18kt White Gold Square Colombian Emerald Floral Ring

This emerald floral ring sets a 0.60 carat square emerald at the center of a flower of marquise cut diamonds, with more round diamonds running down each shoulder, in 18kt white gold. The diamonds weigh 0.70 carats together, for 1.30 carats of gemstones in all, and the ring weighs 4.5 grams. Everything below describes this exact ring, which you can see and try on at our Boca Raton showroom.

The emerald floral ring at a glance

Here are the specifications of this emerald floral ring, as recorded for this piece.

At the center is a square emerald of 0.60 carats, a deep, saturated green, held in four corner prongs.

Around it, marquise cut diamonds are set in pairs at each corner, forming four petals that turn the square center into a flower. Smaller round brilliant diamonds continue down both shoulders. Together the diamonds weigh 0.70 carats and are graded G color, a near-colorless grade.

The mounting is 18kt white gold and the ring weighs 4.5 grams. It can be sized to fit.

In short, this emerald floral ring takes a classic square emerald and builds a piece of jewelry around it rather than simply framing it, which is what makes the design worth a second look.

Is the 1.30 carats one emerald?

No, and it is worth being clear. The 1.30 carats is the total weight of every stone in the ring, not the weight of the emerald.

The square emerald is 0.60 carats. The marquise and round diamonds add 0.70 carats. Together they make 1.30 carats of gemstones.

In this design the diamonds slightly outweigh the center stone. That balance is deliberate: the emerald supplies the color, and the diamond petals supply the size and the sparkle.

A square emerald ring

The emerald here is a square step cut, sometimes called a square emerald cut or, in its classic form, an Asscher-style square. Instead of the many small facets of a brilliant, a step cut has long, parallel facets running in tiers around the stone, like steps.

That cut is the traditional choice for this gem, and the reason is simple. Emerald is a stone bought for color, and broad step-cut facets act like windows into the stone, showing the green clearly rather than breaking it up into flashes.

A square emerald ring also gives a design something a round stone cannot: straight edges and four corners. Here those corners become the anchor points for the flower, with the marquise diamonds springing outward from each one.

The step cut has one more practical purpose. Emerald is brittle, and cutting the corners off a square removes the most vulnerable points of the stone, which is why so many emeralds are cut this way.

Marquise diamonds and the floral design

The four petals are made from marquise cut diamonds, set in pairs so that each corner of the emerald carries two pointed stones angled apart.

A marquise is a long, boat-shaped cut with points at both ends. It carries its weight in length rather than depth, so a marquise looks larger than a round diamond of the same weight, and its shape is naturally suggestive of a petal or a leaf.

That is what makes this an emerald floral ring rather than a halo ring. A halo surrounds a stone with an even ring of small diamonds; here the diamonds are grouped into four distinct petals, with open white gold between them, so the head reads as a flower with a green heart.

Round diamonds then run down each shoulder, narrowing as they go. They connect the flower to the band, and they keep the ring sparkling when you see it from the side.

An emerald cluster ring

An emerald cluster ring is any ring where several stones are grouped to form a single design rather than one stone standing alone. This one is a particularly clean example.

The advantage of a cluster is scale. A 0.60 carat emerald set as a solitaire would be a modest ring; surrounded by marquise petals, the head of this emerald cluster ring covers a good part of the finger and reads from across a table.

The other advantage is character. Cluster designs have been made for centuries, from Georgian flower rings to mid-century cocktail jewelry, and they always look like a piece of jewelry rather than a setting for a stone.

Seen from the side, the head is raised on a pierced gallery, with open shapes cut through the metal beneath the diamonds. That openwork lightens the ring, lets light in under the stones and is a sign of a properly made mounting rather than a solid cast block.

A white gold emerald ring

White metal is the cooler choice for emerald, and it does something specific: it lets the green read as green. Yellow gold warms a green stone and makes it look lusher; a white gold emerald ring keeps the color crisp and lets the contrast with the diamonds do the work.

That matters more in a cluster than in a solitaire. With this many diamonds around the emerald, a white mounting keeps everything except the center stone in the same bright key, so the green stands alone.

18kt gold is 75 percent pure gold, a higher proportion than the 14kt used in most jewelry, which gives a denser, better-wearing mounting. At 4.5 grams this ring is comfortable rather than heavy.

White gold is usually plated with rhodium for a bright white finish. Over years of wear the plating can soften, and we can re-plate a white gold emerald ring in store to restore the finish.

A natural emerald ring

The center stone is a natural emerald, formed in the earth rather than grown in a laboratory. We say so plainly, because we also sell laboratory-grown emeralds and the difference matters.

A natural emerald ring carries a stone that took millions of years to form in rock, and its character comes from that history: the inclusions, the depth of color and the slight unevenness that make each stone individual.

Emerald is the green variety of beryl, the same mineral family as aquamarine. It ranks 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs hardness scale, which is hard, but emerald is also brittle, because nearly every natural emerald contains internal fractures.

Those inclusions are so characteristic that the trade calls them the jardin, French for garden. In a natural emerald ring, unlike in a diamond, visible inclusions are normal and expected. A completely clean emerald of any size would be extraordinary.

About emerald and its treatment

The Gemological Institute of America notes that most emeralds are treated with oils or resins that fill surface-reaching fractures and make them less visible. This is a standard, long-established practice across the trade.

It matters for one practical reason: heat, solvents and ultrasonic cleaners can drive that filler back out of the stone and leave it looking cloudier than when you bought it. The care section below covers what to do instead.

Colombia has produced the world's most celebrated emeralds for centuries, and Brazil and Zambia are the other major sources. Determining where any individual stone came from requires a laboratory report.

Emerald is the birthstone for May and the traditional gift for a 20th and a 35th wedding anniversary, so an emerald ring works as a birthday or anniversary gift as well as a piece bought for its own sake.

Wearing an emerald floral ring

The flower shape makes this ring easy to place. On the ring finger it works as a distinctive engagement or anniversary ring; on the right hand it becomes a dress ring that does not look like anything else in the room.

Green sits well against black, cream, navy and white, and the white gold keeps the whole ring bright, so an emerald floral ring reads as fresh in daylight rather than only formal in the evening.

With an emerald floral ring, keep other jewelry simple: diamond studs or a slim white gold chain. The petals are busy enough on their own.

Because the head is raised, this is a ring to take off for anything physical. Worn thoughtfully it is perfectly practical, but a marquise point is the part of any ring most likely to catch, and emerald is a stone to protect.

Who an emerald floral ring suits

An emerald floral ring suits someone who wants a colored stone but finds a plain halo predictable. The petal arrangement gives the ring a shape of its own, so it is recognizable from a distance rather than being one more round outline.

It suits May birthdays and 20th or 35th anniversaries, where emerald carries traditional meaning and a cluster makes the gift feel substantial.

It also suits anyone looking for an engagement ring outside the usual run of white solitaires. A square emerald with diamond petals is unmistakably a piece of jewelry, and it still works with a plain wedding band alongside it.

A short history of the flower ring

Flower rings are among the oldest cluster designs in jewelry. Georgian and Victorian jewelers set a colored center in a ring of petals and called them giardinetti, or little garden, rings; the form has been remade in every generation since.

Marquise diamonds gave the idea a new life in the mid twentieth century, because their long pointed outline makes a more convincing petal than a round stone does. Grouping them in pairs, as this emerald floral ring does, produces four broad petals instead of a busy ring of small stones.

What keeps the design current is the contrast. A green center inside white petals is a simple, graphic idea, and it does not date the way more elaborate cluster patterns can.

Choosing a square emerald ring

When you compare rings like this, start with the green. Emerald is judged on color above everything else: the best stones are a pure, saturated green, neither so pale that they look washed out nor so dark that they lose life indoors.

Next, accept the inclusions and judge how they read. The question is never whether an emerald has inclusions, but whether they interrupt the color or the transparency at normal viewing distance.

Then look at the diamond work. In a cluster, the marquise stones should be evenly matched and symmetrically placed, with their points protected by the prongs, and the pavé on the shoulders should be level and even.

Finally, put it on. The raised head of an emerald floral ring sits very differently on the hand from a flat band, and the only way to know whether it suits you is to wear it in front of a mirror.

Caring for your emerald ring

Clean the ring in warm, not hot, water with a drop of mild dish soap. Brush gently around the petals and under the head with a soft toothbrush, rinse and pat dry. Our jewelry care guide has more detail.

Never put an emerald in an ultrasonic or steam cleaner, and keep it away from solvents, acetone and harsh household cleaners. All of these can strip the oil or resin from the stone's fractures.

Take your emerald floral ring off for the gym, gardening and housework, and have the prongs checked from time to time. Marquise diamonds are held at their points, which are the most delicate part of the cut, so a prong check matters more on a ring like this than on a plain band.

We offer complimentary cleaning and inspection for jewelry bought from our store.

Seeing this emerald floral ring in Boca Raton

Green is a difficult color to photograph, and emerald is one of the hardest stones of all to capture. You are welcome to try this emerald floral ring on at our Boca Raton showroom and see the color in daylight and under the lights.

We are open Monday to Friday, 9:30 to 5:30, and Saturday, 10:30 to 4:30. Directions are on our Visit Us page.

David Stern Jewelers has served Boca Raton for over 40 years. David Stern is a GIA Graduate Gemologist, so detailed questions about the emerald and the diamonds can be answered on the spot.

Sizing, appraisal and insurance

This ring can be sized to fit. The diamonds run partway down the shoulders and the lower band is plain, so there is gold to work with, and we confirm before any work is done.

It includes a written jewelry appraisal by David Stern, which describes the emerald, the diamonds and the gold and gives a replacement value for insurance.

More emerald jewelry

See our emerald cocktail ring in yellow gold, our oval emerald ring in white gold, or browse all our rings.

Questions about this emerald floral ring