Bethenny Frankel Calls BaubleBar's Custom Birthstone Ring Surprisingly High Quality

When Bethenny Frankel posted her reaction to BaubleBar's Toi et Moi Custom Birthstone Ring on Instagram Stories, calling it "insane" quality for under $65, the endorsement landed exactly when personalized jewelry shoppers needed one: weeks out from Mother's Day. The ring is genuinely attractive. Whether it's genuinely quality depends entirely on which definition you bring to the word.

The design pairs two cubic zirconia stones on a brass band, plated in gold or rhodium depending on the finish you choose. CZ is a lab-created simulant rather than a natural or lab-grown gemstone; it runs a Mohs hardness of approximately 8.5 and carries the vivid color saturation that makes each birth month feel intentional. The two cuts, an emerald cut measuring 0.31 inches by 0.39 inches and a pear cut at 0.27 by 0.39 inches, create visual tension that reads more expensive than the construction warrants. The contrast of angular versus soft-pointed stones is the Toi et Moi aesthetic distilled to its most photogenic form.

The metal is where the reality check lands. BaubleBar uses a brass base plated with gold or rhodium. Third-party assessments place BaubleBar's plating between 0.5 and 1 micron of gold, which exceeds the industry minimum of 0.25 microns but sits below premium fine-jewelry standards of 2 or more microns. BaubleBar does not publicly disclose its exact plating specifications. What that means practically: the finish can hold with careful wear, kept away from water, perfume, and friction, but it will eventually thin at high-contact points on the band. Standard gold plating in the 0.5-to-1-micron range is common for fashion jewelry and offers moderate durability with proper care, while heavy gold plating and gold vermeil require a minimum of 2.5 microns.

There is one policy detail that matters more than the plating: this item is final sale and not eligible for returns, and it cannot be canceled or altered once submitted. For a ring, where a half-size error creates a piece you cannot wear, that clause demands attention. Sizes run from 3 to 10, which covers most hands, but measure accurately before ordering.

For Mother's Day, the two-stone format earns its sentimental logic. The natural pairing is a mother's birth month in the larger emerald-cut stone alongside a child's in the pear, or two children's months placed side by side. On the gold band, warmer-toned months read richest: garnet's deep red for January, peridot's lime green for August, citrine's amber for November. Cooler months, aquamarine's pale blue for March, sapphire blue for September, blue topaz for December, tend to suit the silver/rhodium finish better. The visual payoff is real; the constraints are real too. This is fashion jewelry built for a specific purpose: a gift that photographs beautifully, arrives personalized, and costs less than a dinner out. It is not a piece to wear through dishwashing, workouts, or beach trips and expect to look the same in three years.

For readers who want the Toi et Moi concept in a more durable format, there are clearer options. Brilliant Earth carries Toi et Moi rings featuring lab-grown and natural gemstones, with two stones that beautifully represent two souls. Diamonds Factory builds its Toi et Moi rings to order with certified stones, a lifetime guarantee, 30-day returns, and free shipping. Local Eclectic carries solid gold gemstone Toi et Moi rings reimagined with modern settings and unique gemstones. All three start considerably above $65, but they deliver a metal-and-stone foundation that the entry-level price point structurally cannot replicate.

Frankel's instinct that the ring reads expensive is not wrong. At under $65, it delivers genuine visual return for its construction. "Insane quality" is a social-media framing, not a gemological verdict, and for a non-refundable custom order, understanding the gap between those two things is the only buyer's guide that actually matters.