As the jewelry market slowly begins to move away from the trends that have dominated it for decades, so does public taste. Influenced as they are by the media, some couples began to notice the paradigm shift away from pure and transparent diamond embellishments towards more daring and unique alternatives.

Among these alternatives, one of the most popular is the concept of colored rings. Making use of the natural beauty of stones such as sapphire, ruby ​​or emerald, these jewels usually combine them with colored bands, resulting in pieces that are both attractive, different and unique. Red, blue, green and yellow engagement rings are perhaps the leaders of a ‘package’ that also includes colors like purple, pink and even black, and which threaten to dethrone the clear diamond in years to come.

And when you start thinking about the best stones to use for green engagement rings or yellow engagement rings, one of the gem types that ranks high on the list is moissanite. Although not as popular as emerald or topaz, this stone is nonetheless a favorite among jewelers and customers alike, and has some advantages worth considering when deciding on a purchase.

Historically, moissanite is of somewhat more recent origin than some of the other popular gemstones on the market. The stone was first discovered just over a century ago, in 1893, when French chemist Henri Moissan received some samples from a meteorite crater located in Arizona, USA. Upon further examination, Moissan discovered fragments of the which he mistakenly thought were diamonds. Eleven years later, in 1904, he would correct his mistake and declare that the fragments belonged to an entirely new type of stone, soon named after him.

Nevertheless, Moissan’s confusion is justifiable. Moissanite is very similar in composition to diamond, to the point that it is often used to simulate the most expensive stone. It is also often found as a natural inclusion in diamonds themselves. Most of the time it is completely colorless, although on occasion it can produce green or yellow tinted stones that can look wonderful placed on green engagement rings or yellow engagement rings.

Why, then, has it taken more than a hundred years for moissanite to make its mark on the gemstone market, and why did its commercialization as a jewelry stone only begin about a decade and a half ago? The answer may lie in the fact that other than the original Moissan meteor crater chunk, no other sources of natural moissanite were discovered until the 1950s. Even as late as 1986, specialists speculated on the authenticity of the stone as a gem. natural, although this has already been shown.

All controversies aside, however, fans of green engagement rings and yellow engagement rings who are unwilling or unable to afford a diamond will certainly see some value in silicon carbide, better known as moissanite. .