Antique, new or vintage emerald engagement rings may be a good choice for those whose sense of style leans toward the unexpected. While white diamond engagement rings can feel cool and sophisticated, colored gemstones are vibrant — bursting with warmth and character — and imbued with symbolic significance, transforming the ring into an eloquent, multilayered expression of love and commitment.
You’ve seen extravagant emerald jewelry on the red carpet, but why might you select this stone for your engagement ring? For starters, you’d be in good company: Style icons Wallis Simpson and Jackie Kennedy were given emerald engagement rings.
And no one liked emeralds and emerald jewelry more than Elizabeth Taylor (or her alter ego, Cleopatra). During the December 2011 auction of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewels that was held at Christie’s, there was a suite of emerald jewels that had been designed by BVLGARI and gifted to the actress by Richard Burton to commemorate their engagement.
Jewelry lovers know that Queen Victoria loved serpentine jewelry, and the British monarch’s best-known piece in this mold is the gold coiled-snake engagement ring she received from Prince Albert — the sinuous reptile featured emerald eyes (her birthstone) and was considered a symbol of everlasting love. This initiated a craze for snake jewelry — engagement ring trends have long been set by the British royal family, and the popular and fashionable young royal was the style influencer of her era. (Victorian engagement rings are considered antique engagement rings — on 1stDibs, a range of buying guides can be found for those in the market for antique engagement rings, vintage engagement rings or Art Deco engagement rings.)
New York–based jewelry designer Nina Runsdorf, whose mother and grandmother both had emerald engagement rings, adds that the stone’s color might appeal to those with an affinity for nature. “My parents left the city when I was 14 and raised us on a farm in upstate New York, so my mother’s love of nature was very strong,” she says. “I think emeralds reminded her of the wild grass and trees.”
Emeralds, which, like aquamarines, belong to the beryl family of minerals, have a Mohs scale rating of 7.5 to 8 — soft enough for many jewelers to caution against its use in a jewel designed for everyday wear. The stones most certainly can chip or crack, even while being set in a ring by a professional.
If you do have your heart set on a unique emerald engagement ring, be prepared to accept standards of clarity and light refraction that differ from those for other stones: All emeralds have visible inclusions and imperfections. For that reason, clarity-enhancing fillers are often used to improve their appearance. Some top-drawer dealers accept only emeralds treated with natural fillers (oil, wax, Canada balsam or cedarwood oil), versus man-made polymer fillers.
Still, that verdant color, and the cachet of wielding a stone beloved and worn by so many queens and princesses (hello, Cleopatra!), might well seduce you, regardless of the caveats. Colombian emeralds are the finest, although plenty of good material comes from mines in Ethiopia, Zambia and Brazil. Go with an emerald cut — because of its long linear facets, experts say, this square cut with beveled corners is best for displaying the gem’s extraordinary color.
Shop the collection of antique, new and vintage emerald engagement rings for sale on 1stDibs.
