Blue sapphire question

[Rad_Fan]

...hence why I could never wear it without a halo!

Ahhh...hence the popularity of halo.

 

[T L]

My poor pink spinel looks awful on me, so I’m going to try and find a chocolate diamond setting for it. It the poor gem’s last chance as I cannot part with it!!

 

[sydneyatl]

I have an extremely dark blue sapphire that I bought a long time ago and was so pleased just to be able to say I owned a sapphire. As I learned more about stones I realized that it really wasn't a very great sapphire, but I still tried to convince myself that there was SOME blue in it!

Then the toddler started talking, and learning his colors, and he loves to look at my gemstone collection. He pointed to the topazes and said, "Boo." (blue). Then he pointed to my sapphire and said... "Ba." (Black).

Oh well.

 

[voce]

Such a cute story, @sydneyatl thanks for sharing it.

 

[Rad_Fan]

...Then the toddler started talking, and learning his colors, and he loves to look at my gemstone collection. He pointed to the topazes and said, "Boo." (blue). Then he pointed to my sapphire and said... "Ba." (Black).

Oh well.

 

[Rad_Fan]

Trying to "read" that blue from the sapphire of The Al Thani Collection. It looks a bit silky than the other royal ones...?



I think it's wee bit too deep for me and I still prefer the Roadshow blue.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@Rad_Fan @T L @arkieb1 @voce

Great thread and I enjoyed looking at all the photos very much!

Here’s a stone recently sold on jewels by grace: I attached two photos of the over 5 carat sapphire from the website. What do you think accounts for the discrepancy between how it looks in the first shot in the sun (IMHO more saturated) vs the hand shot, other than the light? Seems like a big difference to me.

 

[voce]

@Rad_Fan @T L @arkieb1 @voce

Great thread and I enjoyed looking at all the photos very much!

Here’s a stone recently sold on jewels by grace: I attached two photos of the over 5 carat sapphire from the website. What do you think accounts for the discrepancy between how it looks in the first shot in the sun (IMHO more saturated) vs the hand shot, other than the light? Seems like a big difference to me.

I don't think the two pictures look different, not really; once you have got a colored gem in hand, you'll see that it looks different based on the light setting. Gemstones are creatures of light, as all they do is reflect light; even the angle you view the gemstone from affects the color you see.

Just curious, what makes you think the first picture is in the sun? The background certainly doesn't suggest so.

 

[T L]

The second picture looks a little greyer. Maybe a different light source, or the white balance in the photo is off (which might account for the very pink looking hand). I like the silk in the stone and the cutting looks nice, although it would be nice to get a depth shot.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@voce sorry meant to say in indirect sunlight judging from the sun and the shadows in the background. I’ve often found that my own stones shine best so to speak in indirect sunlight for some reason.

I don’t know, I thought about buying that stone but did not because I thought the shot against the hand was a bit gray and not as saturated as I would have liked. Very hard to truly judge a stone without seeing it in person! But I think it sold for over $14k and for that amount I did want to be absolutely sure before I committed.

 

[T L]

@voce sorry meant to say in indirect sunlight judging from the sun and the shadows in the background. I’ve often found that my own stones shine best so to speak in indirect sunlight for some reason.

I don’t know, I thought about buying that stone but did not because I thought the shot against the hand was a bit gray and not as saturated as I would have liked. Very hard to truly judge a stone without seeing it in person! But I think it sold for over $14k and for that amount I did want to be absolutely sure before I committed.

Actually a clean well cut 5 carat stone, with nice silk, that sells for 14k is going to be either very included or grayish, especially if it’s unheated (is it?). That’s slightly less than $2k:ct for a sizable stone. If it were highly saturated, expect to pay a great deal more.

 

[Rad_Fan]

If you check out the sapphire buying journey by @mpc , you can see more of her comment on stone 4, post #50, I too loved that hue under the sun but not so much from those hand shots. Maybe @mpc would come and comment more since she had it once? It was because of her illustrations of those sapphires, I learned that I have to keep the shifting blue color in mind.

WWW

I thought it was a decent per ct price too with my limited research . Didn't it used to own by a PS member? I thought I saw it on the Pre-loved forum before it was sent to JBG. Below is the same sapphire in it's original setting.

JBG

 

[voce]

@voce sorry meant to say in indirect sunlight judging from the sun and the shadows in the background. I’ve often found that my own stones shine best so to speak in indirect sunlight for some reason.

I don’t know, I thought about buying that stone but did not because I thought the shot against the hand was a bit gray and not as saturated as I would have liked. Very hard to truly judge a stone without seeing it in person! But I think it sold for over $14k and for that amount I did want to be absolutely sure before I committed.

Ah, you were guessing then. My guess is that the first shot isn't in sunlight but in studio lighting. That's the best it's going to look, but the hand shot is the closest probably too how you'll see the stone, if you purchase it. Not going for it was definitely the right decision.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@Rad_Fan Ah, thanks for the backstory to that stone, and the helpful links—I see what you mean about the shifting. And yes, the closes bezel setting IMHO actually brought out the color of the stone the best.

 

[T L]

I don’t mind a little gray in my sapphire, and I love that it’s not overly dark, and I love the shape and chunky facets. I think it would look gorgeous in the right setting. It’s hard to see the full potential in a loose stone.

However, I’m not the one who has to love it. If $14k is around the OP’s budget, and she wants a more saturated gem, expect to get something smaller and/or more included and/or treated.

 

[Rad_Fan]

@Rad_Fan Ah, thanks for the backstory to that stone, and the helpful links—I see what you mean about the shifting. And yes, the closes bezel setting IMHO actually brought out the color of the stone the best.

That setting isn't my cup of tea... but I do lust after that sunny blue! I wish it wasn't cut so deep and stayed blue indoor.

 

[Rad_Fan]

More window shopping fun, in additional to summer sale offered by 2 popular PS listed vendors, Skyjems is also running a sale. Why this time of the year? Slow time for vendors after big gem shows?

 

[voce]

More window shopping fun, in additional to summer sale offered by 2 popular PS listed vendors, Skyjems is also running a sale. Why this time of the year? Slow time for vendors after big gem shows?

This is just my opinion. May, June, July, August, September are the months for emerald, diamond, ruby, spinel, and sapphire. These are big ticket items! If you sell one of these, it may be as much cash flow as five tanzanites, 100 topazes, or ten garnets.

 

[mpc]

If you check out the sapphire buying journey by @mpc , you can see more of her comment on stone 4, post #50, I too loved that hue under the sun but not so much from those hand shots. Maybe @mpc would come and comment more since she had it once? It was because of her illustrations of those sapphires, I learned that I have to keep the shifting blue color in mind.

WWW

I thought it was a decent per ct price too with my limited research . Didn't it used to own by a PS member? I thought I saw it on the Pre-loved forum before it was sent to JBG. Below is the same sapphire in it's original setting.

JBG

Hi all! Great thread! Yes I did purchase this stone and returned it. I thought the stone was a good value- decently cut, faced up large, unheated, GIA veered, and it looked great in some lighting. As I mentioned in my other post, it looked greyish and more violet in my office (even worse than the handshot in the JbG pic), where unfortunately I spend most of my day looking at it. In sunlight it really was beautiful though and the outdoor video from JbG accurately captures the pretty BLUE color. Indoors, more violet and gray. I was surprised at the strong shift!

 

[Rad_Fan]

@mpc I've been stalking DK's IG account for...

 

[Rad_Fan]

This is just my opinion. May, June, July, August, September are the months for emerald, diamond, ruby, spinel, and sapphire. These are big ticket items! If you sell one of these, it may be as much cash flow as five tanzanites, 100 topazes, or ten garnets.

Might be, but I've not seen "marked down" like that from the diamond vendors. Mostly they promote setting sale only, not on loose stones.

 

[arkieb1]

Most if not all sapphires colour shift (they will be darker or lighter depending upon lighting and where you are), that one had too much grey and violet for my own personal taste but many many people like or prefer that colour to darker straight blue ones, it comes down to personal preference.

 

[Rad_Fan]

Most if not all sapphires colour shift (they will be darker or lighter depending upon lighting and where you are), that one had too much grey and violet for my own personal taste but many many people like or prefer that colour to darker straight blue ones, it comes down to personal preference.

I need to train my eyes more for sure. The sunny blue to me looked quite "pure" and I didn't see much grey.

 

[arkieb1]

I need to train my eyes more for sure. The sunny blue to me looked quite "pure" and I didn't see much grey.

The colour looks nice in the first photo, it's the photo on the hand where it just doesn't have the same vividness and looks more grey and I guess the best way to describe it is duller. The best sapphires pop in vivid colour, even against skin.

 

[mpc]

@mpc I've been stalking DK's IG account for...

Lol! Me too! He told me 30 to 45 days. Tried not to count down literally. Will post as soon as I hear anything!

 

[Rad_Fan]

The colour looks nice in the first photo, it's the photo on the hand where it just doesn't have the same vividness and looks more grey and I guess the best way to describe it is duller. The best sapphires pop in vivid colour, even against skin.

So basically I need to judge the sapphire at its "worst", correct?

 

[T L]

I think every gem should be judged at “its worst.”

 

[mpc]

Agree! My office lighting ended up being my litmus test.

 

[deorwine]

Well, I mean, it depends. Sapphires are so shifty that I tend to be okay with one that hits my ideal color in some kind of light, even if it darkens a lot in low light or doesn't look great in my crappy work fluorescents. (My work fluorescents are so crappy that almost no gemstone of any color or variety looks good in it, including synthetics.) I also like very crisp sparkle, which also means that I don't go for the silk that produces the "glow" that leads to good performance in low light.

In conclusion, sapphires are hard and one has to see a lot of them -- I was disappointed by the first N sapphires I saw in person until I understood that they were shifty creatures and that some of my desires were not compatible with some of my other desires.

 

[Rad_Fan]

Well, I mean, it depends. Sapphires are so shifty that I tend to be okay with one that hits my ideal color in some kind of light, even if it darkens a lot in low light or doesn't look great in my crappy work fluorescents. (My work fluorescents are so crappy that almost no gemstone of any color or variety looks good in it, including synthetics.) I also like very crisp sparkle, which also means that I don't go for the silk that produces the "glow" that leads to good performance in low light.

In conclusion, sapphires are hard and one has to see a lot of them -- I was disappointed by the first N sapphires I saw in person until I understood that they were shifty creatures and that some of my desires were not compatible with some of my other desires.

Nice to hear a different POV.