Vintage Marquise Cut Moissanite Engagement Ring with Milgrain Shoulders and Double Claws in Silver, 10K, 14K and 18K Gold

A marquise cut moissanite sits in double claws at each point, with art deco style shoulders on either side of it. The shoulders are decorated with fine milgrain beading and set with small round stones, and the slim band carries on with pave set stones. The result is a ring with the look of an antique.

At a glance

• Centre stone: Marquise cut moissanite, colourless, VVS clarity
• Carat options: 2, 3, 4 and 5 carat
• Setting: Paired claws at each point of the marquise, with two claws along each side
• Accent stones: Small round moissanite stones set in milgrain edged shoulders and along the band
• Band: Slim pave set band, approximately 1.5 mm
• 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

A marquise with vintage detail

Milgrain is a row of tiny beads of metal run along an edge. It is an old technique from early twentieth century jewellery, and here it frames the small stones in the shoulders so they look like little carved plaques either side of the centre.

The marquise is held at each point by a pair of claws, which protects the two fragile tips twice over. The band is slim and set with small round stones, so the eye is led from the shoulders on to the rest of the ring.

Why the marquise cut

The marquise is a long, pointed oval with a point at each end. Its length makes the stone look larger than a round or oval of the same weight, and its shape elongates the finger. It has a vintage history and a very modern look when it is set simply, as it is in some of our other rings.

How this ring differs from our other marquise moissanite rings

Our other marquise rings are modern, with plain bands and either bezels or tulip heads. This is the only one with antique detailing, milgrain edges and decorated shoulders.

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 that 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, and it is chosen by people who want maximum presence on the hand for a fraction of the cost of a diamond of the same size.

Every stone 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 it will pick up fine surface marks with daily wear, which most people come to like. 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 the most scratch resistant of the three gold alloys, which makes it 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 and also makes it the hardest of the three colours. White gold is alloyed with palladium or nickel and then finished with rhodium plating, which is what gives it that bright white face. Rhodium wears thin over time and wants redoing roughly every one to two years, which any jeweller can do quickly and cheaply. 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, so the larger sizes look disproportionately bigger across the face of the stone:

• 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. 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 are not a dropshipper and 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 it will do nothing good to sterling silver. Store it on its own rather than loose in a box with other pieces. Have the claws checked by a jeweller once a year, which takes two minutes and is usually free. White gold will want its rhodium refreshed every one to two years.

Questions people ask about this ring

What is milgrain?

It is a decorative edge made of tiny beads of metal. It is typical of vintage and art deco rings and it gives the metal a delicate, lace like texture.

Can this ring be resized?

In most cases yes, through the plain metal at the back of the shank. Contact us first and we will tell you what is possible for your size.

Is the wedding band in the photographs included?

No. Several of our photographs show the engagement ring worn with a matching or contour band so you can see how it stacks, but the price here is for the engagement ring alone. The bands are sold separately and we are happy to advise which of ours nests best against this design.

What colour and clarity is the moissanite in this ring?

Every 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, and on every ring we cut and set in our own workshop.

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 some people love and which is the only tell most people would ever notice. Telling the two apart with any certainty needs a thermal or electrical 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 on the underside of the stone. A few minutes in warm soapy water with a soft brush 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 everywhere and is refreshed every year or two.

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 shank. 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 cut, cast and set 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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