The Kaisilver report on gents rings published at http://www.jewellery.kaijewels.com/buying-gents-rings.htm is regarded as one of the best compiled reports related to buying a gents ring. While you could access that report for more details, we have compiled this report to specifically talk about issues related to the gems used in gents rings. You cannot become a jewelry and gem stone expert overnight but, you can get the benefit of our immense expertise and take the gamble and uncertainty of choosing the right gents gold or 925 sterling silver ring. You could buy a plain gents ring or choose a jewel with the gem stone of your choice. A plain gents ring in gold or 925 silver would not need to budget for the gemstone, such a ring might also be a lot easier to wear, clean and maintain. Having said that the fact is that, gents gemstone rings can enhance the appearance and the meaning of a gents ring. Let us now take this discussion to the next level without, getting into serious trade and complicated jargon. After all we want this report to be useful to every gem and jewelry lover, this whether you are ignorant or are an expert on the subject.
Gemstone Selection: You could choose the stone for your gents ring, in more ways than one. If you already have a specific gem stone in mind for your gold or 925 silver gents ring, then the objective is quite clear. However what you will still need to consider is the gem size, price, durability etc. We will talk about these issues in subsequent portions of this report. Things get more interesting and probably a bit more complicated, if you only have a specific gemstone color in mind. For example, you want a gents gemstone ring with a blue gemstone. In this case you have not made up your mind over a particular gem, you will ofcourse be open to suggestions and advice. Let us presume that you need a gents blue stone ring, there obviously are more than one blue gemstones to choose from. Left to your jeweler to decide, he will most likely recommend a gemstone that gives him higher profit margins or a blue gem that he finds convenient to procure.
If you are recommended to get a gents ring with a blue sapphire, you might want to know that sapphires are some of the most expensive blue gems. This is especially true if your gents sapphire ring needs gem that is bigger than a 1.5 carat size. This will remain true for even a medium grade blue sapphire gents gold or 925 sterling silver ring. It is fine if your budget can handle the price tag but, it would be sad if you gave up getting a blue gents ring thinking that it is too expensive for your budget.
We can however tell you that, blue topaz gents rings are a great choice. Technically blue topaz rates a bit lower in hardness as compared to blue sapphire. This is a small issue since blue topaz will rate an 8 whereas sapphire rates a 9 on the Mohs scale used to measure the hardness of gems. Another good thing about blue topaz is that it is available in 3 shades of blue and at least one of them is very likely to impress you. If you had to do a cost comparison between blue topaz and blue sapphire, topaz is a big winner. For example, an eye clean flawless deep blue (london blue) topaz gem that weighs around 3 to 4 carats could cost around 15 U.S$ to 20 U.S$ per carat in the retail market. On the other hand, a medium grade blue sapphire that weighs around 2 to 3 carats, can cost as much as 400 U.S$ to 700 U.S$ per carat in the retail market.
There are other criteria available by which you could choose the gemstone in your gents ring. For example, many men choose a gents gemstone ring based on traditions and beliefs attached to the gemstone. You might have heard that, a gents carnelian ring is supposed to keep a person calm and composed. The belief that wearing a black onyx gem makes it easier for a person to come to terms with tragedy and sorry, is carried on to this day. Kaisilver custom makes more than a few dozen mens onyx gem stone rings each week. Available in both gold and sterling silver, the modest price of black onyx gems makes them suitable for both metal options. The centuries old practice of wearing birthstone jewels, is an example of beliefs and traditions attached to gems. You could therefore get a silver or gold mens birth stone ring, for yourself. The month in which you were born would define the gem that you would select for your gents birthstone ring. The birthstone chart shown at the bottom of this page will help you select your birthstone.
Gemstone Setting: This is a technical issue but easy and also quite important, so we will make you aware about this. Most Kaisilver gents rings are set with a metal border all around the edge. This is not a limitation so, you can request for any other setting type that you wish. Before you rush to request for another type of gem setting, please read the information in this paragraph. Providing a border all around the gemstone, protects the edge of the gemstone. If you have seen a faceted or even a smooth cabachon cut stone, you will observe that the edge is normally the thinnest portion of the gem. By setting the stone in your gents gold or silver ring with a complete border, we actually enhance the durability of the ring as a whole. The jewel is obviously protected from side impact.
Another common type of gem stone setting is the prong setting option. In most cases a minimum of 3 to 4 prongs are used to hold the gem stone down. You will surely come across gents gold or silver rings with this type of gem setting infact, Kaisilver can custom make your gents ring with prongs for the gem setting too. The first thing that you will see is that, prong set gems do not have their entire edge covered with metal. So some portions of the edge remain exposed, this could make then prone to getting damaged or chipping with side impact. A more critical issue with prongs is that, they can stick in fabric, pockets and other places. This is the cause of prongs opening up and loosening the gemstone. When this happens the gem could even drop off your gents ring, you end up paying frequent repair expenses. And if the gemstone does get lost, you will need to pay for a replacement gemstone too. We have a constructive suggestion to make regarding prong gem settings for gents rings. If your ring must have a prong type of stone setting, make sure that the prongs are sturdy and sufficiently thick. Keep in mind that thin, sharp and pointed prongs can even scratch and damage delicate skin.
Gemstone Durability: This implies how sturdy and durable the gemstone in your gents ring is. Not all gems have the same hardness and toughness. A very interesting thing about gemstone durability is that, toughness and price do not always point in the same direction. For example, a gents emerald ring will require a lot more care and fussing as compared to a gents garnet ring. This is despite the fact that, an emerald gem could cost upto a few hundred times more as compared to red garnet! This trend is seen not only in emeralds but also in expensive gems like tanzanite. If you were planning to get a gents tanzanite gem stone ring, we would suggest that you do not wear the jewel when doing a lot of physical activity, like excercising, repairing the fence etc. Basically you will need to understand the characteristics of the gemstone before making a buying decision. So if you were absolutely interested in a gents emerald ring, make sure that you keep it away from hard objects and harsh chemicals and solvents. Your jeweler should help you with such tips and suggestions.
When talking about gemstone durability, it is not only hardness that needs to be understood. Color stability is another aspect of gem durability. For example, many stones like quartz are dyed to enhance color. So if your gents gemstone ring has one such stone, it is possible that the color of the gem would change or fade over time. Another interesting example for low gem color stability is, Kunzite. This violet pink to pink color gem fades when exposed to light over a period of time. Clever gem and jewelry sellers sometimes refer to such gemstones as 'evening' gems because, they are less likely to fade if worn in the evenings when the sunlight is not very strong!
Gemstone Coatings: We will discuss this very sensitive gemstone issue fully knowing that, it will cause considerable displeasure and resentment among some big and powerful gem manufacturers. In recent years, several buyers have complained about gents rings with specially treated topaz gemstones. We are not referring to irradiation or heat treatment but something, a bit newer and more confusing! White colorless topaz is treated with an advanced Vapor Deposition process, this process imparts a color (other than white) to the topaz gem. What you end up with is a 'colored' topaz - often referred to as mystic topaz, green topaz, pink topaz and even yellow topaz. An important thing is that topaz is very very rarely found in green, pink or even yellow color. The Vapor Deposition process makes it possible to get tonnes of 'colored' topaz. Your jeweler might trick you into believing that this is just another treatment like heating rubies, oiling emeralds, irradiating topaz to get blue topaz etc. The point is that the color imparted by Vapor Deposition is only superficial. This means that the color is present only on the surface of the topaz, it is not a color change that happens all through the gemstone. If your gents gold or 925 sterling ring uses such a gem, any scratching or cracking on the surface of the gem will reveal the colorless stone inside! You obviously cannot recut or even repolish such coated gems, remember that they would lose the surface color if any such operation is done on them.
Gemstone Size: This is something that will need a fairly detailed explanation, so let us give it the attention that it deserves. When you talk about gem size, you can summarize gems as small, medium size, big and very big. But try to put that down in quantitative terms and categorize it by carat weight, you will find that it is really not all that easy. This is because, what is big for a blue topaz might be gigantic for a blue sapphire. Similarly a big ruby gem stone could be of a modest 3 to 4 carat size but, an amethyst could be 5 to 6 carats and yet, be defined as a fairly large (not really big) size. So when you talk about big or very big gems, you need to be specific about the gemstone that you are referring to. Another important equation relates to gem size and price (per carat). In most cases the larger the gemstone the higher the price per carat, this becomes more acute when you refer to gems in the expensive to very expensive category. A most glaring example of this is diamonds, a 0.5 carat damage would classify as a fairly big diamond and would have a big price tag.
Now let us review gem stone with reference to gents rings. This is important as the, overall design concept of your gents gold or 925 silver ring could be influenced by the gem stone that you choose. Let us presume that you picked the design of a big london blue topaz gents ring, and the gem happens to be a large 12x10mm topaz stone. You now wish to have a custom gents gem stone ring with a small change, the center london blue topaz needs to be replaced with a blue sapphire stone. The point is that, it would be impossible to get such a large sapphire gem stone ring even if, you were ready to pay two to three times more than what you would pay for the gents blue topaz ring. So if you were keen on getting a large blue gemstone ring, consider more moderately priced gem options like - swiss blue topaz, sky blue topaz or london blue topaz, blue lapis could also be considered. We have seen a consistent demand for gents aquamarine rings, and this could be one of the blue gem options for your ring. However, keep in mind that aquamarine, though cheaper than blue sapphire is far more expensive than blue topaz.
Here is the golden rule for choosing a gem and gem size for gents gold or silver rings. If your main consideration is the gem type, work with your jeweler and understand where is the cut off point, for a gem size moving from small to medium and medium to big. This will be useful unless, you have a hefty budget to match. Similarly, if your main requirement is a large gem, work with your jeweler and see what gem options you have within the budget that you have allocated for your silver or gold gents gemstone ring.
Gemstone Pricing: Something that most gem and jewelry lovers are aware of is that, gems are priced differently. Even gems of the same price could have widely varying prices due to differences in grade (quality). For example, you could get a natural blue sapphire for your gents sapphire ring, at around 200 U.S$ per carat or even for around 1,500 U.S$ per carat. Mind you, both sapphires would be genuine and natural but quality would differ. Another fact that you might not be aware of relates to the source (origin) of the gemstone. In the case of many gems, this is one factor that does affect price. For example Ceylon (Sri Lanka) blue sapphires are generally more expensive as compared to Thailand blue sapphires. Similarly if you were looking for a gents emerald ring, you should know that Colombian emeralds are generally more expensive as compared to emeralds from other sources. We already mentioned that larger gems are almost always more expensive (per carat) as compared to smaller gems.
Gemstone Treatment: At this point we are not talking about natural and manmade gems, that is the subject of the next paragraph. What you need to know about the gemstones in your gents ring is whether and how it is treated. We are for now presuming that your gold or 925 silver gents ring has a natural gemstone. However it is quite common for natural gems to be treated to enhance their properties. For example, rubies, sapphires and tanzanite are heated to enhance clarity and color - this is true of at least 95% of gemstones in this group. Heating of these stones is so common that the treatment is accepted even by gemstone experts. The effects of the heating are permanent and the process does not reduce the strength or hardness of the gemstone. Similarly, oil treatment applied to emeralds is accepted as the standard now. So it is safe and right to presume that your gents emerald ring would have emeralds that are treated with oil. This is done to enhance the clarity and lustre of the gemstone.
When referring to gemstone treatments, there are some important facts that you need to keep in mind. So when you hear that the gemstone in your gents ring is treated, a few questions should be asked. Obviously working with a reputed jeweler will make the whole process much easier and safer. Not all gem treatments are accepted by the experts. For example, conventionally rubies have been heated for almost a century. So if your gents ruby gemstone ring has a heat treated ruby, it is fine. Over the years and decades, most gems have seen exhaustive mining. This obviously reduces the quality and quantity of the stone from the mine. We will use ruby treatments as an example, so read this information carefully. While the normal heating of rubies is acceptable, newer treatments like fissure filling beryllium treatment is not. The bottom line is clear, any treatment applied to a gemstone that is not the conventional type, needs to be disclosed to the buyer. In most cases, it would be right to say that some treatments could alter the durability or stability of the gemstone. The story of gem treatments is not an easy one to master, new processes get developed all the while. So the right way to get the best stone for the money that you spend is to select the right jeweler.
Gemstone Type: It is now time to talk about natural and manmade gemstones. Let us begin by saying that, there is nothing wrong with fake (manmade) gems. What is important is that, you know what you are getting and are being charged for that. So if you wanted a gents sapphire gem stone ring, and paid for it thinking that you were getting a natural sapphire gem - it should ideally be that way. But if the jeweler either confused you with complicated jargon or made you believe that the fake gem he used is a natural sapphire, we are then talking about a BAD jeweler. Over the past 2 decades that the Kaisilver team has been in business, we have had tough questions to answer about manmade gems. Why does a fake ruby stone look much prettier, clearer and gorgeous as compared to a natural ruby. How come a lab created emerald is absolutely flawless whereas a natural emerald that costs almost a 100 times more, has visible inclusions and fissures. While our support experts patiently and honestly, explain the facts, we sometimes do hope that other jewelers would be as straight and frank as us, and make an effort to educate buyers!
We do hope that the above report on gents gemstone rings has increased your interest and awareness on variousl issues related to gold or silver gents rings. We have some relevant suggestions for gents rings in our special report, it can be acessed at http://www.jewellery.kaijewels.com/buying-gents-rings.htm and if you still have any doubts or queries, do email us at sales@kaisilver.com All our expertise is at your service, you have to buy nothing to gain from it - so do not hesitate to contact us on any issue related to gems and jewelry.