Sapphire Engagement Rings

Sapphire engagement rings are the engagement ring of choice for many Europeans. The diamond engagement ring is really a North American tradition and in other cultures and parts of the world people look at the whole spectrum of gemstones when choosing an engagement ring. In fact, many women across the globe wish for a sapphire ring over any other for their engagement.

Remember Princess Diana's beautiful sapphire and diamond engagement ring? She chose it because it was similar to the one her mother had. So if you're considering a sapphire engagement ring no matter where in the world you live, we say... Go for it!

Although sapphires come in many colors, the traditional color is that rich velvet blue and is the official birthstone of September. The blue sapphire ranges in tone from the deepest of blues to the lighter mid-blues of a beautiful summer sky with the Kashmir Cornflower Blue Sapphire being the rarest and most expensive.

The other colors of sapphires are often referred to as fancy sapphires and although equally beautiful, they can actually cost quite a bit less than the blue varieties, especially in the lighter pastel shades.

Going for one of the fancy sapphires is really a question of personal style and taste. What you need to know about them though is that generally speaking, the more vivid the color and clearer the stone, the more valuable the fancy sapphire.

Like its cousin the ruby, all sapphires are very durable and hard—almost as hard as a diamond. Given their hardness and durability, you should consider getting a fancy sapphire over other stones of the same color for that very reason. They will stand up to much more abuse and need much less care. They're also very lustrous and depending on the quality of stone will reflect light at diamond-like levels.

Blue sapphire engagement rings are usually set in white gold/platinum because the beautiful blue tones work so well with white metals. Fancy sapphire engagement rings on the other hand will be set with a variety of colored metals depending on the actual color of the stone. However, both the traditional blue as well as the fancier colors will usually have diamond accents to frame and accentuate the sapphire to its fullest.

As well as the standard 4Cs that always affects gemstone cost, a sapphire's value will also be determined by its origin. Kashmir stones being the most expensive, followed by Burmese, Sri Lanka sapphires, and so on... Today, sapphires are found on almost every continent and are available at every budget. Given the abundance and variety of this very special gemstone, why wouldn't you go for a sapphire engagement ring?

We've been searching for some great sapphire ring examples to show you and once we get permission to put them on our site we'll include them here so stay tuned...

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