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Blue sapphire engagement ring...where to start?

R

Rusty Shackleford

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2018
Messages
7
Hey all,

I beginning the shopping process for an engagement ring and was pointed to this forum. My girlfriend wants a ring with a blue sapphire as the main gem rather than a diamond. She sent me these photos of the style...oval blue sapphire with smaller diamonds on the side. I did some Google image searching and found the link of the ring. My budget is no more than $10k. I have a very good friend who is a jeweler that I trust to do the labor, but all he can do is show me catalogs with gems and ring designs, and I'm not buying something out of a catalog.

https://www.brilliantearth.com/The-Ava-Ring-Platinum-BE1M0484BSKY/ $25k :$$):

I've done a little reading on cut/clarity/etc but hopefully an expert here can give me the run down...thanks.






KIK1cxf.jpg


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Hi, does your jeweller friend actually manufacture jewelery or does he just do repairs and retail? Have you seen his work? Are you happy with the quality and finesse of execution? Often times using “a friend” causes more problems than happy outcomes!
That example ring is quite complicated and just the bench work, before diamonds, might eat up a few thousand of your budget.
Others can recommend vendors better than me (I’m in Australia) but you might like to look at various existing diamond accent ring designs and see what price point you like, then work out what’s left for the sapphire.
Apart from shape, I presuming she prefers an oval shape, sapphires come in at least a dozen shades of blue - some more expensive than others. And you’d be looking at heat treatment (no heat adds thousands to the cost). There are plenty of reputable gem merchants you can source a suitable sapphire from once you’ve worked out your $$$ available and preferred size. That example ring has a 9 carat sapphire in it, that’s huge.
I think for around $6,000 or $7,000 you might be looking at sapphires around 3 or 4 carat.
 
What size and shape would she prefer? And what color? Dark like navy blue velvet or lighter like cornflowers? You should buy the stone then choose the setting to fit it.

Also, with your budget you can get a lovely ring! Go look at Green Lake Jewelry, I think they might have some styles similar in spirit to what you’ve linked!

And, because I’m still salty that I can’t afford the stone in addition to the other one I bought , here is a GORGEOUS blue sapphire from Roger Dery... I know I link it every time someone wants a blue sapphire but it’s so beautiful I’m shameless.
B0B4FDCF-9955-4467-9538-19173CFEB40D.jpeg
1.88 ct
http://rogerdery.com/gems/blue-sapphire-signature-round-1712016/
About $3000

EDIT omg he has more new ones ! Obviously he’s not the only amazing vendor but now I’m over here posting like crazy.

A1D71366-5E52-472B-920E-A152AB1A95BE.jpeg
2.12 ct
http://rogerdery.com/gems/blue-sapphire-round-1801044/
08EE1094-94B1-4DFA-85F4-357F93950E43.jpeg
2.85 ct round
http://rogerdery.com/gems/blue-sapphire-round-1801037/
D6A77832-F47C-4162-B4BA-D6442E037922.jpeg
Probably out of budget but you’d have to email Roger and ask because look at that saturation! 5.02 ct oval
http://rogerdery.com/gems/blue-sapphire-oval-1801030/
 
Bron357 said:
Hi, does your jeweller friend actually manufacture jewelery or does he just do repairs and retail? Have you seen his work? Are you happy with the quality and finesse of execution? Often times using “a friend” causes more problems than happy outcomes!
That example ring is quite complicated and just the bench work, before diamonds, might eat up a few thousand of your budget.
Others can recommend vendors better than me (I’m in Australia) but you might like to look at various existing diamond accent ring designs and see what price point you like, then work out what’s left for the sapphire.
Apart from shape, I presuming she prefers an oval shape, sapphires come in at least a dozen shades of blue - some more expensive than others. And you’d be looking at heat treatment (no heat adds thousands to the cost). There are plenty of reputable gem merchants you can source a suitable sapphire from once you’ve worked out your $$$ available and preferred size. That example ring has a 9 carat sapphire in it, that’s huge.
I think for around $6,000 or $7,000 you might be looking at sapphires around 3 or 4 carat.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. He just does repairs and retail jewelry. I've seen some of his work and know he's very particular. He would tell me if something was too advanced for him.

I'm open for all suggestions. Yes she said oval, and I'm guess as close to the blue in the picture as possible lol.
 
Jbows said:
What size and shape would she prefer? And what color? Dark like navy blue velvet or lighter like cornflowers? You should buy the stone then choose the setting to fit it.

Also, with your budget you can get a lovely ring! Go look at Green Lake Jewelry, I think they might have some styles similar in spirit to what you’ve linked!

And, because I’m still salty that I can’t afford the stone in addition to the other one I bought , here is a GORGEOUS blue sapphire from Roger Dery... I know I link it every time someone wants a blue sapphire but it’s so beautiful I’m shameless.
B0B4FDCF-9955-4467-9538-19173CFEB40D.jpeg
1.88 ct
http://rogerdery.com/gems/blue-sapphire-signature-round-1712016/
About $3000

EDIT omg he has more new ones ! Obviously he’s not the only amazing vendor but now I’m over here posting like crazy.

A1D71366-5E52-472B-920E-A152AB1A95BE.jpeg
2.12 ct
http://rogerdery.com/gems/blue-sapphire-round-1801044/
08EE1094-94B1-4DFA-85F4-357F93950E43.jpeg
2.85 ct round
http://rogerdery.com/gems/blue-sapphire-round-1801037/
D6A77832-F47C-4162-B4BA-D6442E037922.jpeg
Probably out of budget but you’d have to email Roger and ask because look at that saturation! 5.02 ct oval
http://rogerdery.com/gems/blue-sapphire-oval-1801030/
Click to expand...

I'll try and dig more info out of her. The link says deep blue sapphire, so let's go as close to that as possible. The 5.02 ct oval above is amazing, any guesses on the cost of something that size?
 
Rusty Shackleford said:
I'll try and dig more info out of her. The link says deep blue sapphire, so let's go as close to that as possible. The 5.02 ct oval above is amazing, any guesses on the cost of something that size?
Click to expand...
Just so you know, a “dark blue” will black out in some lights, at least in my experience. The description of something as dark blue would give me BIG hesitations if you want a true blue. You can get a lovely true blue color without going dark. Unless that’s what the lady wants!

Hmmm I would email Roger as he only ever took 48 h at most to respond. But I know the 1.88 ct was ~$3000 so maybe ~$6000-8000? But don’t take my word for it! Up to you to decide how much to spend on a stone, but I’d rather have an amazing stone that is one of a kind! Just FYI I got my engagement sapphire from Roger in my avatar and am completely biased. But the blue is so yummy! Not too light (I wanted a traditional sapphire royal blue that did NOT black out. Nothing makes me more bothered than a black stone, but that’s me.)
 
Also, a note.

Roger allows you to preview the stone(s) you’re interested in, you just pay shipping. It can be REALLY difficult to know what you want unless you’ve seen it. You also might check out Finewater Gems for lighter sapphires (not what I wanted but look at @whitewave sapphire! ) and Pearlman’s jewelers. I just found Roger’s prices to be the best of ALL the vendors I consulted and I really appreciated seeing the stones in person.
 
Jbows said:
Also, a note.

Roger allows you to preview the stone(s) you’re interested in, you just pay shipping. It can be REALLY difficult to know what you want unless you’ve seen it. You also might check out Finewater Gems for lighter sapphires (not what I wanted but look at @whitewave sapphire! ) and Pearlman’s jewelers. I just found Roger’s prices to be the best of ALL the vendors I consulted and I really appreciated seeing the stones in person.
Click to expand...

I looked up some pictures of a 5 ct sapphire ring and it looked rather large. I mentioned ring shopping in the office and some of the woman said you can't go too big because it looks gaudy. Is that a well formed opinion or just something people say who don't have a ring that big? My girlfriend said her ring size is 5.5 for what it's worth.
 
Rusty Shackleford said:
I looked up some pictures of a 5 ct sapphire ring and it looked rather large. I mentioned ring shopping in the office and some of the woman said you can't go too big because it looks gaudy. Is that a well formed opinion or just something people say who don't have a ring that big? My girlfriend said her ring size is 5.5 for what it's worth.
Click to expand...
Lol well everybody always has opinions. Make sure to look at the dimensions because the specific gravity of corundum (sapphire/ruby) makes it seem (face-up) smaller than a diamond is equivalent weight. That stone is a 11 x 8.4 mm stone with a 6.6 mm depth. Maybe cut out a piece of paper that size and see what you think?

Depends on what your gf does with her hands. Me, I’m in and out of lab gloves all day and couldn’t do a stone that big. You could also, with your budget , email Roger and also Jeff White to see what they have in inventory. Roger’s been in business forever and has an even more extensive inventory than is on his website and just got back from Sri Lanka and might have some amazing pieces coming up. Jeff could cut you something special, as he’s done so many times before. @goldie_locks has a sapphire by him that I actually used as inspiration and guidance for my own.
 
I'd take a look at GemFix and see if they have any that catch your eye (they have several ovals in your price range): https://gemfix.com/gem-category/sapphire/blue-sapphire

I also second reaching out to Jeff White. Amazingly talented man who is super friendly. He's usually very responsive, but I know he's headed to Tucson. In my opinion, totally worth an email.

In terms of size, it's all personal preference. Does she wear other jewelry? Does she work with her hands a lot? Is she active? Do you think she'd love to wear a larger ring everyday? Based on her finger size, she has smaller hands. If the ring you posted is a ring she picked out because she loves it, I'd say she's not afraid of some bling. :)
 
Also, I posted this in a different thread, but probably should have added it here too;

http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/gemstones/?sku=G89441#

Both the color and cut look nice from the photo, yet the price is a fair bit less than what I'd usually expect (so I'm not sure if I'm missing something, like some inclusions..).

While it's lighter than the 2 cushions I posted, it faces up similarly (they were in the neighborhood of 7x7) since the other stones are so deep.

While I get your budget would allow for many other options, I figured I'd toss this one out too.
 
Since your GF's ring finger is 5.5 you may want her to try on some rings to figure out what WIDTH is comfortable on her finger. The inspiration ring is very wide looking. Once she has something that wide on her hand will she be able to comfortably mover her fingers together? Have her try on some bands that are eternities so she gets the feel for having stones and prongs between her fingers.

IF the setting needs to by made smaller to be comfortable then you would have to reduce the size of the center stone. Find out if that setting or that stone is what appeals to her.

HTH you have already been given links to great stone options.
 
You have a healthy budget and should be able to get something really nice for her. The sapphire shape in your inspiration photos is pretty close to cushion shape as well, so I think you could look at both ovals and cushions.

Not sure if this is allowed here, but I have a really nice 3.46ct blue sapphire for sale right now. The face-up size is 8.6 x 7.5mm and is AGL certified to be heat only. I hunted down this stone over 3 years ago for my own ring, through Pearlman's Jewelers. I ended up disliking the setting and never wore the ring. Now I have other rings and am trying to find a better home for the beautiful sapphire. I will probably reset it into a pendant if there's no interest.

3_indoor_near_windows_2.jpg
 
OK, so you have a list of things to do, the first being finding the center stone. After that, having the setting made. Personally I would only have your friend do the setting if you have a) seen him do custom work on a comparable level/style to what you want in this ring (your example) or b) you are OK with picking out a semi-mount and having him set your stone. Otherwise I would go with someone like David Klass. Another thing to remember, someone is not going to take that ring and make an exact copy. However they can make a ring "inspired" from that setting.
 
partgypsy said:
OK, so you have a list of things to do, the first being finding the center stone. After that, having the setting made. Personally I would only have your friend do the setting if you have a) seen him do custom work on a comparable level/style to what you want in this ring (your example) or b) you are OK with picking out a semi-mount and having him set your stone. Otherwise I would go with someone like David Klass. Another thing to remember, someone is not going to take that ring and make an exact copy. However they can make a ring "inspired" from that setting.
Click to expand...

Can you get me up to speed on semi mounts? Best place to shop for them? On the other hand what can I expect to spend on a custom ring by someone like David Klass? If I spent $7k on a gem, and another $3k on the ring, would I be ok? My girlfriend likes that ring but understands it's not within budget and more of just something to base it off of.
 
These are semi mount options, where you can pick your center stone, then pick one of these too order to have the stone you picked placed in. :) These are just examples by the way, There are like a million options out there.
https://www.gabrielny.com/engagement-ring/ER9048W44JJ
https://www.whiteflash.com/engageme...ted-sapphire-3-stone-engagement-ring-3118.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/engageme...nch-set-halo-3-stone-engagement-ring-3111.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/engageme...beaded-twist-3-stone-engagement-ring-1999.htm
 
Sabrina31 said:
These are semi mount options, where you can pick your center stone, then pick one of these too order to have the stone you picked placed in. :) These are just examples by the way, There are like a million options out there.
https://www.gabrielny.com/engagement-ring/ER9048W44JJ
https://www.whiteflash.com/engageme...ted-sapphire-3-stone-engagement-ring-3118.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/engageme...nch-set-halo-3-stone-engagement-ring-3111.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/engageme...beaded-twist-3-stone-engagement-ring-1999.htm
Click to expand...

Nice job in finding similar settings, Sabrina31! OP: keep in mind that you are seeking, due to your Fi's finger size and the advice of her peers, a much smaller stone than the one presented in your original design idea. As a result, Sabrina's design suggestions are more consistent with the size you seek.
 
From what I hear David Klass is very reasonable. He would then be able to incorporate parts of what you fiancé likes in that ring; such as having both round and marquise stones hugging the stone. The only way to know, is once you get the stone, to get a quote. Another advantage of custom is that you can get a non standard size stone, and not have to worry if it will fit the setting. Others here can give you ideas for semi mounts; stuller is a big one. The setting you references is pretty complicated and unique. You and/or your fiancé will need to decide what elements are important to replicate in the ring.

https://www.stuller.com/resources/
 
Last edited:
David Klass made a pendant setting for me before. His price is extremely reasonable for custom settings. I would say my pendant setting was not more than a stock setting from places like Stuller. His workmanship is excellent. Wish I had found him sooner!
 
all good advice on here so far!
OP, I have a size 4.75 finger and a 4.12ct round sapphire. It is large, but not too big IMO (9.25mm) but I like big stones. 5+ might be pushing it with her finger size, unless you know she wants a statement ring. (Which by the looks of that one she showed you, wowza!) But you'll want to pay attention to the cut of the stone, as many sapphires are cut deep to preserve color, so they'll "face up" smaller than the carat size. You should be able to get a really, really nice ring put together for your budget!

My FI sent the sapphire to Tacori in California, who made a setting for us. Their work is exquisite; the detail is amazing and the stone fits the setting like a glove. I highly recommend them. Prices for settings are all over the place from a few thousand up - take a look since she seems to like detailed rings:
https://www.tacori.com/engagement-rings
 
So I'm moving a little slow :eek2:

These 2 are now available. I'm more interested in the first because the second gem says it has a small inclusion off to the side. However the first has smaller measurements besides for the depth. Should I stay away or is it still a good size?

https://gemfix.com/gems/sapphire-blue-11-1309
Weight: 2.19cts
Measurements: 8.3×6.1 mm, depth 5.3mm
Clarity: VVS


https://gemfix.com/gems/sapphire-blue-11-1311
Weight: 2.20cts
Measurements: 8.6×7.3 mm, depth 4.6mm
Clarity: VVS-VS
 
They are both gorgeous but I like the first one better too. The color is slightly more saturated and it is close to a calibrated size, which means you only need to modify a stock setting slightly.
 
I think both look great!
 
peacechick said:
They are both gorgeous but I like the first one better too. The color is slightly more saturated and it is close to a calibrated size, which means you only need to modify a stock setting slightly.
Click to expand...

Awesome thank you. I think it's the one! Going to get it ordered. I'll be sure to post an update when I choose a setting.
 
The first stone is nice and even, the 2nd has some visible zoning.
 
Good choice - the first looks great! Post pics when it arrives :)
 
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