Diamonds are often the first stone people think of for a statement piece. But a ruby, an emerald or a tourmaline can say far more about the person wearing it. Colour is personal. It is the first thing others notice, and it is what you will remember the piece by.
Choosing a coloured gemstone piece is not hard, but it helps to know what to look at. Here are five things to think about, with pieces from our Statement collection as examples.
Start with the colour you will actually wear
Begin with your wardrobe, not the stone. Think about the colours you wear most for weddings, festivals and evenings out. A deep red ruby sits well with ivory, gold and rich jewel tones. A cool green emerald suits white, navy and soft pastels. Pinks and peaches go with almost anything.
If you cannot choose one colour, you do not have to. Rang, which means colour, is a necklace of cushion-cut tourmalines in pink, peach, yellow and green. Each one sits in a white enamel frame outlined in small diamonds, with emerald discs and small ruby beads hanging between them. The earrings use the same parts: a green tourmaline in a white enamel frame, with emerald drops beneath. A piece like this works with many outfits because it already holds many colours.
Look at how much gold shows
With coloured stones, the setting changes how the colour reads. A lot of yellow gold around a stone warms it. Very little gold lets the stone speak for itself.
Harita is a pair of earrings designed around the colour of their emeralds. Harita means green in Sanskrit. We used only as much gold as is needed to hold the emeralds safely, and added diamonds only where they help. There are 7.84 carats of emeralds and 4.80 carats of diamonds, G colour and VS clarity, in 18K yellow gold with a rhodium finish on the diamond settings.
Rang takes a different route to the same goal. Its white enamel frames give every tourmaline a clean, light setting, so each colour reads on its own instead of against gold. When you look at a piece, ask yourself whether you notice the stone first or the metal first. With coloured stones, the stone should usually win.
Ask how the stone is protected
Not every stone is as hard as a diamond. Emeralds are softer than diamonds and need settings that protect them. That is why the setting matters as much as the stone, and why a good jeweller will talk to you about both.
The gold matters too. 14K gold is harder than 18K. We use it where a piece will take knocks, or where the stones have unusual shapes that need a firm hold. Indradhanush, our rainbow set of coloured sapphires cut into kites and hexagons, is set in 14K yellow gold so those shapes are held more securely. The ring in our Raga suite is also made in 14K gold.
Ask which gold a piece is made in, and why. A good answer will be about how the piece will be worn, not only how it looks.
Choose between one large stone and many
Some coloured gemstone pieces are built around a single stone. Others use many smaller stones together. Both can be striking, but they feel different to wear.
Raga shows both in one suite. Raga is the old word for the finest rubies, and a mood in Indian music. The suite has a necklace, earrings, a bracelet and a ring, with over a hundred carats of ruby in all. The necklace is a chain of oval rubies set between diamond links, which opens at the front into a pendant with rubies hanging below. The bracelet is built around one oval ruby of 25.15 carats, framed by waves of baguette diamonds. The ring holds a single oval ruby of 13.16 carats inside a burst of rosecut diamonds.
A single large stone draws the eye to one point. Many stones spread the colour across the whole piece. If you like to wear one bold piece at a time, a ring or a bracelet with one centre stone may suit you best. If you want colour close to your face, a necklace or earrings with many stones will do more for you.
See the colour in person
Colour is the hardest thing to judge from a photograph. A screen can make a ruby look brighter or darker than it is, and a green can drift towards blue or yellow. The only way to know if a colour suits you is to see it against your own skin, in daylight and in softer evening light.
It also helps to know exactly what you are looking at. IGI and GIA certificates are available for most pieces, and for the rest on request. Every Statement listing on our site gives the stones, the carat weights and the gold, so you can come to a viewing with your questions ready.
A coloured gemstone piece is chosen with the eye, not from a list. Start with the colour you love, look at how the setting shows it, and then see it in person before you decide. If Raga, Harita or Rang has caught your eye, we would be glad to show it to you. Book a private viewing at our Mumbai studio or over video, or message us on WhatsApp at +91 99874 14774.