I placed the ruby jewelry in her hand, watched her long fingers enclose it, and reach around me for an embrace. Her eyes shimmered with mystery and pleasure, as though she felt like precious jewelry herself, desired, rare. And proudly she put the ruby earrings delicately into her ear, and slowly turned her head from side to side, so that the gems refracted light, sparkling.

“How do I look?”

I knew that the lapidary had only done so much, that she really did wear them well and that if it weren’t for the way the gemstone jewelry sat on her soft ear lobes, under her silken brown tresses, they would be special, of course, but as they set, they were desirable. I wanted them for myself; in a bizarre fleeting twist of fancy, I wanted them for me, and by association, I wanted her.

“Beautiful.” She smiled, expecting nothing less. She would have like for me to’ve kept going, but I couldn’t give her anything more. At such a point, the only effective compliment would’ve been understatement, and with that I risked offending her. So I did the next best thing — I put my hands on her soft cheeks and passionately kissed her mouth.

The diamond tennis bracelet has an interesting story behind it. 25 years ago, there was no distinguishing an ordinary diamond bracelet from its thinner counterpart. But when Chris Evert, the world’s former No. 1 women’s tennis player was playing in the 1987 U.S. Open, her slim diamond tennis bracelet broke. The match was paused to allow her to collect the spilled diamonds. Afterward, all diamond tennis bracelets of a thin, lightweight style were called tennis bracelets. Even today, stars such as Serena Williams wear diamond tennis bracelets on the court and off.

These bracelets are so popular because they are elegant, easy to wear, and light enough to feel comfortable in when wearing evening dress or more casual clothing. Because diamonds are colorless they are easy to pair with dark and light colors, as well as other jewelry, such as yellow diamond rings or other colored gemstone rings.

Diamond jewelry in general is one of the best ways to exude class and gentility. And the style of the diamond tennis bracelet symbolizes a more active lifestyle than the traditional diamond earrings or diamond pendant; it’s a more modern style of jewelry wear which makes it considerably more appealing for the active woman.

It usually takes a few dates before you’re willing to buy her emerald jewelry, but if you decide to, chances are she’s worth it. But if you’re unsure, there’s no rush. Here are a few tips to help you know that she’s worth gemstone rings.

You don’t make each other jealous. Jealousy is a red flag that never winds up well.

You were raised similarly. This may sound vague and it is, but if you’ve ever had a talk about the differences in how you were raised, i.e. the things you’re used to in character  not being what she’s used to in a person, perhaps you don’t have what it takes to make it work long-term.

You share the same politics. This is by far the most subjective tip on this list, but you know that when you share political views, you are working from the same foundation. Usually that foundation is strong enough to support a long-term relationship.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with buying emerald jewelry for the one you love, even when you know or don’t care whether it’s going to work in the long run. If you’re buying gemstone rings to celebrate the moment, so be it. Just don’t ask for them back.

Gemstone jewelry makes the perfect gift because it’s shiny and well-cut. But there’s a lot of work that goes into making emerald jewelry so beautiful. A raw emerald is an opaque green rock. Since diamonds are so hard, they’re often used by lapidaries to shine and polish raw gemstones, including diamonds themselves. Gemstones are sawed with water or oil to wash away debris and prevent overheating in the machine. Then they are ground with silicon carbide wheels, then sanded to remove scratches from the stone that occurred during grinding, then polished to get that shiny reflective nature of the stone to come out. Ultrafine shaping is usually the last part of the finishing process. Different gemstones require polishing by different gemstones due to their specific hardness.

Cabochons are rounded instead of faceted gemstones and are usually made with softer stones. This is because they can be more easily scratched and made unattractive than harder stones. Most cabochons are elliptically shaped or they have flat bottoms and convex tops. Cabochons are often found in pendants, and can also be made from harder stones, in the case of diamond pendants. Now that you know how much work and precision goes into shaping your ruby jewelry or fancy yellow diamonds, you may be more willing to spend a little extra on a well cut gem.

Sometimes when you feel weird and sad and you remember your last love and all the nice yellow diamonds you bought her, you feel alone. But life has the oddest habit of working in waves, or to paraphrase Bob Dylan, to show the deepest dark before the light. You may soon find yourself with someone new, who is better than you possibly thought they could be and now you want to thank them for coming into your life, for showing up at just the right minute. Consider a diamond tennis bracelet.

This small token is enough to express how much this person means to you. And like all jewelry, it will conjure memories of you whenever they put it on and all those feelings of adoration and love will come flooding back. That is the power of memory, which is both fortunate and compelling– it can recall the saddest and hardest times of our lives as well as the sweetest and best. But the best thing about a diamond tennis bracelet or yellow diamond rings, for example, is that they remind you that you’re alive. They give you a rush of feeling, and that feeling is it, is what makes life.

My mom has lots of jewelry, from gemstone rings to fancy yellow diamonds. Luckily she birthed two boys, which means that we get her jewelry when she dies. She’s not moribund so this isn’t a sad thought, and she herself brought it up so it’s not like I’m hoping for her death so I can have her riches. Then why would I want her gemstone rings?

I have a beautiful girlfriend. She’s very desirable; whenever we go out to dinner she always makes me look good, finds herself at the center of attention, and generally attracts looks from other men. Such is the way of beautiful women. In the past my girlfriend had a rich boyfriend, who was much older, who had bought her diamonds and pearls. Now she doesn’t ask of me those gifts since she knows it would be futile, seeing as how I’m not a banker, but I know that she likes presents — who doesn’t?

Here is where all my mom’s gemstone jewelry comes in. Because she has too much to wear, she gives me a piece at each holiday and birthday to give to my loved one. This saves me thousands, and makes me look good in my lady’s eyes. I just hope we don’t break up, Mom wouldn’t be too pleased…

Sometimes when I put on my emerald jewelry and sapphire jewelry, I imagine myself a Malaysian queen atop a throne, ears gold- bangled as my underlings fan me with palm fronds and I splay my gemstone jewelry -encrusted fingers. The rings protect me from any negative energy those at court may harbor toward me. I am calm and collected  and regal and stately, and I wear my jewelry as a queen ought, full of confidence and bearing all the while knowing that her subjects admire and want to be her; and yet underneath all of the gems I retain a sense of modesty, that although I am worthier than any who approach me, I am yet not so removed from humanity as to condescend to or lack sympathy for a forlorn subject.

And as I turn from my mirror back into my closet to choose which shoes to wear, I begin to understand how thousands of beautiful women before me have felt, desired and good, full of the power to enact righteousness and deliver censure. As I turn to admire myself and my diamond jewelry one last time before entering the outside world, I am shaken from my dream, and I return to the 21st century, proud to wear stones that have seen so many more days than I.

I’ve had a few serious boyfriends. They’ve given me many nice things over the years, such as gemstone rings and ruby jewelry. But when my new boyfriend proposed with beautiful gemstone jewelry, I knew I couldn’t wear the old stuff and feel the same way about it.

When I wore the emerald jewelry one of my exes gave me, I never told my fiancee it was from my ex. He probably wouldn’t like to hear that even though he’s not the jealous type, which is why I love him. But, one ring I used to wear would remind me of my ex and all those old feelings of youthful love and whimsy came rushing back to me. I don’t wear that one often. In fact, now I’ll probably never wear it. And so, I’m thinking about what to do.

I have three piles of jewelry: ex stuff that makes me think about them, ex stuff that doesn’t make me think about them, and jewelry my fiancee has given me. So what I’ll do is sell the stuff that makes me feel really strongly still, wear in a carefree way the diamond earrings my other ex gave me, and obviously wear the jewelry my fiancee has given me. And if he asks about jewelry he never gave me, I’ll tell him a white lie and say it came from the family.

My grandmother gave me her ruby jewelry when I was eighteen. The bloom of womanhood was fresh on my cheeks and I was beautiful, tall, with thick dark hair, and gorgeous tan skin. She said that it would help keep men away, that when they saw the ring on my finger they’d think it was an engagement ring, since no young girl wore rings like that in those days.

Of course, I kept the ring off my fingers most off the time. I was young! I wanted men to notice me and pretty soon one did. He took me out for nice dinners, read me poetry and was a student at Yale. We were nearly in love. One night I decided to wear my ruby jewelry to dinner. The proprietor of the restaurant, a dark handsome man, seated us and I thanked him as he touched my bare shoulder. My boyfriend saw the intimate touch and became mad. He said, “If you’re going to let him touch your shoulder, why don’t you go have dinner with him!” Then he noticed my gemstone rings and asked where I got them. I told him the truth but he wouldn’t believe me. He flew into a rage and left me at the table.

My grandmother was right. He apologized but I knew. I never saw him again.

The holiday season will be here before you know it. It’s time to start thinking about what you’re going to get your loved one. Don’t get experimental now, go with what you know. If she likes wearing yellow diamonds, so be it. Get her another yellow diamond. Don’t try to get her emerald jewelry just because you think it would look good on her (unless she’s given you an explicit tip).

Unless you’re proposing you don’t need to surprise her. Keep it simple and give her her present in its box. If you are proposing with yellow diamond engagement rings, you can surprise her, but don’t put the ring in her food or drink. If you’re going to add a ring to a piece of chocolate cake, make sure it’s visible. Choking stories exist, and how embarrassing would that be. I wouldn’t marry you if I choked on a ring you gave me…

The winter is a perfect time to propose. Smooth hair, red cheeks, wearing fur, soft quiet snow on the ground, it’s all so romantic. Either way, you have to get her a Christmas present, so start shopping for whatever style of jewelry she prefers. As long as you follow these tips you can’t go wrong. They’re yellow diamonds, after all.