Which Gemstones Are Best For Evening Wear? - Part 1

Each gemstone has its own unique properties.  Some look amazing in sunlight, while others can be damaged by it.  Other gemstones look best in the evening, when electric light and/or candles provide a different sort of illumination.  If you look carefully in a jeweller's window you may notice that different colours of gemstones have different types of lighting to bring out the best in each stone; so it follows that you can bring out the best qualities of your gems if you match them to the lighting type.

Red gems really come into their own in the evening; rubies especially look great in candlelight and were prized in the times before electric light because of their radiance and ability to reflect light. You'll see that rubies feature prominently in jewellery and regalia from pre-electric times.  The King of Ceylon was said to have a ruby so brilliant that it lit his whole palace and while this might be an exaggeration, it just goes to show that rubies can shine very brightly in candlelight, making them perfect for wearing on a romantic evening out.

Garnet also looks scintillating in low light, and it is much more accessible than ruby from a price perspective.  According to legend, the Ancient Greeks thought that wearing a garnet at night would enable you to see in the dark, and Noah's Ark was supposedly fitted with a garnet to provide light to sail at night.  Our Spicy Red collection, with large oval multi-faceted garnets, and the overall design is quite bold, making this ideal for evening wear because the stones will shine and dazzle.

Citrine is another evening stunner, and with our Clementine collection you can expect to draw admiring glances from all around with the large citrine stones that will glimmer and sparkle in low light.  Again, these are bold designs which are ideally suited to special occasions and they'll certainly brighten up a dull evening.  The larger the stone, the more brightly it will shine, so if you're looking for jewellery specifically for evening wear go for the design with the largest stone, and the cut which will reflect as much light as possible – multi-faceted cuts are best, while emerald and cabochon cuts are more well suited to a daytime look.

The Ancient Romans called peridot the “evening emerald” because it shines so brightly at night that it was favoured over real emeralds for the elites.  In an era before artificial light it was important to have stones which looked amazing with minimal illumination, so peridot became the go-to stone to wear.  The Ancient Greeks and Egyptians also revered peridot because of its qualities in low light – Egyptian miners would look for these with lamps and in low light because it would stand out so well from the surrounding rocks.  Our Purity peridot set (earrings and necklace) are perfect for wearing at night and the classic design lets the stone shine for itself.

Look out for part 2, where we'll continue our look at the best gemstones for evening wear.