Ringing In Joy

January 8, 2020

We're living in a day and age where living a minimalist lifestyle is becoming more and more prominent. People are choosing to opt for alternatives that spark joy and bring value to their lives.

Engagement rings are no exception. This is my beautiful engagement ring.

That rock on top? It's a moissanite.
Beautiful Ring from Fire & Brilliance
*CUE GASPS*

I knew I wanted a moissanite ring over three years ago and in those three years, I received mixed responses from friends about my choice.

Some were excited to have discovered it and ended up getting moissanites themselves, while others questioned the decision and even made comments that sounded snarky, even though I didn't think they meant to.

Comments like:
Really?
Why not just get a real diamond?
You may as well get a cubic zirconia at this point.

The above were real responses and honestly, quite hurtful (at the time). Along with tone, they implied that not going with a diamond made me lesser of a person.

I chose moissanite because I felt that it would bring value to my life for a number of reasons:

Color

Anyone who knows me, knows that I struggle with wearing color. I'm all about the neutrals and basics, so colored gems like sapphires and rubies were out of the question. A clear gem would be perfect and "go with everything".

Price

For the same properties as a diamond (carat, clarity, color) it is about 1/10th of the price. So a $20,000 diamond is about $2,000 moissanite. I'm trying to save for a wedding and a house here people! I honestly don't like the idea of wearing something too expensive on my hand anyways. I can hardly keep track of my lip balm!

Durablility

The Mohs scale measures a mineral's hardness, essentially it's resistance to scratches. Diamonds are the hardest at 10 Mohs, while moissanites come close at 9.25-9.5 Mohs. They both resist scratches well. In comparison, another colorless gem contender, the Cubic Zirconia has 8-8.5 Mohs, still relatively high, but more prone to scratches.


I'd also like to point out, hardness and toughness are two different things. A cubic zirconia may be close in hardness, but it's not as tough and can be more easily chipped/cracked. For an engagement ring, I personally wanted something more durable as I'd be wearing it every day.

Ethical & Eco-Concious

They are man-made. This means no mining is involved which also means no risk of blood diamonds.

Fire & Brilliance

Moissanites are known to have more fire and brilliance. They have a higher refractive index than diamonds which means..

..they have more sparkle!

Bling blang! Important to note that they can give a sort of rainbow effect as well, which I've heard is a turn off for some. Personally, I've noticed the rainbow can sometimes distract me, but hey, I'm not mad about more sparkle!!

Fun Facts
  • Moissanite was first discovered in a meteorite, but since there isn't an abundance of meteorite 😅, they generate them in labs.
  • Man-made diamonds exist as well, I had no idea until I started writing this!
  • Diamonds are made from carbon, moissanite are made from silicon. It is said that carbon attracts dirt and oil more easily than silicion, so the same can be said for the stones.


To be honest, moissanite rings haven't been around for that long, so it's hard to say where they are going in terms of value and actual durability far into the future. I can understand peoples' concerns, but far out, I'm happy with my decision and that's that!

I guess my point with this dang blog post was to make those whose immediate default is a diamond ring and or those who look down on those of us who opted out of the diamond, to ask yourself,

"Why do I want a diamond ring? Is it because I genuinely love the gem and all that comes with it? Or is it because society told me so?".

Maybe you genuinely love diamonds, that's friggin' awesome and there's nothing wrong with that.

Whatever you choose, whether its diamond, morganite, moissanite, cubic zirconia, string ring, tattoo ring, gummy ring, no ring, I truly hope it brings you joy and happiness!

Update: A friend on our instagram mentioned intention and this was such a solid reminder. While this blog post was mostly me showing why I chose moissanite, I'd like to end with a rhyme I made up just now:

The most important thing, is the intent behind the ring 💕


For anyone interested in moissanite we used Fire & Brilliance


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