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Accent stones for a dark sapphire ring?

pearl_clutcher

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 2, 2020
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Hi all! After lurking for a while, I want to throw myself on your collective wisdom: black diamond or blue diamond accent stones for a ring with a dark sapphire as the centre stone?

I'm in the process of having an idiosyncratic sapphire set into a ring by a local jeweller. The centre stone is a dark teal parti-colour sapphire (8.8x6.6mm and the rock is 6mm deep so it's a bit of a chonk). The gemstone is *dark* -- that's not a problem, I love it for what it is, but I'm not sure how to set it off to best advantage. The ring is going to look something like this, in 14K yellow gold with short double-claw prongs:

image1.jpeg

We'd planned the accent stones to be black diamonds (as pictured). But I came across a totally different sapphire ring that had blue diamond accents and now I'm waffling. Thoughts? I'd like to be able to wear this everyday, so nothing that would come across as too dressy, and I'd rather not have colourless diamonds for this one. Blue or black diamonds? Or are there other options I should consider?
 
Not what you want to hear: I think I would float it up higher to get more light under it -- maybe on a narrow band with simple side stones. Not sure that a deep, heavy setting will show your prety stone to best advantage.
 
Black diamonds if natural are black because they are full of dark inclusions and are often full of fissures and fractures.
Most “black” diamonds are heavily treated with high heat and low pressure to get the graphite inclusions to “melt” and turn the diamond black and opaque. Some black diamonds are actually a really dark green and this is created by irradiation.
And the other issue you can have is “are the actually black diamonds”? There are other materials used in jewellery that resemble “black diamonds”.
Because of the potential structural integrity issues with natural black diamonds and that perhaps you don’t want to buy a diamond treated within an inch of its life to become black, a very dark sapphire might be better. In most lights a small very dark sapphire looks black but occasionally in bright light or the angle being right you’ll get a glint of blue. That I think is quite appealing.
 
Not what you want to hear: I think I would float it up higher to get more light under it -- maybe on a narrow band with simple side stones. Not sure that a deep, heavy setting will show your prety stone to best advantage.

LilAlex, thanks for your thoughts -- I appreciate the advice! I'm not really a 'dainty' jewellery type of person (it just looks a bit lost on me, I'm afraid) and given that the sapphire is 6mm deep, I'm worried about it sticking up too far and getting snagged on everything. Still, you're right that it may be better to focus on getting more light into the stone itself. I'll ask my jeweller about dropping the shank down relative to the gemstone itself, allowing more light in.

Black diamonds if natural are black because they are full of dark inclusions and are often full of fissures and fractures. [...]
Because of the potential structural integrity issues with natural black diamonds and that perhaps you don’t want to buy a diamond treated within an inch of its life to become black, a very dark sapphire might be better. In most lights a small very dark sapphire looks black but occasionally in bright light or the angle being right you’ll get a glint of blue. That I think is quite appealing.

Bron357 -- dark sapphires are a great idea. I'll ask if those are doable in the circumstances -- might be a great compromise that loses some of the heaviness. Daisys, my jeweller said she was concerned the blue diamonds would 'out-sparkle' the dark sapphire centre stone and make the ring look unbalanced...

This is a photo of the rock held up against some black diamonds (set in another ring). Does this change anyone's mind?

rock with black diamonds.png
 
LilAlex, thanks for your thoughts -- I appreciate the advice! I'm not really a 'dainty' jewellery type of person (it just looks a bit lost on me, I'm afraid) and given that the sapphire is 6mm deep, I'm worried about it sticking up too far and getting snagged on everything. Still, you're right that it may be better to focus on getting more light into the stone itself. I'll ask my jeweller about dropping the shank down relative to the gemstone itself, allowing more light in.



Bron357 -- dark sapphires are a great idea. I'll ask if those are doable in the circumstances -- might be a great compromise that loses some of the heaviness. Daisys, my jeweller said she was concerned the blue diamonds would 'out-sparkle' the dark sapphire centre stone and make the ring look unbalanced...

This is a photo of the rock held up against some black diamonds (set in another ring). Does this change anyone's mind?

rock with black diamonds.png

yes !
up close that is to die for
your saphire is gorgouse and looks awsome aganist the black
i would not want to loose any of that gorgouse colour of the saphire if i could help it

i have a ring with enhanced black meleee - i just clean it by hand and do not forsee any problems with it
 
Black or very dark gray natural spinel is another option to consider.
 
Hmmm sorry not a fan of the black/blue combo but perhaps some navy sapphires might tone better together?
 
I love it with the black diamonds. I think blue would compete with the main stone. I think black would show it off. I love the teal in your stone.
 
I'm going to be an outsider on this one. That stone is simply beautiful so I think playing up those flashes with slightly lighter side stones could be a good look. Something like this in color-- to just play up the center without being too overwhelming and bright.


I do get the look you're going for with the black diamond side stones. If black diamonds aren't an option then perhaps black spinel could work. I'm not fond of black diamonds but the ring does have a very minimalistic appeal that I really like. Just my two cents...not trying to offend.
 
I agree with @LIGemzGal here - the deep tone of your lovely sapphire draws the eye in - the black draws them back out and i would find the slight difference a bit distracting...

I would go with a lighter stone personally even a deep yellow diamond, for a subtle twinkle nestled in the gold setting.

Otherwise, I would do navy which would look great too if you like the dark look
 
For anyone curious, I thought I'd update with how the ring turned out! We ended up going with the black diamonds (our jeweller said she wasn't sure she could get ahold of dark sapphires that would match properly without looking flat), but based on @LilAlex's comment, we redesigned the basket to be more open and get more light into the stone. It was the right call!IMG-0652.jpg

Here she is, in all her dark and stormy glory! (Please excuse the bad indoor lighting, I took a "break" from work to snap some photos) IMG-0653.jpgIMG-0654.jpg
 
That's really eye catching and I like the basket as well. "Stormy" is a great description!
 
Wow! That worked out so nicely. Really great. It looks lovely on the finger and really suits you. Congratulations on your beautiful ring.
 
I love it! What a great design for the stone and it is eye catching and flattering (both for the center and your hand.)
 
For anyone curious, I thought I'd update with how the ring turned out! We ended up going with the black diamonds (our jeweller said she wasn't sure she could get ahold of dark sapphires that would match properly without looking flat), but based on @LilAlex's comment, we redesigned the basket to be more open and get more light into the stone. It was the right call!IMG-0652.jpg

Here she is, in all her dark and stormy glory! (Please excuse the bad indoor lighting, I took a "break" from work to snap some photos) IMG-0653.jpgIMG-0654.jpg

beautiful and so unique! Ive never seen anything quite likeit! enjoy!!!
 
That band is very solid! Glad it turned out just like you envisioned! Wear it well.
 
I love that open basket and the side view is amazing! Congratulations on a unique and winning design!
 
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