Are these alternatives to earth-mined diamonds ethical & budget-friendly? Let's find out… #Sponsors: Jewelry#custom rings#diamond ring#eco wedding rings#engagement ring#non-diamond ring#ring Posted Feb 1 2019 Catherine Clark bijouxandbits This business paid a fee to be listed on Offbeat Bride because they feel their products and services are a great fit with offbeat philosophies… and we agree. Learn more about our ads. Is this a diamond or a diamond alternative? Only you need to know! We may tout a lot of colored gemstones around these parts, but we know a lot of you are totally down for that classic diamond look. And these days, you really don't have to feel guilty about snagging a real diamond from ring designers who source ethical and conflict-free diamonds. But there are other options you might want to know about which are created without any impact to the earth AND are more budget-friendly. We reached out to our custom-ring wizard partners at Joseph Jewelry to get the scoop on diamond alternatives such as lab created diamonds and moissanite engagement rings. It was illuminating and awesome — you can avoid hurting the environment and still get a truly unique and gorgeous ring… Ring by Joseph Jewelry Diamond alternatives Moissanite engagement rings Moissanite was first discovered in Arizona inside a meteor crater! It's a natural gemstone but nearly all of it is now created in a lab, so there is no environmental disruption in the creation of the gem. The biggest difference between diamonds and moissanite (besides being two different gemstone families entirely) is that moissanite gems have about twice the amount of fire that a diamond has. A gemstone's sparkle is made up of two parts: fire and brilliance. Brilliance is the white light, while fire is the colored rainbow light. Jewelers can tell the difference between moissanite and diamond because of the fire, but most people cannot see the difference. Mainly, more color comes out of moissanite than out of a diamond's sparkle. It's like traditional meets just the tiniest bit of offbeat! The Mohs hardness scale score is 9.25 for moissanite, which is between diamond (10) and sapphire (9). When something lives on your hand, you definitely want to make sure it's durable. Moissanite is much more affordable than diamond, and you can design any ring to incorporate it. We've talked extensively about the custom design process with Joseph Jewelry, and they can easily create any kind of ring you can imagine using either an ethically sourced diamond or a moissanite. Feel free to poke around in their galleries to see what ring could be the new home for a moissanite stone. Their custom design process is COOL Other lab created diamonds In the creation process of a lab created diamond, there is also no environmental impact because they are literally created in a lab. They are optically, chemically, and physically identical to natural diamonds. Why is that good? Lab created diamonds tend to be 20-30% more affordable than natural diamonds, so you can get a bigger size or higher grade for the same price. ALL the diamonds that Joseph Jewelry works with are conflict-free and most of their natural diamonds are sourced from Russia or Canada, but the environmental impact of earth-mined diamonds is still big. No matter what, you can feel good about using them for their sourcing practices. And for both moissanite and lab grown diamonds, they work with the best and most established vendors in the industry. Breathe easy, y'all! Now that you know what's up with these types of diamond alternatives, you probably want to see some examples, right? I've got you… Moissanite engagement rings Custom Solitaire Moissanite Engagement Ring Hand Engraved Solitaire Moissanite Engagement Ring Custom Blue Sapphire And Moissanite Engagement Ring Custom Moissanite And Diamond Engagement Ring Lab created diamond rings Custom Princess Cut Diamond Halo Engagement Ring Custom Diamond Engagement Ring Three-stone Oval And Half Moon Diamond Engagement Ring Rose Gold Custom Three Stone Diamond Engagement Ring Whoa, those details! The beauty of custom jewelry is that every piece is individually crafted, so you can choose the specific metals, gemstones, engraving, details, dragon heads, sword imagery… etc. etc. etc. that will go into your ring. You have the power to create a truly epic ring that is completely YOU. And it can absolutely include a diamond alternative. Check out Joseph Jewelry for tons of ring ideas (all of which you can customize to your exact dreams!). Catherine Clark Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com. @enidjcoleslaw @bijouxandbits @bijouxandbits PREVIOUS A Midsummer night's dream meets Alice in Wonderland fantasy wedding NEXT This creative & edgy wedding combined ultra glam with street art and ring tattoos Show/Hide comments [ 1 ] Diamonds are only so expensive because 1 family controls the world's diamond supply. They keep most locked up to keep the price artifically high. As for ethically sourced that's hard to promise because that one family lies in order to get all the diamonds. Reply Join the conversation Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sign me up for your offbeat awesomeness newsletter! 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Diamonds are only so expensive because 1 family controls the world's diamond supply. They keep most locked up to keep the price artifically high. As for ethically sourced that's hard to promise because that one family lies in order to get all the diamonds. Reply