Silver Rings: Gemstone Cuts and Light Refraction
One of the reasons we wear silver rings, and especially silver rings with gemstones, is because of their bewitching, natural beauty. And the source of the beauty of the gemstones in silver rings comes from the way in which they refract and reflect light.
What refraction actually means is the change in the direction and speed of light when it passes through a gemstone. Reflection, conversely, is what we see when light "bounces off" the gemstone’s surface. The harder a gemstone is, the better the quality of the surface that can be carved from it - and the sharper the refraction and reflection of light.
Other phenomena, such as iridescence - that is, a rainbow effect produced when light hits a layer of gas trapped in that gemstone in your silver ring - are also part of what makes silver rings so beautiful.
To maximize the beauty created by the reflection and refraction of light, semi-precious and precious gemstones are often cut in a certain shape before being set in silver rings and other jewellery. These are some of the shapes most commonly seen in the gemstones set in silver rings:
The baguette cut - so called because its shape resembles that of the French baguette - is a rectangular shape with approximately 20 facets, or sides. To compare, silver rings with a gemstone cut in a marquise shape - a symmetrical boat-like shape with pointed ends - have some 57 facets. The more facets on the gemstone in your silver ring, the more brilliantly the light will be reflected and refracted off of it. Another particularly brilliant gemstone cut is the heart shape - which looks like a heart; it has 59 facets, on average.
The oval cut, which looks elliptical when viewed from the top, has about 69 facets. But it, too, is topped by gemstones with a teardrop or pear-shaped cut, an asymmetrical cut with one pointed end and one rounded end. It is considered a “hybrid” cut, because it combines the best aspects of the oval and the marquise cuts. Needless to say, it is shaped like a shimmering teardrop - and it boasts some 71 facets. Additional cuts exist with more or fewer facets, but the idea is clear: silver rings with carefully cut gemstones have the added beauty of playing with light.
So, when perusing the glass case full of silver rings at your favorite jewellery purveyor, take a moment to consider the cut of the gemstones you see. In addition to choosing silver rings according to the design you fancy; the colour of the clothes you might wear them with; your birthstone or the colour of your eyes; or even the texture and design of the silver, consider also the way light refracts and reflects off the gemstones in each of the many silver rings on display. Another beautiful reason for wearing silver rings with gemstones!
