Choose the stone first, and choose it for the life it will lead. Sapphire is the stone you will see most here, in far more colors than blue. Sapphire and ruby take a daily ring's knocks, while opal and tiger's eye are softer and suit a pendant. Most listings never tell you if the stone came from the ground or a lab, and we will. Then take 14K gold.
The stones: sapphire, ruby, opal, emerald and tiger's eye for men
Sapphire is the safe first stone. It is on more of these pieces than any other, in blue, red, pink, rainbow and green. For a ring you wear every day, stay with sapphire or ruby, since both shrug off a knock. Opal and tiger's eye are softer, so wear them on a pendant or treat the ring gently. Some listings name a red sapphire, and the desk will tell you what that stone is. Many crosses and animals name no stone in the title, so open the listing.
Natural or lab-grown: what the listing tells you about the stone
Ask us, because the origin line on about half the listings speaks for the diamonds and not the colored stone. Where a listing names the origin, take its word. A lab-grown sapphire or ruby is the same mineral as a mined one, and a natural stone is rarer. Both claw pendants carry a lab-grown mark. The tiger's eye claw's description puts that on the diamonds of its bail, and the opal claw's calls its opal natural, so ask the desk which stone the mark covers.
The pieces: gemstone pendants, rings, earrings and tennis chains for men
A pendant is the easiest first piece, because the stone sits on your chest where it is seen and rarely knocked. Crosses lead the pendants. Two silver claw pendants, one gripping a tiger's eye and one an opal, are nearly half the pieces sold here. Rings come next, and the gemstone rings have their own page. Most earrings are flower clusters, and most carry sapphire. Tennis bracelets and chains are rows of small stones, often sized in pointers. A 10 pointer is a stone of about a tenth of a carat.
Metal and size: 14K gold or .925 silver, men's ring size and chain length
Take 14K yellow gold unless you want silver. Most pieces are 14K. Where buyers picked a color, three in four took yellow. Silver comes in rings and pendants only, both claws included. Sizes 8 and 10 sold most in a gemstone ring, and most rings run in half sizes. Measure with the men's rings guide. Most pendants come without a chain, so choose one with the pendants guide. On the opal claw, 18 inches was the length picked most. Bracelets sit near 7 inches.
Buying: grams, carats, made to order, returns and the desk
Compare by the grams, and ask about the carats. Nearly every listing prints a gram weight, and most print a gemstone or diamond carat weight in their details too. Some pieces are made after you order, so ask for the timing on yours. A ready piece ships tracked in two to five business days. Any ready piece whose listing is not marked non-returnable may return for fourteen days after delivery if unworn and unaltered, but name the piece to customer service first, at service@traxnyc.com or 212-391-3832, so it ships on our return label. We keep five percent to restock, plus the label's cost. A resized ring is final. Ask before commissioning whether a made to order piece returns. For anything the listing does not say about a stone, use the live chat, or text the stone's name to 212-872-9692 from 10 AM ET.