A handful of sapphires !

[Bron357]

Still having fun with my loot. One tin was rusted shut but I got it open. On the Presidum they are testing (a few of them I did) as Sapphire. I put them in a glass of water and there is a range of slightly different blue shades, so unless synethics come in a dozen or more blue shades and someone wants to bother facetting 3mm synethic stones, I’m assuming they are real. There’s probably a few hundred from that 1 tin. So pretty.

 

[MissyBeaucoup]

Wow! What a find!!!

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

Where exactly was that estate sale?

 

[chatoyancy]

Cool!! You have an actual treasure chest!

 

[Bluegemz]

Wow, fabulous color! How beautiful!

 

[Bron357]

Where exactly was that estate sale?

I’m in Australia. The deceased estate house contents auction was all furniture, rugs, china etc but there was one old tatty cardboard box full of old jewellers bits and pieces and container size of gems. No one was really interested except me.

 

[tara3056]

Synthetics DO come in several different colors, just so you know. If you search for synthetic sapphire rough, you will likely find several shades of blue, plus the color of the finished gem can depend on how it's cut. Synthetic sapphire is often sold in split boules and the boules themselves are lighter in the center, so it is recommended to orient the sapphires as pictured below -- by placing the culet in the darker blue color, it "floods" the rest of the stone with that better color. With your stones being so small, obviously many of them could have come from lighter and darker sections of the synthetic rough. I'm not saying your stones are synthetic, only that you should know that they *easily* could be. Regardless they are lovely and I'm sure you're having fun with them!

 

[elle_71125]

I can't even imagine the fun your having with these little guys. It's your own personal treasure. Personally, I'd want to lay them all out and mix them together (like a toddler with play dough). I bet that would be a real pain to sort back out though.

 

[AprilBaby]

What an incredible treasure!

 

[Bron357]

I paid $260 for the box and found 34 grams of platinum ring head mounts worth at least twice that. As for the value of the fun I’m having - priceless! Apparently the Mr retired from the jewellery business in the 1950s which explains why everything has rusted shut - still trying to get some tins open!

 

[Bron357]

Here is a selection I’ve sorted. None are “perfect” ie inclusions or small nibbles to edge. The middle pink one has some black substance that I’m trying to remove. These are the bigger ones so far. I need a “gem buddy” to help !!

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Omg I would want to keep it all!! That pink and blue right above it on the far left

 

[Bron357]

I’ve had an inspiration thought. How’s this for a display option. I spotted these little glass vial pendants. I’m going to buy a whole heap and fill them with the little gems. Then I’m going to add to my Swarovski snowflake Christmas tree. They can be like little decoration baubles. Left over ones (I imagine I can fill like a hundred little vials) I can give as gifts or put up on eBay as little pendants for like $10 each.

 

[AprilBaby]

Fantastic idea!