Pink Gemstones

There was an article in the news recently about stunningly large pink diamond that had been mined in Australia – 12.6ct of pink sparkliness! It is the largest stone of its kind to have been found in Australia and has been named the Argyle Pink Jubilee after the mine where it was discovered. They are currently planning on how to cut it to make best use of its size and sparkle… it will take around 2 months to assess and then a further ten days or so to actually shape it. Natural pink diamonds are clearly not something that everyone can afford, so what other pink stones are out there?

Pink gemstone options

Heat treated pink diamonds are a good alternative if it’s definitely the diamond that you want to go for. They’re not always quite as colour stable as other heat treated diamonds, though, and as such are not terribly easy to source, but they do exist!
Interestingly, heat treated pink diamonds actually happen by accident rather than by design. They occur occasionally when treating yellow stones to make them green!

If you’re looking for a reasonably hard wearing pink stone then a pink sapphire is also a good way to go. It’s almost as hard as diamond and it comes in a lovely range of colours and shades, from pale blush through to deeper, richer shades of fuchsia or cerise.

We have also seen some very pretty pink spinel recently, from a lovely guy who is working a mine in Tanzania under fair trade principles. It’s a little unusual to see them in the paler shades of pink as they tend to be a deep, rich red or sometimes a plum colour, but we’ve seen them and we’re rather excited! Spinel is not quite as hardwearing as sapphires and diamonds, but it’s not far behind! It’s got a nice bright sparkle which can be hard to beat.

For a pale twinkle, morganite could be a good stone choice. It’s in the same family of stones as aquamarine so you need to be a little more careful with it than you would with a sapphire or diamond but it does have a beautiful, subtle sparkle like light on water.

Tourmalines come in lovely rich pink tones, generally quite plumy but occasionally in paler shades too. You can even get stones which are half green and half pink which are called watermelon tourmaline because they look like a slice of that yummy fruit! Watermelon tourmaline tends to need cutting in larger sizes to show off the exciting green / pink combination and it’s often cut in an emerald cut to maximise this look.

Garnets are generally a deep red to orange, but rhodolite garnets come in a fabulous deep purplish pink. They’re great if you’re born in January as it’s the birthstone for that month, but it’s not what people expect to see of a garnet!

Rose quartz is a very pretty pink gemstone which tends to need cutting as a domed, cabochon, as they are not terribly hard wearing. People occasionally ask us about rose quartz as they like its healing properties, but it’s not something we generally recommend in a ring which is to be worn every day. Rose quartz is generally a very soft pink shade and can have some interesting inclusions within it.

Do remember that if you like pink engagement rings but you don’t want a ring which is too pink then almost any of these stones could be used as accents to another coloured stone or even a diamond.