A Hard Stone is Good to Find

Like some women love Italian shoes, I love the sparkle of gemstone rings. But since my hands are rarely still, my rings can really take a beating.

Fellow ring lovers, take heart. If you choose your gemstones wisely, your rings will look amazing no matter how often you wear them.

There are two main factors you should keep in mind when choosing stones for rings:

1. Hardness

A gemstone’s hardness is its ability to resist abrasion. The higher a gemstone ranks on the Mohr scale of hardness, the more difficult it is to scratch. Diamonds — at 10 — are the hardest gemstones. A diamond can only be scratched by another diamond.

Other hard gemstones include:

·       Ruby and sapphire – 9.0 on the Mohr scale

·        Chrysoberyl (including cat’s eye and alexandrite) – 8.5

·        Spinel and topaz – 8.0

·        Emerald and aquamarine –  7.5 to 8.0

1. 2.    Toughness

Columbian emerald and topaz may be hard stones, but they aren’t very tough. This means that because of their crystal structure, they’re prone to chipping and fracturing along certain angles (planes of cleavage).

Some gems that are hard are tough as well. Not only do sapphires and rubies measure a 9.0 on the Mohr scale of hardness, they also have no planes of cleavage. That makes them tougher than diamonds! But the toughest of all gemstones are jadeite and nephrite.

Any of these stones would be a great choice for your next gemstone ring.  

Happy hunting!