Beyonce Inspired Emerald Cut Moissanite Split Shank Pavé Engagement Ring in Silver, 10K, 14K and 18K Gold

A tall emerald cut held by a pair of claws at every corner, on a band that splits into two pavé rails as it reaches the head. Clean lines, big mirror like flashes and serious presence on the hand.

At a glance

• Inspired by: The style Beyonce has been photographed wearing
• Centre stone: Emerald Step Cut moissanite, colourless, VVS clarity
• Carat options: 2, 3, 4 and 5 carat, centre stone
• Setting: Double claws at each corner, eight claws in total
• Side stones: Pavé accents on the split shank, round brilliant moissanite, colourless, VVS
• Band: Pavé set split shank that joins into a plain band at the back
• Metals: 925 sterling silver, 10K, 14K and 18K gold in yellow, rose and white
• Ring sizes: 1.5 to 13, including half sizes
• Made: To order by hand in Surat, India

The Beyonce inspired look

The large emerald cut Beyonce has been photographed wearing is one of the most famous engagement rings in the world. This ring takes the look, a long emerald cut and a sparkling split band, and makes it in colourless moissanite in the metal and carat weight you choose.

This ring is designed and made by Mapple Gems and is inspired by a style Beyonce has been publicly photographed wearing. It is not the same ring, and Mapple Gems is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Beyonce. The centre stone is moissanite, not diamond.

Why an emerald cut looks the way it does

The emerald cut is a step cut. Its facets are long, parallel steps arranged around a large open table, with the corners cut off. Rather than the busy sparkle of a brilliant it gives long, slow flashes of light, often called the hall of mirrors effect, and a cool, elegant look.

Because the table is so open, clarity matters more in an emerald cut than in any other shape. Every stone we set is VVS, which is why moissanite suits this cut so well.

Each corner is held by two claws rather than one. Double claws protect the cut corners, which are the most exposed part of the stone, and they frame the rectangle neatly. The split shank opens into two pavé rails, adding sparkle along the band without competing with the calm facets of the centre stone.

Why the emerald cut cut

The emerald cut is a rectangular step cut with cut corners. Its long parallel facets create broad flashes of light and a calm, glassy look rather than busy sparkle. Because the table is so open, clarity matters, and our VVS moissanite shows the step facets cleanly.

Is this style right for you?

Compared with a single claw emerald cut solitaire, this design adds double claws for security and a pavé split shank for sparkle and presence.

What moissanite actually is

Moissanite is silicon carbide, a crystal first identified by the French chemist Henri Moissan in 1893 in fragments of the Canyon Diablo meteorite in Arizona. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1906, and the mineral was named after him. Natural moissanite is vanishingly rare, so every moissanite sold as a gemstone today is grown in a laboratory.

Here is what that means for a ring you will wear every day:

• Hardness 9.25 on the Mohs scale. Only diamond and a handful of laboratory materials are harder. It will not scratch from ordinary wear, and it is well suited to a ring worn daily for decades.
• Refractive index of 2.65 to 2.69, higher than diamond at 2.42. More light is bent back to the eye, which is why a moissanite reads noticeably brighter than a diamond of the same size under the same light.
• Dispersion of 0.104, against 0.044 for diamond. Dispersion is the splitting of white light into spectral colours. This is the origin of the rainbow fire moissanite is known for, most visible in direct sun or under spotlights.
• Doubly refractive. Under strong magnification a gemmologist can see facet edges doubled. To the naked eye it looks like extra brilliance.

Moissanite is not cubic zirconia and it is not glass. Cubic zirconia is far softer at 8 to 8.5 on the Mohs scale, it clouds and abrades within a few years of daily wear, and it has little resale value. Moissanite keeps its polish and its brightness indefinitely. It is also not a diamond, laboratory grown or mined, and we never describe it as one. It is its own gemstone with its own optical signature, chosen by people who want maximum presence on the hand for a fraction of the cost of a diamond of the same size.

Every moissanite we set is graded colourless, the top colour band for moissanite, and VVS clarity, which means any inclusions are extremely difficult to find even under ten times magnification. Nothing is visible to the naked eye.

Choosing your metal

This ring is made to order in ten metals, so the version you choose is the version we build. There is no plating over a base metal and no filled or bonded gold anywhere in the range.

• 925 sterling silver is the most affordable way to own the design. It is 92.5 per cent pure silver, bright white, and it takes a high polish. Silver is softer than gold and will pick up fine surface marks with daily wear. It can also tarnish, and a soft polishing cloth brings it straight back.
• 10K gold is 41.7 per cent pure gold. It is the hardest and most scratch resistant of the three gold alloys, a sensible choice for hands that work. The colour is a little paler than 14K.
• 14K gold is 58.5 per cent pure gold and it is what most engagement rings sold in the United States are made from. It balances a warm, convincing colour against real everyday durability.
• 18K gold is 75 per cent pure gold. It has the deepest, richest colour and the most weight in the hand. It is also the softest of the three, so it marks a little more readily.

Yellow gold is gold alloyed with silver and copper. Rose gold takes more copper, which gives the warm pink tone. White gold is alloyed with palladium or nickel and finished with rhodium plating, which gives it a bright white face. Rhodium wears thin over time and wants redoing roughly every one to two years, which any jeweller can do quickly. Every gold ring is stamped with its karat mark.

Choosing your carat size

This ring is offered in 2, 3, 4 and 5 carat centre stones. Carat is a unit of weight, not of width, and the photographs may show a different size from the one you choose. The version you select is the one we make.

• 2 carat is the most chosen size. It is unmistakably a statement stone and still sits comfortably under a glove or a coat sleeve.
• 3 carat is a clear step up in presence and photographs beautifully. This is where most people land when they want the ring to be the first thing anyone notices.
• 4 carat covers the finger generously and suits longer fingers and larger ring sizes particularly well.
• 5 carat is a red carpet stone, the closest to the celebrity look. It is the size people ask about across a room.

If you are between sizes, order the smaller centre stone in a richer metal rather than the larger stone in the cheapest one. A well made ring in 14K or 18K gold ages far better than an oversized stone on a thin shank.

Made to order in our own workshop

Mapple Gems is a family run jewellery workshop in Surat, in Gujarat, India. Surat is where roughly nine out of every ten diamonds in the world are cut and polished, and the bench skills that grew up around that trade are what this ring is built on. We do not hold finished stock. When your order comes in, a goldsmith casts your metal in your size, a setter places every stone by hand under a microscope, and the piece is polished, checked and photographed before it leaves us.

Making takes ten to fourteen working days for most orders. Shipping is free worldwide and fully insured, and it is normally three to seven working days once the ring has left the bench. Buying direct from the bench is the reason a ring like this costs what it does here rather than several times more on a high street.

Caring for your ring

Moissanite attracts skin oil and hand cream the same way diamond does, and a film of it is the single most common reason a ring looks dull. Soak the ring for ten minutes in warm water with a drop of washing up liquid, brush gently behind and underneath the stone with a soft toothbrush, rinse and pat dry with a lint free cloth. Once a fortnight is plenty.

Take the ring off before the gym, gardening, swimming pools and hot tubs, and before using bleach or oven cleaner. Chlorine attacks the alloys in gold over time and does nothing good to sterling silver. Store it on its own rather than loose in a box with other pieces. Have the claws or setting checked by a jeweller once a year. White gold will want its rhodium refreshed every one to two years.

Questions people ask about this ring

Is this the same ring Beyonce wears?

No. This is our own ring, made in our workshop and inspired by a style Beyonce has been publicly photographed wearing. It is set with moissanite rather than diamond, and Mapple Gems is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Beyonce.

Is an emerald cut less sparkly than other shapes?

It sparkles differently. It gives long, bright flashes rather than lots of small ones, and many people prefer its calm, glassy look. Moissanite has more fire than diamond, so an emerald cut moissanite still shows plenty of colour in the light.

Why double claws?

The cut corners of an emerald cut are the parts most likely to chip if knocked. Two claws at each corner protect them and hold the stone very securely.

Can a split shank ring be resized?

Yes. The split section and the pavé are at the top of the band and resizing is done at the plain section at the back, usually by up to about two sizes.

What colour and clarity is the moissanite?

Every moissanite centre stone is graded colourless with VVS clarity. Colourless is the top colour band for moissanite, and VVS means inclusions are extremely difficult to see even under ten times magnification. The grades are the same on every metal and every carat weight.

Will people be able to tell it is not a diamond?

Not by looking. Both stones are colourless and brilliantly cut, and at arm length they read the same. In direct sunlight moissanite throws more rainbow coloured fire than a diamond does, which is the only tell most people would ever notice. Telling the two apart with certainty needs a conductivity tester, or a loupe and the training to read facet doubling.

Does moissanite get cloudy or lose its sparkle over time?

No. At 9.25 on the Mohs scale it is one of the hardest gem materials there is, and it does not abrade, cloud or dull with wear the way cubic zirconia does. What makes any ring look dull is a film of skin oil, soap and hand cream, and a gentle clean restores it completely.

What ring sizes can I order?

We make sizes 1.5 to 13, including every half size. Choose your size at checkout. If you are unsure, measure a ring that already fits the correct finger, or ask a local jeweller to size you, and remember that fingers run slightly larger in hot weather and late in the day.

How long will it take to arrive?

Every ring is made to order in our workshop in Surat. Allow ten to fourteen working days for making, plus three to seven working days for insured worldwide shipping. If you have a proposal date, tell us when you order and we will confirm whether we can meet it.

Is the metal solid, or is it plated?

It is solid throughout. 925 sterling silver is 92.5 per cent pure silver, and the gold options are solid 10K, 14K or 18K alloy stamped with the karat mark. Nothing in this range is gold plated, gold filled or gold bonded. White gold carries a rhodium finish on the surface, which is standard for all white gold.

Is the wedding band included?

No. The price is for the engagement ring alone. Wedding bands are sold separately, and we are happy to advise which of ours sits best beside this design.

Do you offer engraving?

Yes, and there is no charge for it. Tell us the wording when you order and we will engrave the inside of the band. Most people choose a date, a set of initials or a short phrase. Allow up to about twenty five characters.

What is your returns policy?

Returns are accepted within thirty days of delivery on an unworn ring in its original packaging. Because every piece is made to order, engraved rings and rings made to a non standard specification are handled case by case. Write to us and we will sort it out.

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