A Blue Sapphire Journey

[Ceilimom]

Oh my God that stone is my dream!!!!!

My words exactly.

 

[Efleon]

Thank you @Rad_Fan! I’m flattered! I was lucky enough to catch some photos in the sun while riding in the car the other day. Enjoy! Will see if I can get some more pics in the direct sunlight too.

You are an inspiration!
So gorgeous.
Just perfect!

 

[VeryUndecided]

@qubitasaurus sure! I don’t remember all the specifics of the stones other than they were all unheated and ranged from 3.5ct to 5+ct.
As an aside, some of these stones are still available so if someone ends up wanting to purchase the stone, I am not disparaging the stone in any way, just noting why I did not personally choose it.

From the top down:
Stone 1
The first stone was 4.31 ct stone that faced up huge. After seeing that stone, I knew I probably needed at least 4ct to get dimensions I wanted. In the sunlight the stone had a pretty medium blue that was less saturated than the other two ovals. In regular incandescent light, it definitely seemed more faded. I don’t have that many more pictures of it, but it seemed like a good value given the price and finger coverage on an unheated blue sapphire.

Stones 2 and 3
Both were immediately not keepers because they were simply too small. and given the price point (they were roughly same price as stone 1) not the best value. But color wise they were a slight more saturated and deeper in color. (Both of these were from africagems, who accepted the return without any questions asked).

Stone 4
This is one I considered for the longest time. In sunlight, it was beautiful but indoors it shifted the most - sometimes darker, sometimes more violet. This was the greatest value of all 4 stones I evaluated in person. In the end, the performance in my home office (where I spend the majority of my day) is what prompted me to return the stone. (This stone was from JbG who also refunded my money without any issues).

Inken also sent me pictures and videos of several others, which I no longer have, but I think some videos are still on IG for comparison. Ultimately I increased my budget but the process taught me which rooms in my house offered the ‘harshest’ lighting conditions to ‘test drive’ my stones. Hope this helps!

This is really helpful. Thanks!

 

[VeryUndecided]

My hunt for a blue sapphire started 7 months ago. I have always wanted a nice blue sapphire since it is my birthstone. But I’ve never actively pursued one. Through my PS ‘education’, I knew I wanted a pretty large stone (I already had a dream setting in mind) that was either an elongated cushion or oval, unheated, medium toned (not too dark) with vivid saturation that would not black out in low lighting. By chance, I came across a stone on Enhoerning Jewelry that was within my budget and seemed like a good buy. Although that stone was not the one, it ultimately started my blue sapphire journey. After ordering and returning 4 different stones and reviewing videos and pictures of countless others, I have finally found the one!

I believe @whitewave and @voce have recently had good experiences with Inken from Enhoerning jewelry and I have to give her credit for helping me find my sapphire. Over the last 7 months, after my initial purchase (and return), Inken would occasionally check in on me with new finds that she would discover from her suppliers or if she was attending gem shows. There was never any pressure to buy, mostly just FYI “look what I found”. If I expressed interest, she was always willing to take more photos or more videos in all kinds of lighting conditions I requested. And any purchase came with a reasonable (domestic) return window. Most notably, she found me a 3.6 ct unheated Burmese sapphire with AGL certificate for an amazing price. But alas, it was too small. Naturally the biggest tradeoff was color/expectation versus budget.

A few weeks ago, Inken reached back out and offered to look in Vegas at JCK. I told her I probably wouldn’t be buying a stone at this time (life was kind of busy) but if she found something really spectacular, to email me and I might be tempted. She emailed me on the first day of the show with a stone that took my breath away: 4.61 carats, unheated Madagascar, GRS ‘cornflower blue’.

Some things I leaned along they way:
1) blue sapphires are shifty!!! I found I had to see the stone in person and find one that would look good even in my abysmal office lighting.
2) patience is key. I was not in any hurry so as long as I worked with vendors (I purchased and returned sapphires from other vendors, not just Inken), with reasonable return policies it was a no risk scenario.
3) don’t settle. There were several stones that were ‘good values’ but one thing or another gave me the slightest reservation (an inclusion, poor performance in certain light, or size). Despite the ‘good value’, I returned the stones because they weren’t my dream stone.

Anyways sorry for the wordiness.Here are some pics!!

I am so envious of the choices (and good return policies!) people have in the US...
And I loved the description of this sapphire quest!