Mossanite Engagement ring.

Kookai

We are recently engaged and my fiance wants me to pick a ring.

I'm overwhelmed at the price of the rings.
I'm aware it's the diamond that puts up the price.

I have read about alternatives to diamonds, such as mossanite.

I would love to hear any opinions and experiences people have on mossanite rings and also if it was difficult to get them in Ireland.

fits

Kookai wrote: »

We are recently engaged and my fiance wants me to pick a ring.

I'm overwhelmed at the price of the rings.
I'm aware it's the diamond that puts up the price.

I have read about alternatives to diamonds, such as mossanite.

I would love to hear any opinions and experiences people have on mossanite rings and also if it was difficult to get them in Ireland.

Its moissanite isn't it? I don't know much about it only its slightly more sparkly. You'd probably have to buy online. You could buy stone online and get ring made here.
You could also look at lab made diamonds.

tbiggertycome

Moissanite is extremely rare and expensive in nature so a man made synthetic moissanite is what you'll want which has a very similar sparkle to a diamond just a little better. You can get the stone in whatever colour you like (normally a D colour equivalent) and the clarity will be pretty much flawless, so you can get the equivalent of a top diamond for very little. However Moissanite has two factors which detract from it.

Firstly it is very easy to tell that it's not a diamond if you know what your looking for it has strong double refraction under low magnification which a diamond dosen't have (Double refraction means you see two of everything if you look through to the far side of the stone in this case).

Secondly and the most telling difference over time will be the hardness. While it has a very high hardness compared to most other gemstones it's not as hard as diamond, synthetic Moissanite being about a 9.25 on the Moh's hardness scale compared to a diamond at 10 and sapphire at 9. Essentially the stone will pick up lots of small nicks and fractures over the years and will end up like many older sapphires I see, it will have fuzzy facet edges.

Moissanite should not be very expensive compared to diamond but it will cost more than a CZ (Cubic Zirconia). I'm a jeweller and I'm sure I could source on for you although I've never been offered or looked for one before. They're currently patented in Europe but that runs out at some stage this year (not sure when)and that will likely see the price drop as anyone can then make and sell them at that stage.

Most lab grown diamonds are currently the same price if not more expensive than natural diamonds. They take a lot of energy to make the heat and this needs to be maintained over a long period to grown decent sized stones. That means the need a hugh amount of electricty which makes them expensive and it's still cheaper to mine them out of the groung than to produce them in this manner. There has been articles in recent months of a new process to grow diamonds at room temperatures. If that is true then cost could be deminished or negated it could see the price of synthetics drop significantly but it could be years before this talk becomes a reality.

Murt -Graduate Gemmologist (GIA)

Millem

Kookai wrote: »

We are recently engaged and my fiance wants me to pick a ring.

I'm overwhelmed at the price of the rings.
I'm aware it's the diamond that puts up the price.

I have read about alternatives to diamonds, such as mossanite.

I would love to hear any opinions and experiences people have on mossanite rings and also if it was difficult to get them in Ireland.

Kookai I have posted a few years ago on mossanite. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80841800

I didn't get one in the end. Tbh there are great deals in jewellers now. Did you try Martin gear, Thomas gear, Patrick Glynn ?

michellie

There are hundreds of mossanaite threads over on Weddingbee.com . Would have loved to have known about it before we got engaged!

esforum

buy abroad, will be worth the flight costs. even just pick up a cheap ring now and a proper one on honeymoon. We bought a ring in Egypy, 2500 there, over 4000 here. yeah people pay a lot more than 4 in Ireland but we have more important things to pay.

_ariadne

Hi! I have a moissanite ring and I absolutely love it

I bought it about 6 months ago from the states and can PM the company, a photo and other info if you, or anyone else, would like.

I chose a moissanite ring for a few reasons. First because I just don't like the idea of wearing a diamond, all of the debeers stuff just dosn't sit well with me and I didn't want to support the industry, not to mention the blood diamond angle. Second because I like simple, understated jewelry and liked the appearance of a clear stone. and third because of the price (my ring is yellow gold and the equivalent size of .5carat, it was less than 400euro including shipping and import duty from the US)

I did a lot of research before I ordered and was a bit nervous but so happy with how it worked out. If you go this route I would recommend the following steps:

- try on different sizes and settings in a jeweler in Ireland so that you know what you like and can feel confident in choosing a setting from an online picture.

- get your ring sized by as many jewelers as you can! ( I went to 5 and got the same size in each one, my ring fits perfectly but I got a style that can be easily re-sized if it was needed)

-research the company you are buying from as much as possible, make sure you understand the returns policy and like a PP said, the forums on weddingbee are good for finding photos of moissanite rings in different light etc.

To address some of the things tbiggertycome said. Yes moissanite is not as hard as diamond, although still pretty hard! It depends if this is a big factor for you. Lots of people use softer stones such as sapphires as engagement rings. Personally if my moissanite ever deteriorates I would just buy a new stone as they are not expensive.

Yes you can tell the difference between moissanite and a diamond if you know what you are looking for. Personally no one has ever asked me what sort of stone is in my ring, but maybe my friends are too polite. likewise I've been to several jewelers trying on wedding bands and they have all referred to my stone as a diamond, but again maybe they were just being polite. I usually tell someone it's a moissanite if we get into a proper conversation about rings because as you can see from this post I love to talk about it!

All of that being said, a moissanite ring is not for everyone, here's when I don't think it's a good option:

- as a surprise. NEVER buy your fiance a moissanite engagement ring without checking with her first. Some people really want a diamond and will be really upset with anything else. Don't try to trick her, when she brings it to be insured, the jeweler will tell her it's not a diamond and you will be ######.

-just because of the price. Moissanite is tempting, especially in the larger sizes, because it is so much more affordable, but if this is the only reason you buy it you might be left feeling that your ring isn't 'real' and that you have to lie to people about it. Your engagement ring should only make you feel good and IMO it's better to just get a smaller diamond if it's really a diamond you want.

Sorry I wrote so much! Like I said I love my ring and wanted to share as much info as possible

All the best

BALI

Hi I am currently looking and researching moissanite and wondered if you found them or where you can source one. I too want to get a moissanite ring. I'm finding it hard to source what I'm looking for and especially in Ireland. Any advice or help would be appreciated.

BALI

hi Ariadne, Can I ask which site you used to purchase your ring?