Blue Sri Lankan Sapphire Solitaire Ring

Dedicated to the design of sophisticated jewellery that tells a personal story for the wearer, Hattie Rickards Jewellery produces distinctly creative engagement rings, bespoke commissions and other personalised pieces with outstanding quality craftsmanship.

Most commonly found in shades of blue, sapphires are also available in pretty much every other colour you can think of, with pink, yellow, peach and green being the most popular after blue. Sapphires are also very hard, with their rating on the Moh’s Scale falling just under diamonds, so they make great gemstones for daily wear on the hand.

The quality and therefore price of sapphires is based on their colour, cut and clarity, and large stones can be GIA certified as diamonds are.

The colour of the sapphire is by far the most important of all these. The shade, the tone and the depth of colour, as well as the uniformity of the colour - how well the shade is spread over the stone evenly - make a huge difference to price. Deep, dark coloured tend to hide the sparkle of the stone, so become less desirable, and sapphires that show a pure, even colour and brightness will be more expensive.

You may see sapphires where there are two different shades of colour in the stone. This is called a bi-colour sapphire, and is very common. Pure coloured sapphires with a rich, even tone in a single hue are the most conventionally desirable varieties, and therefore the most expensive. Common ‘cheaper’ sapphire rings found online will often feature lesser quality gemstones and the images may have been digitally altered, so make sure you always see a coloured gemstone in real life before buying.

Depending on the size requirements sapphires make a beautiful alternative to coloured diamonds. Yellow sapphires, white diamonds and yellow gold are currently a popular choice, but our favourite sapphire shade is a murky olive green.

Sapphires are traditionally the birthstone of September. See all Sapphire rings here.

Due to modern technology, diamonds can be cut in most shapes and sizes imaginable, although the most common and popular shapes are the most common and popular for a reason: diamonds are cut from rough material to maximise sparkle and brilliance, with years of technology resulting in the brilliant cut which is used for round shape diamonds.

A side note: the cut of a diamond is not the same as its shape. The shape refers to the silhouette, or the external outlines of the diamond, for example the pear or round shape. The cut refers to the internal facets created by the diamond cutter, which is a complex and scientific process to maximise the reflective qualities of the material to let the light shine through. With a poor cut, any shape diamond can look dull and flat.

Popular bespoke cuts include half moon cuts, cadillac cuts, kite cuts or modified versions of shapes such as a shield cut.

Our favourite bespoke or fancy cut is a heart shape diamond, rarely used without looking chintzy or sentimental, but in the hands of a fresh design talent can subvert the traditional meaning and feel wearable.

See all bespoke cut diamond rings here.

Gold is a naturally occurring metal with a warm, glowing finish when polished, and remains the most popular choice for engagement rings due to its natural beauty and hard-wearing strength.

Pure 24k gold is naturally a soft material, and considered too soft to create jewellery with, so it is mixed with small amounts of other metals to create an alloy.

As well as increasing the durability of the gold, adding alloys can also change the colour of the gold to produce rose or white gold, for example.

18k yellow gold is made up of 75% pure gold, and 25% alloy, which would usually include silver and copper.

18k rose gold is made up of 75% pure gold, 22.2% copper, and 9.2% silver.

18k white gold is made up of 75% pure gold and 25% palladium or platinum.