamond alternative.
Moissanite’s high dispersion produces flashes of rich rainbow (spectral) colors. The appearance and degree of these tints are less noticeable when Moissanite is set in jewelry. Jewelry set in gold (yellow, rose or white) and/or set in platinum will affect the face-up appearance of Moissanite.
Nobel Prize-winning chemist Dr. Henri Moissan discovered minute quantities of natural silicon carbide (later named Moissanite in his honor) while analyzing part of Arizona’s Diablo Canyon meteorite crater in 1893. Upon close inspection, he noticed the tiny crystals shimmered with brilliance and dispersion, although they were too limited in quantity and not large enough to use in jewelry.
Almost 100 years after Dr. Moissan's amazing discovery, a way to create Moissanite was developed. Appreciated for its overwhelming brilliance, Moissanite continues to take the jewelry world by storm.
Glossary
Brilliance: The white light leaving a jewel, traveling upward, which is visible to the eye. Brilliance is sometimes referred to as "sparkle."
Dispersion: Flashes of rainbow colors. Also called "fire."
Hardness: Resistance to scratching. The higher the number, the more resistant.
Luster: The shininess of a jewel.
Toughness: Resistance to breakage.