What Is The Most Durable Gemstone For My Engagement Ring

When choosing a beautiful gemstone for your engagement ring, one important factor to consider is whether it will be durable enough for your lifestyle.  There is a lot of incorrect and mixed information on the internet about this, with many people confusing hardness with toughness.  The important thing you need to think about is the durability of your potential gemstone.

In gemmology, the word ‘durability’ encompasses hardness, toughness and stability. Whilst diamond is well known to be the hardest gemstone, it isn’t very tough.

Hardness

A gemstone’s hardness is measured by one stone’s ability to scratch another.  Diamond gets a score of 10 on this scale whilst talc gets a score of 1.  But this scale of hardness isn’t linear, meaning that the difference between each number is not equal.  Instead, it is a comparative scale so if you plotted it onto a graph, the shape looks a bit more like an exponential curve.  Whilst a diamond gets a 10 on the scale and a sapphire gets a 9, diamond is actually about 4 times as hard as a sapphire.  So, these numbers can be a bit misleading because even though 1 Mohs point of difference looks small, this represents a large difference in hardness.

Toughness

This refers to a gemstone’s ability to resist breaking, chipping or cracking when subjected to impacts of pressure.  Some gemstones like jade or nephrite might not be as hard as a diamond but are incredibly tough, making them highly durable for jewellery worn frequently.  Diamonds are not actually very tough; in fact, they are pretty easy to cleave (which is one of their features that makes them easy to cut and facet into beautiful sparkly shapes).  This means, if you drop your diamond engagement ring on a stone floor and it lands on the gemstone at the right (or wrong!) angle this might well chip your diamond.  Unfortunately, there can’t be a scale of toughness because there are too many variables, for example the exact nature and quantity of inclusions in a particular piece of a gemstone will very much affect how brittle it is.

Stability

This is about a gemstone’s resistance to environmental factors like chemicals, heat, water and light without deteriorating.  For example, amethyst and citrine can become dull when they are exposed to sunlight for long periods.  And opals are very affected by low humidity or high temperature and can easily crack in these conditions.  I’ve heard stories about opals stored in safes (which often have low humidity) being found cracked when the safe is opened again after a longer period! It’s also important to know that some chemicals can cause problems for some gemstones, for example: cleaning products like bleach, swimming pools, perfumes or showering.

Understanding hardness, toughness and stability is crucial when assessing the overall durability of gemstones. Essentially, you need to properly consider these factors, so your important and symbolic jewellery can maintain its beauty and integrity to stand the test of time. Afterall, one day it will become a cherished heirloom for future generations!

Popular choices for your engagement ring are diamond, sapphire and ruby which have a relatively good combination of these factors.  But there are many other suitable options, such as tourmaline and topaz, which are both beautiful and combine these factors well too.