What are the Big Three Gemstones?

The Big Three Gemstones are Emerald, Sapphire, and Ruby. Known for their timeless beauty and symbolism, they are favored choices for various types of jewelry. Emeralds boast lush green hues, sapphires exude deep blue tones, and rubies radiate passionate red shades.

The Big Three Gemstones are:

• Emerald
• Sapphire
• Ruby

Coloured gemstones are a popular choice among jewellery buyers – with an eclectic range of many gemstones to choose from for many different jewellery types. However, heroically placed in the jewellery world are three jewels – these are known as the Big Three Gemstones. These iconic gemstones have derived their majestic title from being known favourites worldwide, and a perfect choice for many types of jewellery – from earrings and pendants to bracelets and rings.

So, what do these three jewels have that others don’t? And how have they coined their name amongst jewellers across the globe?

Three jewels: Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby

Emerald

Emerald designer shank halo ring

Well known for its beloved green colour, the emerald gemstone – which is the proud birthstone of May – can range anywhere between yellow-gold to blue-green. This jewel has been popular for thousands of years, with mines and excavations for this gemstone dating back to as far as 3500 BCE.

Clarity is a vital trait for an emerald – and one that has allowed the emerald jewel to be coined as one of the Big Three Gemstones. Because of the way that these gemstones are formed within the earth, they tend to then have a large number of clarity characteristics that are visible to the naked eye. This is often known as an ‘Emerald’s Garden’ – and can lead to the jewel portraying an almost ‘mossy’ appearance.

Our stunning range of emerald jewellery consists of breath-taking emerald rings, as well as eye-catching emerald earrings and more.

Sapphire

Oval cut blue sapphire diamond halo ring

The birthstone for September and hexagonal shaped, the sapphire gemstone is rich in its deep blue colouring – providing connotations of wealth, prosperity and majestic qualities. Although sapphires are usually associated with the colour blue, they can actually appear in many colours apart from red.

Named as one of the Big Three Gemstones, sapphire is colourless in its purest state – but often contain trace elements of iron or titanium, which gives the sapphire the blue tint that it’s renowned for. Sapphires with an optimal cut are often deemed as the best coloured – as the correct cut flourishes the colour of the gemstone.

Here at Shining Diamonds, we proud to supply an electric range of blue sapphire jewellery, including our blue sapphire rings – as well as beautiful sapphire diamond pendants and more.

Ruby

Ruby and diamond three-stone ring

As the birthstone for July, ruby is well-renowned for its deep red colouring – which encompass the connotations of love, romance and lust. Traditionally, this gemstone was worn off evil and protect the wearer from any harm.

It’s deemed as one of the Big Three Gemstones due to its popularity among the jewellery industry. Rubies have among the highest per carat value of coloured gemstones, while fine quality rubies over one carat are rare to find. They also feature clarity characteristics which directly impact the colour of the ruby – as dark crystals within the stone, for example, could draw attention away from the gemstone’s hue.

The ruby jewellery collection here at Shining Diamonds consists of gorgeous ruby rings, ruby bracelets and more!

For more information on the big three gemstones, visit our dedicated guide on gemstones and their meanings. We’ve also created a handy birthstone guide to inform you of which gemstone matches up to your birth month. Come and visit us in store to see the big three gemstones in person or browse our stunning range of gemstone jewellery online.