1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arrived!

[theletterc]

Hi all!

Fairly recent lurker here, but long time admirer of gems. After years of drooling over all colors of sapphires, I finally took the plunge and bought a light-med blue sapphire. I think it was fairly priced, though I am an amateur! I also saw that several lighter colored sapphires are way cheaper than the more vivid/deep blues that everyone likes to label "cornflower" or "kashmir" so that might be why I thought this was listed at a fair price.

Here are the specs:

Ceylon Sapphire - 2.46ct
natural unheated (it came with a GIC report)
blue (light-medium)
rectangular step cut
7.26 x 6.87 x 5.44mm (depth 79.2%)
very slightly included - you can see a tiny crystal growth inclusion if you tilt it. If you're looking at it straight on, you can't really see it. I tried getting it in the pictures below. It is a little distracting when I look at it, but then the stone sparkles/flashes, and I nearly forget about the inclusion.

Here are some pics I took by my window with closed white drapes around 2pm today (my ring finger is a US 4, for reference).
It looks a bit more pastel in real life:



Here are some pics in my office with mostly north-facing skylights accented by some fluorescent lights where it looks more medium blue:


It does have tilt windows, but I was expecting that since the step cut emerald pendant my sister received from my grandparents has tilt windows, too. I also saw on the forum that it's more common on step cut gems anyway.

I like the natural filtered light where it's light/pastel-looking, and it was a pleasant surprise how medium-blue it looked in my office with the skylights. The only off-putting thing about it was that when the lighting gets darker, the color turns more grey-blue. Is that normal?

I was going to turn this into an e-ring so I can retire my hand-me-down diamond cluster set ring, but are there any obvious boo-boos with this stone that I'm not seeing? Otherwise, I do like the stone, but I don't know if I've fallen in love with it. It might also be that the stones I've seen in person before were nothing like this one.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Acinom]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Hi Welcome on PS.

What an exciting journey for you. To my eyes (but I am not an expert) the color looks amazing, especially in the last 3 pics. It also looks great on your skin. I would look at the stone and make photo's in different lighting conditions and ensure you love it before you spend the money setting it. If it turns grey in some lighting conditions, make sure you find out how often you will be in these conditions.

Are you indeed still in your return period?
Again: to my it looks great but you will be the one wearing it so that is the only thing that matters.

 

[Marlow]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Love the color and cutting!!

The inclusion ( think maybe a negative crystal) is positive!!!

Congratulation!!

 

[Acinom]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Yay! So glad expert Marlow chimed in and likes it. That's good.
Any ideas yet on how to set it?

 

[Siameseroo]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Gorgeous sapphire! I love the cut and colour! Please keep posting photos!

 

[endless_summer]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

It's beautiful - I love the lighter sapphires, and yours is perfect to my eyes!

 

[Niel]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Wow I really really love it! Cut looks great and I love the color, particularly in your office. I feel like officr lighting isn't always friendly to sapphires, so that's a great surprise doe you.

Personally I think it makes an amazing e ring, but you've got to love it.

How would you set it?

 

[dk168]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

It is a good looking stone to me, good find I'd say, and I look forward to seeing pics of the finished ring.

Thanks for sharing!

DK

 

[T L]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Love the color and cutting!!

The inclusion ( think maybe a negative crystal) is positive!!!

Congratulation!!

Ditto, and if the crystal has sharp edges, it probably hasn't had high heat, which is a good thing.

Beautiful stone, congrats.

 

[chrono]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

If you are all right with both the good and not so good parts of the sapphire, I think it's a nice looking sapphire overall, based on the pictures you've shared, if as accurate as you can get.

 

[theletterc]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Thank you, everyone! All your feedback helps a lot.

I am in the return period still since it arrived yesterday. I have 13 more days to decide, but I'm leaning toward keeping it.

I realized I should have included some of the vendor's pics. I got it from DeliqaGems. You can see the inclusion much more clearly from the bottom. Viewing it normally, it's easier to see it when it's tilted. After Marlow's point about the inclusion, the more I see it, the more I think of it as a little beauty mark, à la Marilyn Monroe or Cindy Crawford. haha Also, the color is close to what it looks like in real life in natural lighting.


My husband said he likes the cut, but he actually prefers a darker blue. Regardless of what he thinks, I think I'm liking it more and more. Here are some morning pictures that couldn't capture the really pretty deeper-than-baby blue color I was seeing:



I tried to get a picture of it in low light to show the greying, but my camera is not very good as evidenced from my pictures. All the low light pics came out blurry. I was staring at it last night, and it was really more of a light baby blue that's lightly mixed with grey, so I think I'm feeling a lot better about it. The grey is not as strong as the blue. I was worried about the stone going dark, but it doesn't do that. My husband and I do tend to go out for dinner (low light) because we hate doing dishes, but I don't find that I'm normally in low-light settings. I tend to be more in bright indoor lighting - like my office, and outside in my garden. I'll remember to take the stone outside to take pics later today.

If I am going to get it set - which I'm leaning toward - I know I want a vintage-inspired look, and I definitely want a white gold or platinum setting. Some small side stones that accentuate the straight edges of this type of cut would be great, too. Actual designs aren't even on my radar yet, though.

 

[Arcadian]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Thats very pretty . Color preferences can be personal so as long as you're ok with the color and how it reacts in lighting, then great The cutting is very nice. Whoever did it, cut to the advantage of the material.

 

[dk168]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

IMHO, lighter coloured CSs are better at showing off the steps for a step cut than darker coloured ones, and this stone is a prime example, enjoy!

Other examples can be seen on Jeff White's sold gemstones gallery for Sapphires: http://www.whitesgems.com/corundumgallery.html

DK

 

[misskittycat]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

IMHO, lighter coloured CSs are better at showing off the steps for a step cut than darker coloured ones, and this stone is a prime example, enjoy!

Other examples can be seen on Jeff White's sold gemstones gallery for Sapphires: http://www.whitesgems.com/corundumgallery.html

DK

I agree! I love the steps in lighter coloured gems. They are so much easier to see.

I love the colour of this stone - a gorgeous cornflower blue. It's very pretty.

 

[theletterc]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

IMHO, lighter coloured CSs are better at showing off the steps for a step cut than darker coloured ones, and this stone is a prime example, enjoy!

Other examples can be seen on Jeff White's sold gemstones gallery for Sapphires: http://www.whitesgems.com/corundumgallery.html

DK

Those are gorgeous!! I wish that one day I could get something cut from Jeff White... His cuts are drool-worthy!

Thats very pretty . Color preferences can be personal so as long as you're ok with the color and how it reacts in lighting, then great The cutting is very nice. Whoever did it, cut to the advantage of the material.

The cut is was drew me to the stone to begin with! Whoever cut this stone is very talented!

I agree! I love the steps in lighter coloured gems. They are so much easier to see.

I love the colour of this stone - a gorgeous cornflower blue. It's very pretty.

You're so right. I saw an emerald cut sapphire that was very dark at a local jeweler. I couldn't see any definition in the cut, and it just wasn't for me.



I'm really into this stone now, so it's officially a keeper. It just took a day for it to grow on me. I took it to work and sat it on my desk, and I caught myself staring at it when I should have been working! haha

I also asked my sister for her opinion when we had lunch today, and she confessed she wanted to steal it.

I finally got an okay pic of it in very low light with just a tiny bit of light peeking through a crack in the door:


You can see it does get greyish, but the picture didn't pick up that the color is still mostly blue.

And then I took these around 1pm in sunlight while my sister and I were having lunch outside under a pergola that hasn't been completely covered by vines yet. All the flashes and sparkles nearly blinded us!
The color was a little more vivid in person.



I'm starting to search through some vintage or art deco style settings, so if you see anything that might look good with this stone, let me know!

Thanks again, everyone!! It might take a while for me to get this baby set, but I'll definitely post pics once it's completed!

 

[ElleK]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Love it! How do you plan to set it?

 

[theletterc]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Love it! How do you plan to set it?

I'm not sure yet. I really like the look of vintage and art deco settings, but I also like sleek modern looks too. It might take a while for me to figure it all out.

 

[Acinom]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

Your stone is such a beauty!!!

 

[Arcadian]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

There's some pretty cool rings on 1st dibs https://www.1stdibs.com if only for ideas, you know? (careful, its pretty addictive...lol)

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

tlc: I think if I took photos of my sapphires in that extreme condition of basically pitch black with the door cracked and only the tiniest bit of light, my sapphires would be totally dark! Please don't judge your stone harshly because of that. Your stone is pretty and well cut. I'll bet you anything that it will look even better and more saturated when its set.

 

[Marlow]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

1++

OP - your gem is awesome - a sapphire with this exc. cutting and a rare shape!!

Gems are like human being - some are nice, some are "interesting" - nobody is really perfect!! Yours is a natural beauty!!!

Have fun and develope a nice setting - many here will love to help you!!

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

1++

OP - your gem is awesome - a sapphire with this exc. cutting and a rare shape!!

Gems are like human being - some are nice, some are "interesting" - nobody is really perfect!! Yours is a natural beauty!!!

Have fun and develope a nice setting - many here will love to help you!!

Now that's a great tagline!

 

[lorrissey]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

wow!!!

 

[PieAreSquared]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

I like the natural filtered light where it's light/pastel-looking, and it was a pleasant surprise how medium-blue it looked in my office with the skylights. The only off-putting thing about it was that when the lighting gets darker, the color turns more grey-blue. Is that normal?

Bravo!
Fluorescent lights are at the cool end of the light spectrum and make blue stones look bluer.
You already noticed that it looks slightly different in morning sunlight than in afternoon/evening sunlight, this has been called the "Purkinje effect" and has to do with cones and rods in the eye. Interesting photo comparisons here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purkinje_effect
It also looks dazzling under noonday sun, where a lot of colored stones lose their color; lighter stones tend to lighten and darker stones tend to darken in direct noonday sun.
Yes, it is perfectly normal for this color to dim as the light dims, color and light are inextricably intertwined, so it is great that it looks best under the light you are in most of the time!

 

[theletterc]

Re: 1st post: my 1st light blue step cut sapphire just arriv

There's some pretty cool rings on 1st dibs https://www.1stdibs.com if only for ideas, you know? (careful, its pretty addictive...lol)

Thanks! There's a lot on there to look at! I hope I can stop myself from browsing forever. lol.

tlc: I think if I took photos of my sapphires in that extreme condition of basically pitch black with the door cracked and only the tiniest bit of light, my sapphires would be totally dark! Please don't judge your stone harshly because of that. Your stone is pretty and well cut. I'll bet you anything that it will look even better and more saturated when its set.

That pic with the extremely low light was the best one I could take in low light to kind of show the greying effect it has in lower lighting conditions. I couldn't capture it at all for some reason besides in that extreme. lol But the grey in low light is really not horrible at all since it never loses 100% of the blue. I'm thankful to you all for assuring me that colored stones are so dynamic and can change with every kind of light!

1++

OP - your gem is awesome - a sapphire with this exc. cutting and a rare shape!!

Gems are like human being - some are nice, some are "interesting" - nobody is really perfect!! Yours is a natural beauty!!!

Have fun and develope a nice setting - many here will love to help you!!

Words to live by!

I like the natural filtered light where it's light/pastel-looking, and it was a pleasant surprise how medium-blue it looked in my office with the skylights. The only off-putting thing about it was that when the lighting gets darker, the color turns more grey-blue. Is that normal?

Bravo!
Fluorescent lights are at the cool end of the light spectrum and make blue stones look bluer.
You already noticed that it looks slightly different in morning sunlight than in afternoon/evening sunlight, this has been called the "Purkinje effect" and has to do with cones and rods in the eye. Interesting photo comparisons here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purkinje_effect
It also looks dazzling under noonday sun, where a lot of colored stones lose their color; lighter stones tend to lighten and darker stones tend to darken in direct noonday sun.
Yes, it is perfectly normal for this color to dim as the light dims, color and light are inextricably intertwined, so it is great that it looks best under the light you are in most of the time!

Thank you for the link! Super informative and helpful!

You guys are the best! I'm so happy I found this forum. Everyone here really knows their stuff!!