If Diamonds, Sapphires, Emeralds and Rubies – the ‘BIG FOUR’ – don’t always fit your budget, there are other natural gemstone alternatives!

When deciding which gemstones you like, and fit your budget, taking the hardness of the stone into account is also an important factor. Generally, the higher hardness on the Mohs scale, the more durable it is. The Mohs scale is an international scale measuring scratch resistance, or hardness, of different minerals from 1-10.

DIAMOND – The Sheer Stunner
While diamonds are king, good quality diamonds are pricey. Four natural colourless gemstone alternatives are sapphire, topaz, zircon and quartz. Diamonds are the hardest mineral, at 10 on the Mohs scale. Only a diamond can scratch a diamond. It’s not surprising that the name comes from the ancient Greek “adámas” meaning “unbreakable”.

SAPPHIRE – The Cobalt Charmer
Sapphires are known as the gemstones of wisdom, truth and justice, and follow closely after diamonds on the Mohs scale at 9. Alternate shades of blue gemstones include spinel, tanzanite and tourmaline.

EMERALD – The Rare Gem
While emeralds are the softest of the big four, they symbolize renewal and hope. At 7.5-8 on the Mohs scale, good quality emeralds aren’t cheap! Various shades of green alternatives are tsavorite garnet, sapphire and tourmaline.

RUBY – The Love Talisman
Rubies are famous for their deep red colour and vibrant glow. At 9 on the Mohs scale, natural alternatives are hard to find, and can include garnet, spinel and zircon.

Each alternative gemstone offers unique advantages and disadvantages, from colour, sparkle, hardness, longevity, and price. When precious prices of the ‘big four’ are a concern, there are alternatives!

“…owning old second-hand diamonds is better,… than none at all” so said Mark Twain.

“Daahmonds are a girl’s best friend” breathed Marilyn Munroe and, according to Zsa Zsa Gabor, “I never hated a man enough to give him back his diamonds”.

Throughout the ages diamonds have captivated our hearts and imaginations, and very little has changed with this everlasting, sparkling, valuable gem we love in our lives.

Born billions of years ago deep down near the center of the earth, diamonds are one of our most enduring treasures. First discovered in India 4000 years ago, diamonds were around as the clocks ticked over the different millennia and are sure to be here until the end of time.

Diamonds have a power and attraction so strong that they have been sought after, fought over, ascribed magical powers to and worshipped by royalty, celebrities and regular folks alike. The Greeks thought diamonds were, “ splinters of stars fallen to earth” or, “tears ofthe gods”, while the Romans believed Cupid’s arrows, “were tipped – with diamonds”. No other gem has evoked the emotional significance of the diamond – and it is the only gift that says, “I love you” more eloquently than words.

Diamonds are one sure way to capture a woman’s heart, as Archduke Maximillian of Austria discovered in 1477. Young Max approached his true love, Mary of Burgandy, dropped to one knee and proposed marriage. Mary was speechless and apprehensive. How could she know that her suitor’s love was everlasting? She was doubtful and uncertain. Max slowly and carefully opened the little velvet box clutched tightly in his hand to reveal a large, dazzling, diamond ring. Mary melted instantly and the tradition of the diamond engagement ring was born. This tradition has crossed all cultural barriers and to this day, the diamond is the ultimate symbol of deep and everlasting love and affection.

Diamonds, extremely difficult to find and extract from the earth are given status that places them on a pedestal above any other gem. Is it this rarity and value that creates the aura around them? Or is it, that just as we are unique and individual, so too, no two diamonds are ever the same? Diamonds range in colour from pink to purple, blue, green, yellow or red and are cut into different shapes and sizes. These diamonds are called “Fancies”, but it is the totally colourless diamonds that are the most valuable. Fancy stones, although extremely rare, have become more popular recently due to the increased demand for settings in white gold and platinum. Despite the fact that the most valuable rocks tend to be brilliant white, such as The Star of South Africa, the most famous ones are not, such as the Hope – blue and the Tiffany – yellow.

Diamonds add glamour and glitz to all and every occasion and according to Hollywood stars adorned and dazzled by diamonds, they are elegant, expensive, mysterious and, “unlike men, will never let you down. Diamondswill be your best friends no matter how many wrinkles you have or kilos you gain. Are not afraid of lifetime commitment and come with valuation certificates so you know exactly what you’re getting, won’t make you pregnant… and you can have as many as you can handle at any one time”.

Diamonds certainly are the most talked about jewels of all time. Whether favoured by royalty, lusted after by celebrities or merely dreamt of by most of us, we all seem to fall prey to this rock’s enduring strength and qualities. It is the only gift, birthday, engagement or anniversary, that thrills, delights and charms with its beauty and radiance and the symbolism of unending time. As the saying goes, a diamond really is forever!

by Selwyn Kahn

Admit it or not, we are suckers for romance! In our disposable society today, where instant gratification rules, the idea of everlasting love both intrigues and inspires us.  The diamonds and jewels that go with the promise of everlasting love are symbols of our desire that the relationships we are in will last forever.

As Erma Bombeck once said, “For years, my wedding ring has done its job. It has led me not into temptation. It has reminded my husband numerous times at parties that it’s time to go home. It has been a source of relief to a dinner companion. It has been a status symbol in the maternity ward.” We don’t doubt Bombeck’s tongue-in-cheek humour when she made this statement, but we all know there is a large amount of emotion linked to the jewels we wear. They represent the tangible evidence of our commitment.

Even when things go bad and marriages flounder, so too, the eternity ring may lose its shine. However, it is those very same jewels that remind us of good times and bad. As Zsa Zsa Gabor once alleged, “I never hated a man enough to give him his diamonds back.” Apparently, she didn’t even return the wedding band!

The wedding band’s history can be traced back to ancient Egypt where plants were bent into circles to signify eternal love. The story goes that the ring finger is directly connected to the heart by a single vein and so it became the natural selection as the ‘wedding finger’. History tells us that the engagement ring first emerged around 1215, when Pope Innocent lll declared a longer waiting period between betrothal and marriage, and plain rings of gold, silver or iron were used to signify this waiting period. Later, gems were introduced to engagement rings, becoming important symbols of the aristocratic classes. Over time, diamonds and other gems became accessible to the middle class.

However, the diamond engagement ring did not become the norm, until De Beers launched their ‘diamonds are forever’ campaign in 1947, under then director, Harry Oppenheimer. The highly successful campaign resulted in Joe Ordinary being pressured into buying some serious “bling” for his wife-to-be.

Over the past century, while buying the perfect diamond has become more of an emotional investment, rather than a financial investment, there are very few purchases that will retain as much of their value over time as diamonds. However, the investment value of this type of jewellery should not be found in its monetary value, but should rather be found in the intangible. The real investment is personal and eventually becomes an heirloom, and therefore, everlasting. And herein lies the true investment value of diamond jewellery, in the people and the intangibility of relationships – and the hope that they will last forever.

by Selwyn Kahn

Four months after a miracle escape on 9/11, and long before that damage took its full toll, a pair of one carat brilliants raised from the ashes augur the miracle of healing.

On September 12, 2001, Johanna Goldman stood in a line at a Chase Manhattan branch in Queens, New York still in a state of shock. She had cleaned off the last of the soot and dust that had covered her when the World Trade Center’s south tower went down half a block behind her, 26 hours before. Credit cards, cheques and ID lost on the 89th floor of the north tower, where she was when the first plane hit, had to be reported. In the face of total and unnatural loss, Goldman, a Communications Director for a New York company, stood in line to report her loss.

Then she saw three words on a sign, SAFE DEPOSIT VAULT, and was transported back to the sound of nearly two million tons of steel, paper and plastic hitting the ground. “Oh, no,” she yelled, “my safe deposit box was in the World Trade Center.” After somehow surviving a half-hour’s entombment on the 89th floor, then escaping the concourse only 30 seconds before the south tower went down, the thought of additional loss hadn’t occurred when she’d watched 7 World Trade Centre collapse later in the afternoon, taking the Chase Manhattan branch and its vaults with it. She thought of the contents of her box: a birth certificate from Zanzibar, two opal rings, a pin with pearls from Zanzibar, a gold pin, a silver knife. And a matching pair of one carat brilliant diamonds, the centerpiece of a Tiffany platinum ring her grandfather had given her future grandmother one day early in the 20th century. They were the family jewels, and Johanna had worn the ring for much of her adult life, until for fear of losing it, she’d rented her small box a few years earlier.

And now it was gone, with the building it was in. As was her office of three years and its building. That was yesterday…

Goldman was in her office at 8 a.m. on the morning of September 11 for a meeting with the firm’s creative director, Thomas. This meeting was special as her firm had pitched a huge account the evening before and won it. They always met in Goldman’s office, with its views of the Empire State Building and the Hudson river, but that morning they met in Thomas’ office. As was the case with so many casual happenings that day, it saved both their lives.

At 8:48 a.m. the building veered five degrees amid a deafening noise as the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 ripped through the tower, igniting 10,000 gallons of jet fuel, a mere two flights above them.

Goldman is not sure how much time passed, but she knew she had to find stairs and air as she frantically tried to find others trapped on her floor.

Shortly thereafter, United Airlines Flight 175 hit the south tower. The building shook quite noticeably again and on a nearby radio they heard the news of what had just happened above them and less than 100 metres away. Two Port Authority guys had hacked their way through jammed doors and led them to the stairwell. About ten of them headed down the darkness, lead only by the light of someone’s cell phone. They were joined by many others streaming down to two exit signs, and a fatal game. One group said “Go this way” and another was saying, “Go that way, those stairs don’t go all the way down.” Some went the ‘wrong’ way and they later learned they had to retrace their steps. Given the timing, it probably meant they didn’t survive.

Goldman and four of her colleagues stayed together and followed a man in the group they joined who seemed to really know which staircase lead all the way down to the street. All the way down they played a kind of Survivor Bingo, where people called out what floor they were on when the plane hit. Goldman soon realised that they were on the highest floor and there was no one higher than 89.

At roughly the 50th floor, they saw their first exhausted fireman, carrying amazing amounts on their backs. They only stopped to ask what floors the fire was on. Everything had been orderly down the stairs, until they hit daylight in the plaza. People were shouting, “Please hurry. Run as fast as you can. Don’t look up. Don’t look down.”

Goldman estimates she was a mere 30 to 40 seconds out of the concourse when she heard the noise of an explosion – the south tower collapsing. She had just told her colleagues, “Don’t leave me. I have no cell phone, no money. All my stuff’s up there.” But when the building went down, it was everyone for themselves. She lost the others as the cloud of dust and debris entombed them all. She eventually found herself walking uptown following crowds of dusty people. A few blocks past Chinatown she turned to see ‘her’ north tower coming down. Goldman felt totally numb and just kept walking in the opposite direction. She managed to get through to her family on a borrowed cell phone. They were convinced that from the 89th floor, she had no chance of survival.

Throughout the fall and early winter, Goldman received letters from Chase Manhattan: “The vault has been destroyed. Nothing has been salvaged.” And then a certified letter arrived right at the end of the year that her safety deposit box had been found. She was asked to bring her two keys, but that was tricky, as one was in her desk at work, and the other in her wallet.

On a bleak, wintry Tuesday, it was Goldman’s first visit back to the site. She was a wreck as she relived every moment on September 11. She was trying to put as much distance between herself and that as she possibly could and didn’t even want to be there or see the box. She was told of the extreme heat and pressure the box had been subjected to. When she opened it, all she saw was a mass of tarred ashes and she burst into tears.

Sitting right in the middle of that black pile of melted pearls and molten, blackened gold and opals and platinum, smiling up, just like two headlights, were her diamonds, her mother’s before her, and her grandmother’s before, just shining out from the rubble as the tears kept burning down her face. Goldman cannot describe the euphoria she felt. She was so happy to see them, although she hadn’t seen them for several years. She used to wear her earrings all the time, but feared losing them, so put her precious diamonds away into the vault.

On that Tuesday in January, Johanna Goldman received the greatest gift she could at that point in her life. She began to grieve.

(reprinted with permission)