I picked out my own engagement ring. Since I was going to be wearing it for the rest of my life, I wanted to love it as much as I love my now fiance. When I started to look for rings, I went to one of my favorite online stores, Etsy. I noticed a lot of engagement rings on Etsy were moissanite, so I started to research the stone. I learned that moissanite was originally found in a crater left by a meteorite. Real moissanite is very rare; the stones included in rings on Etsy are lab created stones. (Both real and lab-created moissanite are much rarer than natural diamonds.) Moissanite is nearly as hard as a diamond; it is a 9.25 on the Mohs Scale where diamond is a 10 (for scale, sapphire is a 9 and emerald is a 7.5). What sold me was that Moissanites are more radiant than a diamond. I LOVE how sparkly my ring is. On sunny days, my ring shines a rainbow of lights onto my car ceiling. Even after learning about moissanites, I considered having a diamond ring because they are the standard. I didn't want anyone to think my fiance was too cheap to get me a "real one", because it was my choice. However, the more I researched diamonds, the more I did not want one. The diamond industry is corrupt. Many diamonds are from the African Diamond Trade which utilizes forced labor. Today, many diamonds are "conflict-free", but it is impossible to know which ones truly are and which were smuggled from war-torn countries. Supporting the diamond industry is supporting corruption; if no one bought them, sellers would not abuse others to get them.
Besides the humanitarian aspect, a huge aspect was price. The price of a diamond is mostly from marketing and not the diamond itself. Diamonds are not rare. (You can even go mine them for $10 at a State Park in Arkansas.) The amount of diamonds in the market today is heavily controlled by the big companies in the diamond industry in order to inflate the price. The true value of diamonds can be shown through lab-created diamonds. Without high-priced specialized equipment, jewelers cannot tell high grade lab-created diamonds apart from natural ones. The only real difference is the 30% markup for the natural stones. In the end, I am very happy with my choice in engagement ring. I feel like my fiance got a great price for a more dazzling stone. I am a budget-savvy person, so I am more proud to say that "we saved a ton of money" than I am to say "I have a diamond engagement ring". My ring has received many compliments. Only one person, thus far, has asked me if its a diamond or moissanite, and only because she was considering getting a moissanite herself and noticed how much it sparkled in comparison to diamond rings she has seen. I highly recommend moissanites to anyone who is considering them. They are this girl's best friend.
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AuthorHi! I'm Amber. I love spreadsheets and painting. This blog is where I post about my crafts and adventures. Archives
November 2018
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