Antique 8ct. Ceylon blue sapphire ring. Meet Elena, aka my mini “Blue Blob”

[Bluemuse]

That is positively breathtaking. I love the setting and wouldn't have guess it was silver.

Thank you so much, CSpan! I was surprised to learn it was too when I first saw it.

 

[swaye2010]

Than you, swaye2010! I felt very lucky to find her! I’ve been looking at sapphire rings for forever. The sales person at the store said most of their customers prefer the Lady Diana color of sapphire. Worked out perfect for me

I inherited a 4.76 sapphire in the Lady Di color from my MIL. I love the new setting I made but I do dream of a much lighter stone for the setting. It looks to dark and flat to me.

 

[Bluemuse]

I inherited a 4.76 sapphire in the Lady Di color from my MIL. I love the new setting I made but I do dream of a much lighter stone for the setting. It looks to dark and flat to me.

Hi @swaye2010 ! Very nice to inherit something special like that! I would love to have had something of my MIL’s,
but I have great memories to cherish and now my ring named for her.
Did the reset bring out the color more?
Such a great size stone too.
I looked for a thread on your reset but didn’t find one. I’d love to see it!
It’s hard to find a color that grabs you right away, but those finds are out there. Sometimes the stars align and you just stumble on them like I did.
The fact that they gave me a good price for a ring I didn’t wear anymore helped bring it within reach.

 

[swaye2010]

Hi @swaye2010 ! Very nice to inherit something special like that! I would love to have had something of my MIL’s,
but I have great memories to cherish and now my ring named for her.
Did the reset bring out the color more?
Such a great size stone too.
I looked for a thread on your reset but didn’t find one. I’d love to see it!
It’s hard to find a color that grabs you right away, but those finds are out there. Sometimes the stars align and you just stumble on them like I did.
The fact that they gave me a good price for a ring I didn’t wear anymore helped bring it within reach.

It seems like a lot of the older threads did not carry over when they upgraded the system. It is a nice size stone but it is so dark most of the time. She wore it for 50+ years and was English but grew up in Ceylon. I don’t think the sapphire was from there though. It seems to have the color of the Australian kind. I wasn’t told anything about it before it was left to me so I don’t really know.

 

[Acinom]

Congrats with your ring and Thanks for sharing! It’s a great find

 

[Bluemuse]

It seems like a lot of the older threads did not carry over when they upgraded the system. It is a nice size stone but it is so dark most of the time. She wore it for 50+ years and was English but grew up in Ceylon. I don’t think the sapphire was from there though. It seems to have the color of the Australian kind. I wasn’t told anything about it before it was left to me so I don’t really know.

Beautiful ring and setting @swaye2010 and I love the story!! The history attached makes it very special whether or not the stone is the exact color you prefer. Thanks so much for sharing the photos!!

 

[Bluemuse]

Congrats with your ring and Thanks for sharing! It’s a great find

Thank you, @Acinom! I have always loved your beautiful ring as well! Really one of my all time favorites!

 

[Bluemuse]

In the interest of sharing what could be helpful for someone looking for a similar ring/stone,I’ll share cost details.
Hope it’s not garish to do so.
I know I’m always appreciative when other people do. It’s really part of the learning curve for me and also a sign that great finds are out there. Of course price sometimes depends what the local tastes are or what was paid to get it in the store.

So the sale price was $9300
To offset the expense , I brought in a few pieces I wasn’t wearing that I thought they might be interested in buying.
My dream was that they’d buy everything and I’d get the ring for free! Lol
They bought one for $1500 (the same amount I had paid 5 years ago). I was thrilled.
So my out of pocket cost was $7800 to buy.
(No tax since I live in a neighboring state and bought through their online service)

I was very happy with that given the specialness of the piece and size of stone. Less than $1000 per ct was a bargain all things considered.
And I know it won’t go down in value, although I don’t imagine ever parting with it.

Guess I was in the right place at the right time and honestly thanks to this forum knew what to look for and what was fair.
So thank you all!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@Bluemuse Thank you for so generously sharing details. I think they will definitely help someone else out there looking to purchase an antique ring. I know I had a hard time when I first began purchasing antique pieces to know if I’m overpaying or not! In fact, a few years back I shared in a thread the cost of my sapphire ring, not to be crass then but simply because I had absolutely no idea what to expect to pay for something like that, as I was just starting off. I get that value is in the eye of the beholder, but to be honest as much as I loved my ring, I also wanted to know desperately that we weren’t getting “ripped off” since +$13k was no chump change, in my eyes anyway, and it can be scary buying large purchases.

The antique jewelry market is hard to navigate for sure just because often pieces ARE so unique and one cannot find another just like it to price out. In fact, in some ways I wish folks WOULD discuss price more openly on this forum for antique jewelry since it is presumably anonymous here online (and perhaps less “rude/garish” than asking someone face to face IRL what they paid for their lovely jewelry, although I’m sure many of us would love to know!!), and purely for the purpose not of comparing/showing off, but to well inform each other.

IMHO you did very well with re to the price you paid. Higher carat sapphires tend to skyrocket in price and even finding something this big can be rarer than hen’s teeth, and it really becomes more of a seller than a buyers’ market at that point. So well done!!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@Bluemuse one small thing I noticed, hard to tell in your photo (see circled area below), but I would make sure that slightly askew prong is sitting ok, since I’m not sure if those are abrasions/breakage on the stone’s surface around that prong and if they are due to just normal wear and tear, or if due to the prong putting an uneven/too hard force on the stone—can risk cracks spreading if prong is too tight or has an askew pressure point making contact with the stone.

 

[Bluemuse]

@Bluemuse Thank you for so generously sharing details. I think they will definitely help someone else out there looking to purchase an antique ring. I know I had a hard time when I first began purchasing antique pieces to know if I’m overpaying or not!

The antique jewelry market is hard to navigate for sure just because often pieces ARE so unique and one cannot find another just like it to price out. In fact, in some ways I wish folks WOULD discuss price more openly on this forum since it is anonymous here (and perhaps less “rude/garish” than asking someone face to face what they paid for their lovely jewelry, although I’m sure many of us would love to know!!),purely for the purpose not of comparing/showing off, but to well inform each other.

IMHO you did very well with re to the price you paid. Higher carat sapphires tend to skyrocket in price and even finding something this big can be rarer than hen’s teeth, and it really becomes more of a seller than a buyers’ market at that point. So well done!!

@Bluemuse Thank you for so generously sharing details. I think they will definitely help someone else out there looking to purchase an antique ring. I know I had a hard time when I first began purchasing antique pieces to know if I’m overpaying or not!

The antique jewelry market is hard to navigate for sure just because often pieces ARE so unique and one cannot find another just like it to price out. In fact, in some ways I wish folks WOULD discuss price more openly on this forum since it is anonymous here (and perhaps less “rude/garish” than asking someone face to face what they paid for their lovely jewelry, although I’m sure many of us would love to know!!),purely for the purpose not of comparing/showing off, but to well inform each other.

IMHO you did very well with re to the price you paid. Higher carat sapphires tend to skyrocket in price and even finding something this big can be rarer than hen’s teeth, and it really becomes more of a seller than a buyers’ market at that point. So well done!!

Thank you, @Pinkmartini87!
I really appreciate that. I was unsure at first but I figured this is a sharing AND learning community and it can be helpful to have that kind of information to reference when we’re searching for our own piece.
Yes, the appraiser I met with described it as an investment piece because of the rarity of larger size stones. Of course that’s not why I bought it, but I understand what he means. Thanks for your thoughtful feedback.

 

[Bluemuse]

@Bluemuse one small thing I noticed, hard to tell in your photo (see circled area below), but I would make sure that slightly askew prong is sitting ok, since I’m not sure if those are abrasions/breakage on the stone’s surface around that prong and if they are due to just normal wear and tear, or if due to the prong putting an uneven/too hard force on the stone—can risk cracks spreading if prong is too tight or has an askew pressure point making contact with the stone.

@Pinkmartini87, thank you for pointing that out. I have noticed that that prong is a bit shorter that the one opposite, though it still makes good contact with the stone. There is probably some abrasion but that photo makes the surface look especially crackly which ordinarily I don’t see. I hadn’t thought that it could be too tight. The shop said everything was checked and secure but I should probably double check. Thanks again!

 

[Pennyc]

It is such a lovely stone and colour I love the Sri Lankan stones. I also love this setting and I too would not have realised it was silver.

Everyone on this forum is so helpful with advice and I love hearing different experiences and why people love particular colours.

I bought a very small sapphire when I was in Kandy in Sri Lanka. They nicely brought out their most valuable ring for me to try on. Thought I would share. The pic was not taken very well I may have been shaking lol

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@Bluemuse Another thought, it could just be some dirt/smudge perhaps and not even true abrasions, since it’s on the bottom of a sloping facet and dirt tends to accumulate more right against the prongs than anywhere else on the stone (see an enlarged photo under a loupe I took of my ring and the smudge against the prong).

I would try dabbing the area gently with a wet Q tip and seeing if it comes off.

 

[Bluemuse]

It is such a lovely stone and colour I love the Sri Lankan stones. I also love this setting and I too would not have realised it was silver.

Everyone on this forum is so helpful with advice and I love hearing different experiences and why people love particular colours.

I bought a very small sapphire when I was in Kandy in Sri Lanka. They nicely brought out their most valuable ring for me to try on. Thought I would share. The pic was not taken very well I may have been shaking lol

@Pennyc Oh wow, that looks beautiful!!
And how lucky you got to visit Sri Lanka!
I wonder what it would have looked like in sunlight. I have a feeling, spectacular!
This is a wonderful community, I agree. Thanks for sharing the photo!

 

[Bluemuse]

@Bluemuse Another thought, it could just be some dirt/smudge perhaps and not even true abrasions, since it’s on the bottom of a sloping facet and dirt tends to accumulate more right against the prongs than anywhere else on the stone (see an enlarged photo under a loupe I took of my ring and the smudge against the prong).

I would try dabbing the area gently with a wet Q tip and seeing if it comes off.

Yes, it may have been smudgy in that photo. I’m going to give it a good cleaning and inspect that area closely tomorrow with my loop.
@Pinkmartini87 I remember your ring now!! I loved it when you first shared it. And I remember you went with your heart. I love that shade of blue, like a periwinkle lavender color from the photos. It’s really beautiful!! Hope you’ve enjoyed it since!

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@Bluemuse Thanks!! Sometimes we just have to go with our heart. So glad you did too, and found your rare beauty.

Enjoy Elena for the many, many years to come!

 

[elizat]

I came back to look for more photos. I think this one is just charming and special. I think you did excellent on the price. As a fellow antique buyer, prices are all over.

 

[Bluemuse]

I came back to look for more photos. I think this one is just charming and special. I think you did excellent on the price. As a fellow antique buyer, prices are all over.

@elizat Thanks so much!

Yes, I couldn’t agree more. it’s really is hard to gage fair pricing.
If the sky’s the limit then it’s no problem, but most of us are working within a
budget and don’t want to overpay or feel taken advantage of.

Then there’s the additional factor of something being worth whatever someone is willing to pay. At least we are here and can gain some footing about what we’re looking at when we shop and what might be a fair price. And bounce our finds off a knowledgeable, very helpful community.

At the risk of over sharing, I have a few more pics to share. I love taking photos and Elena is a fun subject.

 

[Bluemuse]

The next to last photo in that group shows an inkyness that I don’t usually see. One of the many moods of this girl... lol

 

[elizat]

She's just lovely! Thank you for the additional photos. Really beautiful.

 

[Bluemuse]

She's just lovely! Thank you for the additional photos. Really beautiful.

Happy to share! I’ve feasted on photos of so many of the beautiful pieces here over the years!
@elizat I love your sapphire ring made by CVB! Her designs and work are true works of art! Beautiful! Enjoy!

 

[voce]

@elizat Thanks so much!

Yes, I couldn’t agree more. it’s really is hard to gage fair pricing.
If the sky’s the limit then it’s no problem, but most of us are working within a
budget and don’t want to overpay or feel taken advantage of.

Then there’s the additional factor of something being worth whatever someone is willing to pay. At least we are here and can gain some footing about what we’re looking at when we shop and what might be a fair price. And bounce our finds off a knowledgeable, very helpful community.

At the risk of over sharing, I have a few more pics to share. I love taking photos and Elena is a fun subject.

That's gorgeous!!

I can't believe most customers prefer Princess Di's sapphire color over this vibrant blueberry shade. You did a great job finding this sapphire, and I hope you will enjoy it for many years yet to come.

 

[Bluemuse]

That's gorgeous!!

I can't believe most customers prefer Princess Di's sapphire color over this vibrant blueberry shade. You did a great job finding this sapphire, and I hope you will enjoy it for many years yet to come.

@voce Thank you so much!!
Surprises me too. I think it’s one of those things, culturally that was a romantic period for many and Diana’s ring was what women aspired to.
I think it’s a beautiful ring, just not my preferred color. But I understand if some might prefer a darker color.
I was quite happy when the sales person expressed that their customers prefer darker stones because they might have valued my ring differently if that weren’t the case.
Luckily I think they viewed mine as a bit of an odd bird. So happy they did. She’s more of a beautiful swan to me.

 

[Ally T]

What a glorious looking ring! And that colour is captivating!

 

[lydial]

I am In Love with your ring! But have you had the prongs checked?? I am a touch freaked out by the softness of silver and the “barely there” prongs. I would desperately hate for you to lose that blue blob

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Apparently I've been missing an ELENA find!
This ring is showstopper beautiful. That color is killer.
I love the character of an antique cut stone. And, this one, well... you found a real treasure that made it through while not being recut with that color.
For what you paid?!
8cts unheated?!
It's an egg!
* Excuse me, I'm feeling light headed. I may need to lie down for a bit.

 

[Bluemuse]

What a glorious looking ring! And that colour is captivating!

@Alex T Thank you so much!

 

[Bluemuse]

I am In Love with your ring! But have you had the prongs checked?? I am a touch freaked out by the softness of silver and the “barely there” prongs. I would desperately hate for you to lose that blue blob

@lydial Thank You! Yes, I’d be devastated to lose the stone! I am not freaked out, it feels very secure and I keep a close eye on any sign of the stone having movement. None at present.
That being said it would be prudent to have it checked by someone experienced in antique jewelry rehab. so that I never have to worry about it. There will have to be a high level of trust. If I sent it to someone like cjd_sako (his IG name) maybe I’d feel comfortable.
The thought of mailing it away makes me nervous, but it may be necessary. The appraiser may be able to recommend someone local.
Once things are back in motion, I will get someone to take a look.
Thanks for looking out for me and Elena!

 

[Bluemuse]

Apparently I've been missing an ELENA find!
This ring is showstopper beautiful. That color is killer.
I love the character of an antique cut stone. And, this one, well... you found a real treasure that made it through while not being recut with that color.
For what you paid?!
8cts unheated?!
It's an egg!
* Excuse me, I'm feeling light headed. I may need to lie down for a bit.

@ItsMainelyYou Thanks so much!!
Yes, happy it’s safe in my care and didn’t
get altered somehow in the course of its long life. I’m with you and really appreciate the character of older stones and the inclusions of Unheated ones. Each one is a scientific case study unto itself. I was a microbiologist in my former life lol , so I really enjoy the microscopic stuff. Your last comment made me smile. So sweet!