Sparkling & Affordable: Simulated Gemstones & Pink Sapphire Alternatives

Question
Hi

My beau doesn't have lots of cash but I don't think that should stop me from getting something very pretty and sparkly and frankly I don't much care if its real or not. Pretty and sparkly is what is important to me.

He brought a simulated pear shape three stone ring from a site I visit but the stones look like regular glass or just plain plastic (not attractive at all). Frankly I have seen more fire in the ones at the mall. So we chucked it up to experience and figured at least we got the setting. Its a 2 carat center stone flanked by .40 points each side stones.

So my question is this. Were can I find a really good simulated diamond? I would like for it to look believable. Love the flashes of the rainbow. I know pear shapes aren't easy because of the bowtie effect. Saw a round in the mall that were showing all the colors of the rainbow for $30 bucks but it wasn't the shape I want. DRATS!

I also considered putting a very pretty pink sapphire in the the center and flank it by either simulated diamonds or real diamonds ( probably real ones down the road. Wedding cost and a house are kinda taking up the cash.

I don't know much about sapphires, do they shine and sparkle like diamonds? Could you educate me a little on simulated diamonds and sapphires and recommend a few sites and or places ( if you know any in the NY tristate area ) were we could get reallly good fire filled simulated diamonds or sapphires.

I have heard of Interlap ( which is what we got that was terrible ) Asha , Vangraff, and Signity. Considering I heard about all these on the same site I am not ready to trust any of these brands. The pics they show look nothing like what you get. I also considered mossianite but heard they look really yellow-green in regular outdoor light. Not sure if they come in the pear shape.

Thanks much!
AJ

Answer
THE BEST SIMULATED DIAMOND IS MOISSANITE. THEY ARE VERY HARD TO TELL APART. MOISSANITE COSTS LESS THAN HALF THAT OF DIAMOND AND COMES IN ALL TYPES OF CUTS INCLUDING PEAR SHAPE. I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY THAT LOOK YELLOW-GREEN IN DAYLIGHT BUT I SUPPOSE THAT THEY MIGHT FLOURESCE A LITTLE YELLOW IN ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT (SUNLIGHT).
THERE ARE OTHER DAIMOND SIMULANTS THAT ARE PRETTY GOOD. CUBIC ZIRCONIA IS VERY INEXPENSIVE AND LOOKS LIKE A DIAMOND, STRONTIUM TITANATE IS VERY SPARKLY AND HAS LOTS OF COLORS IN IT BUT HAS A YELLOW BODY COLOR, NATURAL ZIRCON IS AN EXCEPTIONALY SPARKLY BRIGHT GEM. AND OTHERS, BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WITH ANY GEMSTONE IS THE CUT. EVEN A DIAMOND WITH A BAD CUT LOOKS TERRIBLE. ANY SIMULANT THAT IS CUT VERY GOOD WILL LOOK GOOD.
PINK SAPPHIRE IF CUT WELL WILL LOOK REALY HOT. A NATURAL PINK SAPPHIRE MAY COST A LITTLE MORE THAN YOU MIGHT EXPECT. SYNTHETIC PINK CUBIC ZIRCONIA WILL LOOK TEN TIMES BETTER IF CUT RIGHT.
YOU ARE LOOKING IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES, THOSE NAMES ARE ALL NAMES OF MANUFACTURERS NOT OF THE STONES THEMSELVES. DON'T GOT TO DEPARTMENT STORES GO TO JEWELRY STORES OR LAPIDARY STORES. LOOK FOR DEALERS WHO SELL STONES FIRST THEN YOU CAN GET THEM MOUNTED THE WAY YOU LIKE. THERE ARE LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE SELLING WHAT YOU WANT. LOOK ON EBAY AND THE INTERNET FOR DEALERS.
P.S. I TRIED TO ANSWER YOU EARLIER BUT COULD NOT GET ON THE WEBSITE.