Morganite is a gorgeous stone, but can you really drop to one knee and propose marriage with something other than a diamond in your ring box? Many couples are now choosing Morganite for their special rings—including engagement rings!
Can Morganite be an engagement ring? Morganite can be used for engagement rings. Colored diamonds are incredibly expensive. Morganite is a much affordable alternative. Morganite engagement rings tend to feel warm, feminine, and distinctive. Their tone complements many skin tones and pairs well with a variety of metals.
There’s a lot to consider before settling on Morganite for your engagement ring. In the paragraphs that follow, I’ll tell you about the look, durability, and maintenance needs of this stone, so you can make sure it’s a good fit—and buy with confidence!
Wanting Something Distinctive
It’s always nice when someone notices your engagement ring and complements you on it! It’s common to want something that’s somewhat unique and distinctive—something that stands out and grabs attention. A head-turning diamond is something that most can’t afford. It would often consist of either a large diamond or a fancy colored diamond. The cost of BOTH of those alternatives can be STAGGERING!
If you want a ring that your partner can’t take their eyes off of, it helps to get away from the ‘cookie-cutter’ rings that are traditional in every way. There’s nothing wrong with cookie-cutter, or traditional…if those are the designs fit your sweetheart’s style preferences well, or it’s all you can afford.
You don’t have to go into serious debt to find something that stands out. Colored gemstones, like Morganite, can be a great option! They’re eye-catching, but can also cost a lot less than traditional diamond rings.
The warm tones of Morganite are different than what you usually see on engagement rings. It stands out, turns heads, and collects lots of second looks and compliments!
Color is part of the uniqueness that Morganite offers because its tone can fall anywhere along a spectrum ranging from pink to peach. A morganite color chart can help you to identify the shade that might suit you best. While Morganite engagement rings are growing in popularity, they aren’t yet so common that you’re likely to bump into others with the exact same ring, let alone the same stone color and metal pairing.
The Cost of a Morganite Engagement Ring
A morganite solitaire ring will save you a great deal of money over the cost of a comparable diamond ring! While a one-carat diamond solitaire might cost $3,000 to $5,000, a one-carat Morganite stone might cost just $300. The price will vary to some degree depending on the characteristics of each individual stone and retailer considerations.
The precise cost of a Morganite stone will be dependant on three primary variables:
- The size of the stone. All else equal, a larger stone will sell for more than a smaller stone.
- The vividness of the stone’s color.
- The pricing strategy of a given retailer.
Naturally, rich and vivid stones are always rarer, and therefore, more valuable. Because vivid coloring is more desirable and valuable, many stones are ‘enhanced’. The stones get heat-treated to bring out richer color qualities. Enhancements should always be disclosed to the buyer. Enhancements provide the opportunity to have a look you love…and a price you can actually afford.
How Long Will Morganite Last?
The durability of Morganite (or any stone for that matter) has to do with a few key factors.
- Hardness
- Toughness
- Usage
Hardness means scratch resistance. The harder a particular stone is, the less likely it is to come in contact with harder items in your everyday environment that are capable of scratching it. Diamonds are the hardest stone known to man.
Toughness has to do with how brittle an item is. Hardness has a converse relationship with toughness. Extremely hard items often aren’t tough—they’re brittle and would shatter before they give or bend.
My sister had a diamond solitaire engagement ring that fell off a counter, striking her tile floor. It broke on impact. It was hard (scratch resistant), but NOT tough (It was brittle)!
Morganite is not nearly as hard as diamonds, but it’s also not nearly as brittle. Morganite is ‘tougher’ (less brittle) than diamonds.
Usage relates to how your Morganite ring is worn (how often, how long, and during which activities).
How Hard is Morganite?
Morganite comes in somewhere between 7.5 and 8 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness. The scale is a comparative tool that shows the relative hardness of stones (which stones are harder, or softer, than other stones).
The scale was originally created by taking ten stones of various kinds and testing to see which were the most scratch resistant. The stones were then ordered bases on hardness. The least scratch-resistant was assigned a grade of ‘1’, while the most scratch-resistant got a ‘10’. All other stones were arranged similarly, based on their relative hardness. An example of the scale follows.
A rating of 8 doesn’t tell you precisely how hard a particular stone is (because this isn’t an absolute measurement). The scale really just tells us that Morganite is harder than Quartz, but softer than Sapphire, for example. That means that Morganite could scratch quartz, but it couldn’t scratch Sapphire (Sapphire would actually scratch Morganite if the two came in contact).
This is why you never want to mix your rings together when you aren’t wearing them—the stones on your harder stones will scratch your softer stones and metals.
Information on hardness is helpful to know, because the harder the stone in your engagement ring is, the less likely it is to get scratched as you wear it in everyday life. Your hands bump into all kinds of things as you move around your home, school, or office daily. The harder your center stone is, the less likely it is to get scratched when it comes in contact with hard objects in your everyday environment.
While diamonds are harder than Morganite, they are also MUCH more expensive (and still aren’t indestructible). Morganite is considered a hard stone. It’s capable of lasting for decades with proper care.
Matching Metals
The color range of Morganite often complements Rose Gold beautifully. It also looks nice against neutral-colored metals like silver, white gold, or platinum. Morganite doesn’t look as tied in, or coordinated, when it’s paired with yellow gold. The colors aren’t complimentary.
Some sites allow you to digitally pair your Morganite stone with various ring designs and metal colors to provide a visual of how different combinations of Morganite and metals might look once they’re put together. When rings get to pick all the components of your ring, the ability to preview provides assurance that you’ll like the final look your ring before it’s assembled and shipped.
Morganite Value
Genuine morganite rings can be purchased at surprisingly affordable prices. A one-carat Morganite stone, with good color, can be purchased for about $300. Smaller stones, or those with less attractive coloring, would be even less expensive. By comparison, a one-carat diamond would start at about 10 times the price of Morganite (roughly $3,000).
Morganite rings are quickly growing in awareness and popularity. Just as people sometimes sell used diamond rings when relationships end or they decide to upgrade their jewelry, you can also sell used Morganite rings.
While you’ll still have to resell a used Morganite ring at a loss, the same is true for used diamond rings.
Buying Morganite with Confidence
You want your fianceé to LOVE everything about their engagement ring! Guessing the ring design that your partner likes, and getting it RIGHT, can be difficult. Getting that wrong can be expensive and painful. Because of this, I suggest that you check to make sure that a Morganite engagement ring is something they would like. I would have the exact same advice regardless of the type of ring your thinking about buying.
Even traditional diamond rings may not hit the mark for your sweetheart if they have something different (like a colored gemstone) in mind.
If you’re openly exploring ring options, you can spend a little time together, looking at pictures of Morganite rings online. This could help you to have a greater level of certainty about the ring that you ultimately end up buying.
If you’re hoping to surprise your partner with the proposal, you can try to find a more subtle way to gather their opinion about Morganite engagement rings.
For example, you could talk about seeing an interesting ring on someone recently. You might say that you’ve never really seen anyone wearing that kind of stone before, and you’re not sure you like it. You could then look up an image of a morganite ring online and ask what they think.
There are lots of other ways to gather an opinion without showing your cards—get creative!
Here’s another approach—go ahead and guess. Take a chance on the fact that they’ll love a Morganite engagement ring (they probably will)—but hedge your bets by ensuring that the retailer has a solid return policy. Make sure that you understand the limitations of the return policy, so you don’t have any surprises. If you propose, and your fianceé decides that they would prefer something a little different, you can return, or exchange, the ring.
Pros and Cons of Morganite
All gems used for engagement rings have both advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages are helpful to be aware of—but they aren’t necessarily a problem in many cases.
By the same token, many of the advantages of a given stone may be nice to be aware of—but aren’t especially important to you. You’ll have to weigh the pros against the cons to determine if Moganite (or any other stone, for that matter) is going to be a good fit for your e-ring.
The Pros of Morganite for Engagement Rings:
- It’s an inexpensive colored gemstone
- It’s Durable. The stone is relatively hard and is capable of enduring daily wear
- It’s a more unique looking ring than your typical diamond allows
- It compliments most skin tones
- It’ pairs beautifully with Rose Gold
- The stone is quite rare
The Cons of Morganite for Engagement Rings:
- It’s less scratch-resistant than Sapphire and diamond
- The peachy-pink tone can clash with some metals and other colored gemstones
- Some brides may want a more traditional looking stone
In Summary
Morganite makes a beautiful engagement ring! It’s a durable stone that can stand up to everyday wear as long as you care for it. Morganite is a rare stone that can help you to create a distinctive looking ring that grabs lots of attention. Fortunately, all those benefits don’t come with an unreachable pricetag. You’ll actually SAVE money when you choose Morganite over many other gem options.
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