2.04 ctw Flower Oval Kyanite & Diamond Stud Earrings – 18k White Gold

18k White Gold Stud Earrings. Oval Kyanite, 1.80 carats. Diamonds, 0.24 carats. 2.04 carats total.

Two oval kyanites, each framed by diamonds in a flower setting of 18k white gold. At 1.80 carats of kyanite against 0.24 carats of diamond, the stones lead and the metal stays out of the way — which is the correct proportion for a color this saturated.

Kyanite is the stone people mistake for sapphire, and the confusion is more reasonable than it sounds: both take their blue from traces of iron and titanium, so they arrive at a similar color by a similar route. The difference is the mineral itself. Kyanite is an aluminum silicate that grows in metamorphic rock, and it has a property almost nothing else in the gem world shares — its hardness depends on direction. Along the length of the crystal it measures roughly 4.5 to 5 on the Mohs scale; across it, closer to 6.5 to 7. The name comes from kyanos, the Greek word for blue.

That directional hardness is the reason kyanite is difficult to cut and the reason you see so little of it in fine jewelry. It also means these are earrings rather than a ring: worn on the ear, a kyanite is protected in a way it never would be on a hand. Clean with warm soapy water, and keep it out of ultrasonics.

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