a very old German sapphire

[quoresimo]

My mother-in-law gave me a very old 8-ct sapphire ring from Germany which she believes is easily 100 years old. I immediately had the ring appraised and was surprised that the so-called replacement value was only $2000. The appraisor said the sapphire was synthetic, but I recently read that sapphires were not synthesized until the early 1900s. Could the appraisor be wrong about whether the sapphire is synthetic. If it is not synthetic, would it be worth a lot more?

 

[valeria101]

If I didn't hand a handful of inherited jewelry that realy is not as great or as old as the well-meaning giver thought... I'd be more optimistic. Chances are the appraiser is right.

But, you may be lucky if the stone is not only unusually great but also incredibly clear - it is a pain to id. flawless gems. Since common sense is as much a gemological instrument as anything else, it is not unthinkable that whoever saw this ring chose to say "synthetic" instead of leaving the identification inconclusive. I would not bet on this second scenario myself though - just thought I'd mention what can happen once in a blue moon

 

[windowshopper]

you say she believes it is enarly 100 yrs old. well-its 2004 and 100 years ago was 1904 right? so early 1900s --its very close..........I have two amzing rings --one platinum one gold..........turns out both were synthetic sapphires. same era

 

[oldminer]

Synthetic sapphires were around in 1900, so I am told. People were just as impressed with science then as they are today. People bought them because they were man made and different. They loved the rich color and no one but the very rich had genuine gems in any regular amount as we have today.

 

[denverappraiser]

It's always possible that your appraiser made a mistake but this is actually a pretty common situation. Synthetic gemstones have been around since at least the 1830's and blue synthetic corundum has been commercially available since about 1910. There was a substantial amount of it produced in Europe in the early 1900's and even if the original seller fully disclosed it's nature, this kind of information tends to get lost over time. In that era, synthetic origin did not have the same stigma that it does not. Not only was it a real sapphire, someone actually made it!

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[quoresimo]

Thank you for your input. I appreciate it!

 

[rubydick]

Synthetic sapphires were first produced in late 1909 by Auguste Verneuil. He actually received patents for the process in 1911 (he did not patent his synthetic ruby).

But the best answer to your question is to have the stone examined by a real professional gemological lab. I would sugest the AGTA or GIA labs.