Who could forget the massive pair of Angelina Jolie emerald earrings worn by yours truly to the 2009 academy awards?  The other worldly earrings are the perfect shade of green and there is hardly any metal embellishment on the earrings. It is a pair of all emerald drop earrings with what looks like cushion shaped emerald stud earrings on a post with a massive pear shaped emerald dangling from it. With a specific gravity of 2.72 emerald is less dense than diamond and is half as dense as cubic zirconia which is a  monumental 5.8. Also you would have to consider the fact that these emeralds are not cut deep as would a cubic zirconias meant to imitate them.

So CZ imitation would be more than double the weight so I would think twice before contracting Emitations to knockoff this pair for you. Your earlobes would be positively stretched. If Angelina’s earrings tip the scales at 35 to 40 carats your Emitation lobe stretchers would be at least 120 carats which translated into grams would be approx 12 grams per side. trust me, 12 grams of whatever hanging from your earlobe is going to hurt something fierce after a half hour or so of wear.

Normally you would expect a really flashy pair of green earrings to be something like a really fancy pair of emerald and diamond earrings. You know the kind I’m talking about. Usually it will be a rather large emerald center stone that is either emerald, cushion, oval or pear shaped surrounded by a blaze of very white and clean diamonds. As Emerald diamond earrings go though, this type of look is a dime a dozen and would certainly not be worthy of the red carpet unless the earrings are antiques.

In Angelina’s case, the show stopper is the fact that the oversized patches of green on her ears are genuine Colombian emeralds that are as close to perfectly matched in size, shape, quality and color as you could possibly get. This is extremely difficult to do with Colombian material because there is such a variation in color and clarity across the production from the Colombian emerald mines.

All the more reason to showcase the beauty of the emerald and leave the gold out of it. If you notice, the gold prongs are barely visible as are the jump ring connectors that connect the pear shaped emeralds. This is deliberate so that every square millimeter of those stones is visible for maximum impact. The gold used appears to be 14k yellow.

Yellow gold definitely looks better with the sweeter green tones in the Colombian material as opposed to white gold which looks better with the steely gray overtones of the Zambian material. Yellow gold emerald earrings will therefore be more than likely to have the Colombian or even the Brazilian emerald material instead of the Zambian.

Emeralds have always been a mixed bag when it comes to jewelry. Emerald is one of the few precious stones that are expected to contain wisps, tiny fractures and fissures in the affordable quality and so most consumers had to accept that their emeralds would always have a multitude of inclusions. However, today many consumers of fine emerald jewelry have come to expect clean emeralds ever since 1976 when a very different type of emerald was discovered in Zambia. Stones that were cut from Zambian rough material was so clean that many gem dealers first thought that these emeralds were lab grown. Their saturated greens with a tinge of gray were in stark contrast to the softer and sweeter green colors from Colombian and Brazilian stones.

This Zambian discovery offered the opportunity for genuine emerald jewelry to be accepted not only for color but also for clarity and brilliance. No doubt there was a clash in the market place between these completely different looking type of emeralds and the Zambian gems were often relegated to second place status because they lacked the definitive coloration of The South American emerald and the pedigree of the Colombian Emerald.

However in time they radically changed the expectations of consumers with regard to emerald clarity and ended up taking over a large share of the affordable emerald market. For the first time emerald jewelry sets could be made with emeralds that were not only matched for color but clarity as well. An emerald jewelry set of matching emerald ring, earrings and pendant could be put together without the the difficulty of trying to match for clarity.

Emerald jewelry rings and pendants could now be made with eye clean stones on a regular basis without the pitfalls of Colombian emerald jewelry that although matched for color would often be mismatched because of each stone’s different set of inclusions. No longer was it necessary to forage through antique emerald jewelry on a desperate search to match emerald stones. It also became possible to use small clean Zambian emeralds in silver emerald jewelry because of the lower cost for clean goods and the way the higher luster of these emeralds complimented the soft whiteness of polished silver.

Emerald and diamond jewelry looked better with the higher luster Zambian material because the brilliance of these emeralds complimented the high refractive index of diamond. Emerald diamond jewelry rings in the traditional three stone setup with emerald in the center flanked by a matched pair of diamonds now looked more stunning than ever.

Emerald has been known in the ancient world as the greenest of green stones. It was a revered gem in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and India. In fact Cleopatra was famous for wearing emeralds as much as Elizabeth Taylor was known for wearing some of the most collectible diamonds ever to come to market. The standard bearer as far as green gems go, emerald has been associated with the color green for much of history. Emerald being the birthstone for the month of May has always symbolized the eternal hope and promise of Spring.

The emeralds that you see in today’s emerald rings more than likely come from three major sources. Colombia is still the most famous emerald producing country in the world. Other major sources for emerald include Zambia and Brazil. Colombian emeralds have the highest reputation for color. There is even a chain of stores in the Caribbean that is named “Colombian Emeralds International” and is world famous for carrying the biggest selection of emerald jewelry including emerald earrings, emerald engagement rings, emerald and diamond rings and mens emerald rings.

The most sought after cut in emerald is of course the octagonal emerald cut. This cut has such an elegance to it. It is referred to as a step cut because facet junctions run parallel to each other rather than meeting at a point. This type of cut is also found on emerald cut diamond rings. Some women prefer the subtle elegance of emerald cut engagement rings because when the center diamond gets to be over 3 carats a round diamond will tend to look too much like a headlight. In this size range the emerald cut engagement ring has much more class to it as long as the shape appeal and cut are aesthetically pleasing.

The beveled corners on an emerald cut stone protect the stone and make it more easier to set than an emerald cut that has narrow or missing corners. Ideal sized beveled corners also enhance the faceting arrangement and gives the effect of dynamic visual movement instead of the static, motion stopping , sharp turn effect of squared off corners that are too narrow. Narrow corners makes an emerald cut stone look odd and can be hard to mount in a way that makes it look attractive.

This can be particularly important if a woman is contemplating an emerald engagement ring rather than a diamond engagement ring. Apart from the basic requirements such as pure green color with minimal inclusions, shape appeal becomes very important because she will wear this ring more often than others and she would perhaps want this ring to be perfectly shaped to symbolize her marital commitment. Not only should her emerald cut ring be symmetrical and well finished it should also be graceful and pleasing.

Certain length to width ratios are psychologically and aesthetically more pleasing than others. This ratio also will affect durability and practicality depending on the type of stone involved. When you divide the length by the width measurements of an emerald cut emerald, this will give you the length to width ratio. The ratio is represented by the value for length which is a number greater then one and is to the left of the colon. The value of width on the right of the colon is always going to be one.

The preferred ratio for emerald cut emeralds is in the range of (1.50-1.75):1.  Who is to say what the most attractive length to width ratio is. But generally speaking if the ratio is longer than 2.00:1, then the emerald cut will be looking a bit lean. If the ratio is something like 1.1-1.25:1 , then the emerald cut will be looking rather squarish. The impact of length to width ratios can be more plainly seen in an emerald and diamond ring because the white diamonds will always highlight the darker emerald and make obvious any cutting mistakes in the emerald cut emerald center stone. The effect of length to width ration can not only be quite obvious in an emerald ring but also in an emerald cut diamond ring where diamond will be even more revealing in the quality of the cut.

Shopping for a ruby or a matched pair of rubies for ruby earrings can be quite a challenge because there is a lot of range when it comes to the red color that we associate with ruby gemstones. Some women prefer stoplight reds whereas other women like to see more of a crimson red. But most ruby lovers will agree that they look for rubies that has a very low purple component. Commercial rubies of low quality tend to have distinct purple overtones that most ruby lovers do not care for. Check out the splendid ruby earrings to the right. The color is fabulous but as you can see they have inclusions and this if fairly typical of even expensive matched rubies like these.

Most women prefer an overtone of orange rather than purple because the purple darkens the hue and the red becomes more muted. With an orange overtone the ruby will at least be brighter. Matching stones is always critical when choosing a ruby earring. Ruby stud earrings that are more than a carat per side are prone to being mismatched since not only do you have match the hues you also have to match the clarity and rubies can vary quite widely in terms of clarity.

Ruby and diamond earrings have a bit more going on and so it is not that important for rubies to exactly match since the diamond accents tend to attract the attention more to the overall look of the earring rather then the ruby itself whether its  ruby drop earrings or something as elaborate as ruby chandelier earrings. The most popular style diamond ruby earrings is the on ear jacketed stud look where you have a half carat or bigger ruby surrounded by diamonds that goes on like a stud. Because the center stones are prominent and are usually a bit raised from the rest of the setting, it may be crucial in this situation to make sure that the stones match since they are so visible.

This is also the case with white gold ruby earrings. Traditionally gold ruby earrings have always been in yellow gold, but with the surging popularity of white gold you see rubies set in white gold much more often now. The white metal background really sharpens the hue of the ruby red color making it much easier to discern. In this case also its best to make sure that your rubies match even if they are just tiny studs.

Genuine ruby earrings can refer to several different things when it comes to simple marketing of jewelry. Usually the term “genuine” in this case means that the ruby has been mined from the earth and is not lab created. However this does not mean that the ruby has not been heat treated to improve color and clarity. A ruby stud earring pair will always be difficult to match if the rubies have not been treated in any way which would be extremely rare. You have to assume that all rubies have been heat treated in some way whether its to improve the color or get rid of  prominent rutile inclusions. The only way to get perfectly matched rubies that are clean is to use synthetic rubies like this pair of earrings to  the right.

The holy men of India were the first to write extensively on rubies. For many thousands of years Sri Lanka, a small Island to the south of India was the only producer of rubies of such quality that possessed all the virtues for which ruby is such a prized gem today. The pure red color is the most sought after attribute. The red should be as rich and vivid as that of a traffic stop light. It will also have a slight neon glow because of its fluorescence. It will have a soft silky appearance due to the presence of tiny microscopic pieces of rutile that most people in the trade call “silk”.  See what rubies from the ground look like to the right.

The very idea that gems possess both positive and negative talismanic powers was widely accepted in Europe until the coming of the Industrial Revolution. In the modern world we simply see a gemstones as just that, however very few people in history would see gems merely in a secular sense as objects of bodily adornment. The ancients saw gemstones, especially rubies as magical, mysterious, and even mystical.

Ruby jewelry has always been popular in the far east and perhaps less so in the US because of our obsession with colors on the other side of the color spectrum. The cooler blues, violets and greens have always been of more interest to Americans in terms of gemstone. Nevertheless, ruby has its own legion of passionate followers who value red above all else. Ruby jewelry sets have been quite popular especially matching sets of jewelry ruby rings, earrings,bracelets and pendants.

Ruby ring jewelry is the most worn type of ruby jewelery on this side of the world. In the far east, especially in India, rubies are used in this very drippy bridal jewelry and very often cabochons are used because they are easier to match for color than the faceted rubies. Entire suites of ruby jewelry must be made for the Eastern bride as part of her trousseau. Check out this suite of ruby jewelry to the right below. This is very typical of Indian trousseau jewelry.

Americans and Europeans on the other hand prefer single stone ruby ring jewelry comprised of a bigger center stone that is either a faceted or a cabochon ruby set in the center of a mounting with diamond accents. Modern day settings frequently use lots of pave diamonds to highlight the beautiful red color and soft sheen of a fine ruby.

Burmese ruby jewelry is the most prized in terms of country of origin. Burma has been known to produce the best quality rubies out of all the famous ruby mining countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. Most rough rubies from the mining centers are sold in suites of similar colored ruby parcels because this is the most effective way for manufacturers to sort and produce a ruby jewelry set with stones that match each other across different jewelry categories like rings, earrings and pendants.

The red color of ruby of course lends itself very well to the design of ruby heart jewelry. I mean we always see hearts depicted in a red color so what better gemstone to use than rubies for heart jewelry. Rubies are usually set running the full perimeter of the heart. Because rubies are fairly hard and tough, they are ideal for withstanding the rigors of channel setting without breakage and are often used in channel set wedding band like the one to the right.

You will see a lot of ruby heart jewelry, even antique ruby jewelry in the theme of hearts that use channel set baguette rubies in both straight line and tapers to  form the lines of a heart for an incredibly clean look that shows a lot of surface area in the bright red color of rubies.

Throughout the ages gold has always been the most precious metal and the most recognized store of value.  Similarly, ruby has been the precious stone most recognized for beauty, veneration, rarity and value for thousands of years.

There has always been a ruby standard in the civilised world dating from the earliest civilisations. In today’s day the sentiment remains the same as a clear, transparent and flawless ruby that has a uniform red color is currently the most valuable precious stone known. Yes, more valuable than diamonds, emeralds, alexandrite and other notable gemstones.

However most of the rubies seen in today’s jewelry is made up of the commercial type of ruby mined in different parts of the world. A ruby ring may have a ruby from Burma, Thailand, or any number of other places in the world. But generally speaking they will be included gems and will not be very transparent. People have accepted this about ruby and so many people whose birthstone is ruby do not wear them in ruby earrings, ruby engagement rings,  or ruby and diamond rings.

They are simply not available as a reasonably transparent stone at prices that a regular consumer will be willing to pay for them. This does not mean that rubies are considered unattractive. Many women like the pigeon blood color of ruby so much that they don’t take the clarity into consideration.

A ruby engagement ring is a definite rarity since most women in this country would rather go for a colored diamond these days as their center stone rather than any other type of precious stone if they are looking for a colored center stone. Collectors on the other hand have loved rubies for eons because of their rarity in the finer qualities and their reliability as a store of value. There have been several finds in ruby deposits indifferent countries over the years but none that changes the basic quality equation significantly.

Nice transparent ruby specimens of good color are going to be a rarity for the foreseeable future and will command prices anywhere between $5000 to a few hundred thousand per carat. For this reason a ruby diamond ring is the most common type of ring to see a ruby in. Look at the stunning ruby ring to the right with a rather large high quality oval ruby surrounded by a matched pair of half moon cut diamonds. Although the ruby is not that clean, the brilliant red color (that is not orangey or purply) and size makes it a collector’s ruby.

Nothing sets off the magnificent strong red color of a ruby like white accent diamonds. Women who love rubies will not hesitate to invest in a ruby engagement ring. The most common type of ruby engagement ring is three stone ruby rings where you have a center diamond with matched rubies on the sides. Ruby and diamond rings are also purchased by men.

A star ruby is one of the most popular precious stones that go into a mens star ruby ring. As a mens ruby ring it is so popular that synthetic star ruby had to fill demand since natural star rubies with the stars perfectly aligned are quite rare. Usually for men it will be a gold ruby ring whether yellow or white gold and the star ruby will be an almost burgundy color which is actually a male color.

Check out the magnificent natural star ruby to the right. Granted, the purple component is strong but the asterism is perfectly positioned and well delineated. No fuzziness about this star.  It is a fantastic specimen over 15 carats in size.  Cabochons do tend to look smaller than their faceted counterparts  than the carat weight would indicate since the domed top always maximises volume for a given length by width.

Antique ruby rings abound in the estate sections of many jewelry stores but most of the really old ruby rings in the middle ages were not rubies at all but were spinels. Many gemstones in crown jewels of some countries were thought to be rubies and have in fact turned out to be spinels because they look so much alike.