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Advice needed on inclusions in sapphires

B

Brillance

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
Messages
23
Hello, appreciate the article by LD, give us newbies very good insight and honest views into this dazzling world of colored stones.. And thank you Chrono for being so kind to ask me to start a new thread so that my question doesn't get buried in the mountain of posts.

This is my question :
A purple sapphire ring and a blue tarzanite ring caught my eye today and as I am totally clueless about colored stones, I asked for the cert for the sapphire (the tarzanite doesn't have one). The cert says fingerprints, crystals and feather...which are the inclusions in the stone. The stone also has a very beautiful deep color which like what you said may be pre-heated. The cert did indicate that "heating may be possible".

The shop says having finger prints and crystals are normal for natural stones. I was told that its a networks of tiny liquid-filled tubes that resemble human finger prints. And added that finger print inclusion are formed when sapphires re-crystallize to partially heal a fracture zone. Could you advise if this is so and now that likely the stone has been heated before, the price shouldn't be so expensive. The listed price is about Singapore $18,000 and after some big discounts which are very common here in our country, the selling is at $6600 which I still think seems very expensive but if this is like a piece of heirloom, I may just purchase it. The problem is that I don't know if this stone is a good one.

Btw, the tarzanite is 2.6C and the purple sapphire is 2.4C.

Looking forward to your kind advise.. And thank you..

Warmest,
 
Sounds sketchy to me. Colored sapphires seem to command a premium but at $5300 USD for that one I would think twice.
 
Ok, a few observations:-

1. Which lab has the report come from for the sapphire? This is very important because there are labs and then there are labs! The fact that it's sketchy about whether heat has been applied or not is a warning flag.

2. Purple sapphires are commonly treated to get the colour. SO, if the stone has been heated then you have to find out what other treatments have been applied i.e. Be diffusion etc. Only a lab like AGL can give you that answer because many of the smaller labs can't test for diffusion. I'm not sure where you are in the world but there are some labs closer to Europe that have the capability also.

3. Purple sapphires (good ones) tend to be expensive because they're not as common as you may think. However, the price tag you've been quoted is astronomical for a relatively small stone with so many inclusions!

4. To have a fingerprint, crystals and a feather in a 2 carat stone, I would suspect that clarity is affected (not always and depends on the placement). You need to find out if the feather is surface reaching as this can affect the durability of the stone.

5. Tanzanites should be eye clean - if the one you're being offered isn't then walk away. Also, the price you're being quoted is eye-poppingly high! A top class loose Tanzanite sells for around $450-550 per carat. You can even get this per carat set into jewellery as well.

Unfortunately neither are likely to be heirlooms and at those prices it will be your great great great great great grandchildren that MAY see them as such!

Without seeing the stones (and only commenting on your post) I would suspect that you can get much much better for your money by shopping with one of the online vendors we recommend in the sticky at the top of this forum. Purple sapphires may take some finding but you could try www.simplysapphires.com for that. When shopping for purple sapphires you also need to be clear what colour "purple" means to you! I know that sounds odd but some are quite pink, some are very pale and others have a lot of blue. I have a certain shade of purple that screams "buy me" that others wouldn't necessarily think was their desired shade of purple so it's good to assemble pictures to send to online vendors and say "this is the colour I'm trying to find". It's much better than trying to describe!

Hope that helps.
 
Many thanks for e prompt response.

I am rather embarrased to say I didn't really look at the name of the lab, seems to be GIA or something.

I also have a bit of difficulty uploading the images of the rings using my iPad.

I am from Singapore, a small beautiful tropical island and very cosmopolitan country, the F1 night races are held here.

I forgot to add that both rings are set with diamonds, not big ones though. The purple sapphire costs about USD5400 and the tarzanite costs USD1225.
both has really nice fire though I read in your earlier posts that says nice shine are sometimes "created" by heating. Well we know that all tarzanites goes through that process but gut feel yells me that the sapphire probably is too. By estimating the cost of the tarzanite by carat as advised, it probably cost around that but I have to really think again about the purple sapphire...

Many thanks again!
 
Thank you LD, and thanks AirPlay... :D
Have a great weekend..
 
Tarzanites

LD, just one more question.

We know tarzanites are made popular, and expensive by Tiffany. But in reality, it is a just falls under the category of semi precious stone with not much investment value, of course it was also said that the mine is running out of supply as well that is why it is getting to be a precious commodity. So let's say I would like to start investing on some good stones, in your opinion what kind should I look at. Still the same, sapphires, diamonds, rubies, emeralds etc? Or are there some new age ones? And starting from how many carats will be under the investment quality.

Thank you..
 
Hi Brilliance, welcome to the Board! The topic of gemstones as investments has come up again and again on this board. The quick answer is that none of us would recommend that you get a stone as an investment, but rather as something you love and want to enjoy. If you do a search query for "stones as investments," or "investing in colored gemstones" things like that, you will see that this question is asked and answered on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, there is a thread - probably still on the first page - on the rarity of gemstones, because someone thought they should invest in the rarest. Good luck to you!
 
Roger that. Thanks.
 
Firstly, I would never trust any lab that cannot tell you with any surety whether it has been heated or not. I can bet you 100% that the lab is not GIA. Secondly, shine has nothing to do with treatment. You cannot tell by eye alone (without a microscope or loupe) whether it has been heated or not. Thirdly, getting an eye clean tanzanite is very easy to obtain so if the one showed isn't, then it is not a wise purchase.

Most importantly of all, you made no mention of colour. Colour is what sets the price. Is it a pure blue? Does it have any modifiers like green or violet? How saturated is the colour? Is it too dark or too light? Is it a bit grayish? How is the cut?
 
Here's an example of what you could be getting with your budget. This stone may be bigger than you're looking for, but might be an example of how shopping around could land you a great stone for less...

http://www.litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=9025

From what I see in the pic, this stone may have a window- so you'd want to shoot them an email and ask. Good luck in your search!
 
Kid,
The Litnon sapphire doesn't just have a window, it has a bay door! It's really huge. In the hand shot, I see more of the skin through the stone instead of the pleasant purple colour.
 
Er.. Dear all, I am really such a amateur, what I see as pure blue may not be pure blue under you guy's opinion...Looks very blue to me.. Heeee... :love:

And yep, you are right, not GIA either...

How do I describe cut? It's round, like the usual diamonds.. And usually the round ones throw off shine much better than the princess cut etc.

From LD's previous command, a carat costs about USD 450-500, and this one is 2.4C. So with the gold and tiny diamonds around it n further down the band, it may just be around that pricing..

This is getting so interesting.... I have never join any chat groups or forums but I am loving this! :appl:
 
From LD's comment, I mean....not command...typo error..

Btw, the color looks kind of like the chart shown in LD's article. It's like one tone darker than the AAA grade that LD has indicated. What does saturation means here?
 
Any chance of a picture or two, if not a video? This might give us some idea of the colour and if it has any cut issues. Is the store willing to have it evaluated by GIA or some other reputable lab in Singapore?
 
I try to download the pic ok... Not very good with it, I am not very techno...gimme 5 mins..
 
I can't seems to attach the photo. It doesn't copy from my photo gallery and i can't find the file name of my photo. Can I post the pic with my iPad or I must do it on my computer?
 
Give up...
 
Gosh, I think I need a tutorial how to do is. I am really very cave woman...
I hitting the sack soon as it is 3am spore time... Good nite Chrono... Really nice talking to u, I'll chat with u again tomorrow. Nite!! Zzzzzzz
 
Brilliance - I prefer "command" :lol:

To upload a photo make sure that it's not huge. I can't remember the dimensions but try to resize and make it small on your computer. Then open a new post in this thread and click on the tab that says "upload attachment". Browse your computer to find the photo and then upload. You can check what it will look like by "preview" before you post.

Photos are good but only as good as the photographer!!! Make sure that if you want an honest critique, the photo you post looks exactly what you see with your eyes. Try not to have rose tinted glasses because you love the stone. Make sure it's realistic!

By the way ..... tanzanite going to run out? I doubt it very much! They've been saying that for over 20 years and it's still producing AND they've just found another find deeper in the mine that is producing (I'm told) some spectacular stones.
 
cid:10335B14-8C2A-4A42-B8FB-C696E3525A2F/photo.JPG
 
Ahhhhhh... Sorry, not coming out right! Oh my, it's like a joke. Ignore plse!
 
I"ll do it on a regular computer tomorrow... Oh this iPad thingy....
 
You need to use the upload attachment tab and then click on a photo that's in your computer. You can't add links.
 
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