As recently as a few years ago, white diamonds were pretty much the only kind of diamonds that anyone would purchase. Other kinds were available, of course, but the white diamond was what was in style – it was the most coveted gem of them all, and people would pay huge premiums for them. A diamond tennis bracelet, for example, was one of the ultimate luxury items that most people would ever strive toward. And now, finally, that seems to be changing. These days, we are seeing a lot of people moving toward more unusual choices in their jewelery – the black diamond ring is just one example of a stone that is becoming very, very popular, particularly with the youth crowd.
There are a lot of other examples as well, of course. Take the ruby – a brilliant red stone, commonly found in India and other parts of Asia. The ruby was never popular for some reason, in spite of its absolutely stunning beauty. French royalty loved it, but that was about as far as its popularity spread. These days, however, rubies are becoming much more common. Sapphires share a similar story – they never got to see much use on the fingers and wrists of the rich and famous, in spite of their brilliant blue hue. This was especially true in the world of wedding and engagement rings, which were pretty much reserved as the diamond’s territory. However, nowadays we are seeing a lot more engagement and wedding rings that feature sapphires and rubies, and even the exotic emerald, than ever before.
Is this a good or a bad thing? Well, both. We are sad to see diamonds go out of style, of course – they are beautiful gems. However, the entire conflict diamond fiasco was disgusting, and it is good to see that people are conscious enough to move away from them. On a more basic level, too, it is good to see that people have more choice these days than, say, ten years ago. In the world of jewellery, new ideas are never a bad thing.