I have some time-sensitive advice that I would like to solicit from this community. I was very thankful for the education given to me about 8 years ago when I looking to purchase my now-wife’s engagement ring. I was able to get a great diamond from Whiteflash that she still loves to look at every day.
I am now in the market for a smaller item with a more modest budget ($1,000 - $1,500): a pair ~0.5ct round rubies for use as earrings (I’m open to bigger if the price isn’t too much bigger). I also need it in hand by the end of February. She is foreign, and is scheduled to take her US citizenship oath on March 2nd and I wanted her to have red, white, and blue gems to wear during the ceremony. The white would be her engagement ring (it’s in the lower end of the near-colorless category so I think that’s good enough anyway) and the blue would be a sapphire necklace I got at a good price from at a show years ago.
I haven’t done a lot of in-person browsing, but whenever I’ve seen a natural ruby in person (typically at Kay, Zales, etc.) they appear very light/pink and very opaque. I had thought to get a lab-created just to have the red gem category covered, but this is a special event so I want get something nicer, and natural. (Heated is fine, as I understand that process is very common, but no filling or anything else beyond “standard” heating.) I’m after a darker red that is as translucent as possible. (I guess the term is “pigeon blood”, which I understand is essentially just marketing but that describes what I’m after.)
I’ve spent about 10 hours browsing various sites linked in other threads here, but haven’t found that many options. There are three pairs of round rubies at gemsny.com that to my uneducated eyes are good options (and that jeweler can put them in studs and get them to me in time):
https://www.gemsny.com/ruby/1.09-Carat-Round-ruby-RP21977RD/?sku=72135&type= (I’ll refer to this as “A” or 77RD)
- This one is the cheapest of the options, by far. I’d like to save the money, honestly, but it's noticeably smaller and lighter than C.
https://www.gemsny.com/ruby/1.04-Carat-Round-ruby-R21926RD/?sku=67796&type= (“B” or 26RD”)
- This is probably not the best option, as it’s $500 more than A and about the same color. The only good thing is that it’s supposed to have less inclusions.
https://www.gemsny.com/ruby/1.00-Carat-Round-ruby-R21846RD/?sku=71849&type= (“C” or 46RD”)
- These stones are darker (which I like more) than A and B, and are a very similar price to B. The employee there said because the stones are darker, the inclusions aren’t noticeable.
Also, should I be worried about “slight inclusions” in rubies of this size? I’m getting them set in studs for now to save money, but eventually I want to get them re-set into dangling mounts with diamonds framing them, like in this picture:
I’m also worried about smaller stones like these being too dark and not reflecting light. (I read that on one a thread here.) Is that a real concern for these options?
I haven’t found really anything else that seems to fit the bill, but I’d like to get advice from this community as to whether these are good options, and to see if anyone has a better suggestion. I need to pull the trigger on this purchase very soon, unfortunately because of my deadline of March 2nd. Any other recommendations or advice is greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
I am now in the market for a smaller item with a more modest budget ($1,000 - $1,500): a pair ~0.5ct round rubies for use as earrings (I’m open to bigger if the price isn’t too much bigger). I also need it in hand by the end of February. She is foreign, and is scheduled to take her US citizenship oath on March 2nd and I wanted her to have red, white, and blue gems to wear during the ceremony. The white would be her engagement ring (it’s in the lower end of the near-colorless category so I think that’s good enough anyway) and the blue would be a sapphire necklace I got at a good price from at a show years ago.
I haven’t done a lot of in-person browsing, but whenever I’ve seen a natural ruby in person (typically at Kay, Zales, etc.) they appear very light/pink and very opaque. I had thought to get a lab-created just to have the red gem category covered, but this is a special event so I want get something nicer, and natural. (Heated is fine, as I understand that process is very common, but no filling or anything else beyond “standard” heating.) I’m after a darker red that is as translucent as possible. (I guess the term is “pigeon blood”, which I understand is essentially just marketing but that describes what I’m after.)
I’ve spent about 10 hours browsing various sites linked in other threads here, but haven’t found that many options. There are three pairs of round rubies at gemsny.com that to my uneducated eyes are good options (and that jeweler can put them in studs and get them to me in time):
https://www.gemsny.com/ruby/1.09-Carat-Round-ruby-RP21977RD/?sku=72135&type= (I’ll refer to this as “A” or 77RD)
- This one is the cheapest of the options, by far. I’d like to save the money, honestly, but it's noticeably smaller and lighter than C.
https://www.gemsny.com/ruby/1.04-Carat-Round-ruby-R21926RD/?sku=67796&type= (“B” or 26RD”)
- This is probably not the best option, as it’s $500 more than A and about the same color. The only good thing is that it’s supposed to have less inclusions.
https://www.gemsny.com/ruby/1.00-Carat-Round-ruby-R21846RD/?sku=71849&type= (“C” or 46RD”)
- These stones are darker (which I like more) than A and B, and are a very similar price to B. The employee there said because the stones are darker, the inclusions aren’t noticeable.
Also, should I be worried about “slight inclusions” in rubies of this size? I’m getting them set in studs for now to save money, but eventually I want to get them re-set into dangling mounts with diamonds framing them, like in this picture:
I’m also worried about smaller stones like these being too dark and not reflecting light. (I read that on one a thread here.) Is that a real concern for these options?
I haven’t found really anything else that seems to fit the bill, but I’d like to get advice from this community as to whether these are good options, and to see if anyone has a better suggestion. I need to pull the trigger on this purchase very soon, unfortunately because of my deadline of March 2nd. Any other recommendations or advice is greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
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