Ring 18k Yellow Gold GIA Aquamarine & Diamonds Split Shank

18k yellow gold · 12.64 ct GIA-certified aquamarine · 24 round diamonds, 0.45 ct total · split shank · size 6

Almost every aquamarine you will see is set in white metal, on the theory that a cool stone wants a cool frame. This ring does the opposite, and it is the better choice: warm 18k yellow gold pushes the blue cooler by contrast, so a 12.64-carat stone reads more saturated than the same stone would in platinum.

Aquamarine is beryl — the same mineral species as emerald — colored by iron rather than chromium. Unlike emerald it grows clean, which is why aquamarines of this size are usually eye-flawless and why the cut matters so much: at 12.64 carats there is nowhere for a lazy pavilion to hide. It sits at Mohs 7.5 to 8.

The split shank does structural work as well as visual. Dividing the band spreads the weight of a large center stone across the finger and lifts the setting, so the ring wears more comfortably than a solid shank of the same mass.

24 round diamonds, 0.45 carats total, frame the stone without competing with it. March birthstone. GIA certified — report supplied with the piece.