Kate Middleton Sapphire Gems

Published on 05/06/11

Diamonds have long been a girl’s best friend. Now, as fiancees-to-be hunt for unique baubles, sapphires, rubies and emeralds are winning favor, too.
“I love to stand out, so we picked something different,” said Sarah DeRemer, a medical technician from Broadway, New Jersey, who got engaged last month with a sapphire ring she and her fiance had designed.
The colored-stone trend got a lift with singer Jessica Simpson’s ruby-and-diamond combination and royal bride Kate Middleton’s sapphire-and-diamond ring. Couples increasingly want an alternative to the traditional white gems, which some still associate with the “blood diamonds” used to finance African civil wars.
Sapphires have been growing more popular, says Andrew Schloss, brand director at jeweler Reinstein Ross in New York. “Fancy color” diamonds are also catching on, and Tiffany & Co. (TIF), which has sold them throughout its more than 170-year history, last year introduced a yellow diamond collection.