Can anyone give me a ballpark blue Sapphire value?

[Tribalypredisposed]

An emerald cut sapphire measuring 12.45x8.99x6.77 estimates out at 7.58ct.

Thanks! That is great. The woman appraiser I showed it to estimated it at 7.5 to 8ct, so she was spot on. I am sure the actual report will say that when I get it back in the mail, but I have been wondering for over a month what the real size is in carats, even tried to figure out from the bad photos in the auction too, and was hoping I was right with my guess then it was 6-8. Then I got it and somehow decided it was more in the 4-5 range...

 

[Tribalypredisposed]

Oooooh, thanks so much for updating us! I’m happy you lucked out! Beautiful stone

Thanks to you and everyone else here for cheering for my good fortune. I really appreciate it!

 

[Tribalypredisposed]

I have noted that the violet sapphires bring less...but I rather prefer the violet color myself, and as far as I can tell it is not like they are more common. But then, I am super new to the topic and generally have no idea what I am talking about. I really like your ring, very lovely.

 

[GliderPoss]

Woohoo what a find! So happy for you it turned out to be real. I'm sure if you offered it for sale, a few of us would be interested....

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thanks to you and everyone else here for cheering for my good fortune. I really appreciate it!

Im so happy for you
i knew it was real !


I didn't really
But i wanted it to be real probably almost as much as you did

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I took a gamble on an online estate sale on a lot described as a "grab bag of vintage jewelry." No description, bad photos, but, it was an estate of really old money going back to 1710...Main attraction was this ring, which I have gotten a couple tests and know it is platinum and a Sapphire. I assume untreated unheated and natural because most of the estate was from 1920 and earlier. If it is, and somewhere in the 4-5 carat range, I think, what is a ballpark value and should I ship it to those rating companies? I cannot see any inclusions, definitely eye clean at least. Sorry my crappy cell phone won't focus if I get any closer. Sorry about duplicate photos...not sure how to edit them out.

I just wanna look at the pictures again !

 

[prs]

Thanks! That is great. The woman appraiser I showed it to estimated it at 7.5 to 8ct, so she was spot on. I am sure the actual report will say that when I get it back in the mail, but I have been wondering for over a month what the real size is in carats, even tried to figure out from the bad photos in the auction too, and was hoping I was right with my guess then it was 6-8. Then I got it and somehow decided it was more in the 4-5 range...

GIA will only give you the carats if they can weigh the stone. They cannot weigh a stone in its setting, so you will not get a carat weight on the report.

Any decent jeweler should easily be able to take your sapphire out of the setting and weigh it for you. Putting it back in the setting should also be easy, although we've had old platinum prongs get brittle and break during this process. Might be best to use a very qualified and reputable jeweler to do this, and given the money involved, send the unset stone back to GIA for the basic report that would include weight.

Maybe call GIA now, whilst they still have the ring, and ask them if they have someone who could unset the stone for you.

 

[Tribalypredisposed]

GIA will only give you the carats if they can weigh the stone. They cannot weigh a stone in its setting, so you will not get a carat weight on the report.

Any decent jeweler should easily be able to take your sapphire out of the setting and weigh it for you. Putting it back in the setting should also be easy, although we've had old platinum prongs get brittle and break during this process. Might be best to use a very qualified and reputable jeweler to do this, and given the money involved, send the unset stone back to GIA for the basic report that would include weight.

Maybe call GIA now, whilst they still have the ring, and ask them if they have someone who could unset the stone for you.

Thanks, I already told them to ship it back to me this morning. It was my impression that GIA would provide an estimated carat weight for mounted stones. They seem pretty sure of the size, and I expect all sapphire weighs about the same by volume. Would an approximate weight based on the size stated by GIA not suffice for most potential buyers? It doesn't appear to be close to a point where a different multiplier would come into play one way or another.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@Tribalypredisposed I think an estimated carat size by a reputable source (GIA) likely suffices. If this were a top price gem (think Kashmir sapphire, Burma ruby, etc) perhaps buyers may demand an exact carat size.

IMHO not worth taking apart such a beautiful ring to get the exact carat in this case—any risk of new/modern repairs to the setting incurred by doing so must then be declared by an honest seller, and could dramatically impact the value of an otherwise unaltered antique piece, and potentially more to lose in that regard than the slight gain to be had in getting an exact carat weight.

 

[Tribalypredisposed]

Im so happy for you
i knew it was real !


I didn't really
But i wanted it to be real probably almost as much as you did

Lol! I feel the love! Because I am a dumb newb, I was always pretty confident. I know jack about jewelry really, but I do live in Tucson Arizona and I have been to twenty or more Gem and Mineral shows here and I have seen a lot of stones. So maybe I have a bit of an eye. And my mom looked at the pictures before I bid a huge amount and she thought it looked real to her, and she knows a bit. But really, super easily could have been synthetic and looked exactly the same in photos. The real confidence came from years of estate sales, knowing from the other stuff if probably it is all quality or all crap, knowing from the style that it was likely bought around the same time as other very high quality items in the sale, by the same people. Turquoise and 18K gold cufflinks from Tiffany and Co are not the first high quality piece of jewelry someone buys, they are what you buy to go with a bunch of other really nice jewelry and other things.

All of that said, I paid more for this lot than I paid for the most expensive car I ever bought myself, which was my all-time most I ever paid for anything before this, by a large margin. I would have been mad at myself for decades if it was synthetic. And the little coin purse I convinced myself was probably solid gold was plated, so yeah, I could have turned out to be unlucky very easily. But then I saw the excitement of the owner of a chain of jewelry stores as he tried to convince me it was worth $1,200-2,000 wholesale, and I was very confident it was real after that. I grew up on the wrong side of the wrong side of the tracks, I know a hustle from the first two notes, and the dude was doing the hustle.

 

[Tribalypredisposed]

Woohoo what a find! So happy for you it turned out to be real. I'm sure if you offered it for sale, a few of us would be interested....

Thanks! I will be offering it for sale...where should I offer it? Is there a way to offer it on this site somehow?

 

[Buttercookies]

I’m so very happy for you and what a great ending!

Honestly I feel guilty for saying this but I was watching your thread with great interest or great boredom since I cannot tell if this thread will lead to another “Deconstructing antique jewelry” “Shining UV light” and “gemstone mashing” thread we have seen a few months ago.

Anyway, congrats!

 

[nala]

Thanks! I will be offering it for sale...where should I offer it? Is there a way to offer it on this site somehow?

Advertise is it in preloved Forum

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Lol! I feel the love! Because I am a dumb newb, I was always pretty confident. I know jack about jewelry really, but I do live in Tucson Arizona and I have been to twenty or more Gem and Mineral shows here and I have seen a lot of stones. So maybe I have a bit of an eye. And my mom looked at the pictures before I bid a huge amount and she thought it looked real to her, and she knows a bit. But really, super easily could have been synthetic and looked exactly the same in photos. The real confidence came from years of estate sales, knowing from the other stuff if probably it is all quality or all crap, knowing from the style that it was likely bought around the same time as other very high quality items in the sale, by the same people. Turquoise and 18K gold cufflinks from Tiffany and Co are not the first high quality piece of jewelry someone buys, they are what you buy to go with a bunch of other really nice jewelry and other things.

All of that said, I paid more for this lot than I paid for the most expensive car I ever bought myself, which was my all-time most I ever paid for anything before this, by a large margin. I would have been mad at myself for decades if it was synthetic. And the little coin purse I convinced myself was probably solid gold was plated, so yeah, I could have turned out to be unlucky very easily. But then I saw the excitement of the owner of a chain of jewelry stores as he tried to convince me it was worth $1,200-2,000 wholesale, and I was very confident it was real after that. I grew up on the wrong side of the wrong side of the tracks, I know a hustle from the first two notes, and the dude was doing the hustle.

Im.so happy its all working out
You need to buy your mum a nice bottle of bubbly and then help her drink it

 

[Beautiful-disaster]

Hi @Tribalypredisposed
I enjoyed reading your thread.
I recently discovered I was the owner of an inherited 8.63ct Ceylon sapphire.
- you can take it from me, getting accurate quotes on prices has been impossible.
All ball park figures.
It’s should help that it’s an antique piece and not just the stone alone.
It seems that it’s very hard to put a finger on the value when really it comes down to what someone will pay for it. It’s a lovely ring - very different looking stone to mine. I hope you find it a wonderful home.

 

[Tribalypredisposed]

Hi @Tribalypredisposed
I enjoyed reading your thread.
I recently discovered I was the owner of an inherited 8.63ct Ceylon sapphire.
- you can take it from me, getting accurate quotes on prices has been impossible.
All ball park figures.
It’s should help that it’s an antique piece and not just the stone alone.
It seems that it’s very hard to put a finger on the value when really it comes down to what someone will pay for it. It’s a lovely ring - very different looking stone to mine. I hope you find it a wonderful home.

Hello @Beautiful-disaster I looked at your thread too, seems we both were doing about the same things at about the same time and with similar results. I have decided mine is worth at least $2,000 a carat...even color even if it is just a medium blue and not the industry preference, no visible inclusions or defects, 7.58 carats and natural unheated untreated...seems like it has everything except that dark blue color that would make it worth five times as much. I am planning to list mine on eBay for $15,000 as an auction, hoping it will go higher, when I get it back from the lab and can take better photos. Looks like your decisions are much more complicated so I do not envy you, but it is a lovely sapphire you have too.

 

[Beautiful-disaster]

Hello @Beautiful-disaster I looked at your thread too, seems we both were doing about the same things at about the same time and with similar results. I have decided mine is worth at least $2,000 a carat...even color even if it is just a medium blue and not the industry preference, no visible inclusions or defects, 7.58 carats and natural unheated untreated...seems like it has everything except that dark blue color that would make it worth five times as much. I am planning to list mine on eBay for $15,000 as an auction, hoping it will go higher, when I get it back from the lab and can take better photos. Looks like your decisions are much more complicated so I do not envy you, but it is a lovely sapphire you have too.

I would love to see your report if you don’t mind sharing it.
I’m in Australia so we don’t have access to the big Labs.
I would be interested to see how the reports compare on similar sized stones from the same era and region (even though they are very different).
Strange that they referred to it as light to medium as that is what mine is classed at and yours is definitely much darker. It maybe the grey or the even the lack of inclusions that prevents it from glowing.

Mine has a pink fluorescence under UV that helps it’s performance in the sunlight. Do have a UV light to check yours by chance? - it should mention it on the report if it has it. - not a good or bad thing either way.
Pics in direct sunlight would be good too. You will want to practice getting some good shots if you want to sell it on EBay. Try pulling back and zooming in a bit. If you have an iPhone you can lock the zoom by triple tapping the screen and then you can move the stone to the best position rather then keep trying to move the phone. Use a pop socket or something to stabilise the phone. Go to different places in your home and see which light is the best for it.
(Personally my ER loves the light in the fridge which is very inconvenient! - lol)
It will present differently with black or white backgrounds and can reflect the colours of your phone case or other things around it - so take that into consideration too.

just wondering if you had considered giving this to your mum as a present?
It would make a good family heirloom to hand down and would only grow in value.

 

[Bron357]

Just looking on eBay, this ring recently sold for $9,800.
A 7.10 untreated Ceylon sapphire (with AGL report) with around .70 of diamonds set in Platinum.
Personally I wouldnt do an auction starting at $15,000. I don’t think you’ll get enough exposure in the max 10 day auction period.
I would be more inclined to list at say $16,000 (if you want $15,000) As a “Buy it Now” and invite offers over say $14,000. How “offers” work is you only get a message if the offer is over your minimum. If someone offers $12,000 it is automatically declined. A potential buyer can make up to 3 offers. If someone offers over $14,000 you get a message, it is up to YOU to accept decline or counter offer within 48hours or the offer expires.
And I would wait until you have a proper lab report before trying to sell. At this price point buyers will not buy without one.
Good luck!
Oh and don’t forget about the eBay AND PayPal fees that will be payable / deducted.

 

[LilAlex]

am planning to list mine on eBay for $15,000 as an auction, hoping it will go higher, when I get it back from the lab and can take better photos.

I was an early doubter -- so congrats!

Know that unless you have a long and glorious eBay sales track record, you will not be able to post in that range. I have plenty of feedback -- and all perfect -- for selling new and estate camera equipment over the pact decade or longer and my listing total seems to be capped at $5,000.

Also, would someone give a non-pro > $15,000 for an eBay listing? Worse (?), the buyer protection is way better than the seller protection. You could ship it and the buyer takes a picture of a soda-can pull-tab and complains that it was misrepresented.

The one well-priced gem that I almost jumped at from a small-time private seller on eBay ended up being a fake listing. As I was negotiating with the seller, eBay reached out to me (!) and said that this was a hijacked inactive account.

 

[chroman]

Know that unless you have a long and glorious eBay sales track record, you will not be able to post in that range

On the buyer side, I’d never buy something that high value from ebay - there’s just too much risk. Ebay can be a total cesspool, especially for gems.

 

[Tribalypredisposed]

Just looking on eBay, this ring recently sold for $9,800.
A 7.10 untreated Ceylon sapphire (with AGL report) with around .70 of diamonds set in Platinum.
Personally I wouldnt do an auction starting at $15,000. I don’t think you’ll get enough exposure in the max 10 day auction period.
I would be more inclined to list at say $16,000 (if you want $15,000) As a “Buy it Now” and invite offers over say $14,000. How “offers” work is you only get a message if the offer is over your minimum. If someone offers $12,000 it is automatically declined. A potential buyer can make up to 3 offers. If someone offers over $14,000 you get a message, it is up to YOU to accept decline or counter offer within 48hours or the offer expires.
And I would wait until you have a proper lab report before trying to sell. At this price point buyers will not buy without one.
Good luck!
Oh and don’t forget about the eBay AND PayPal fees that will be payable / deducted.

Thanks for the advice. The lab report is on its way to me along with the ring, might be in my mailbox now actually. I have done eBay selling in the past, I guess I will find out if I can list it as high as I want or not. If eBay is not the best place to sell it, what is? As for the ring you shared...yeah but how many of these rings have they sold? I have seen four sales using the same lab report from the same seller on eBay, and two different sellers in two different cities claiming to be selling the same stone with the same lab report. A top color clean natural unheated Ceylon over 7 carats should be a $70,000 stone, and they would not offer it for less unless it was actually a synthetic copy of the real one.

 

[Tribalypredisposed]

On the buyer side, I’d never buy something that high value from ebay - there’s just too much risk. Ebay can be a total cesspool, especially for gems.

Yes, I have seen that a lot of the gem listings are fraudulent. Where would you recommend?

 

[Skyjems]

Maybe call GIA now, whilst they still have the ring, and ask them if they have someone who could unset the stone for you.

I'm 100% sure that GIA will not do this for any client.

 

[Skyjems]

By far the best way to sell this is to get in touch with an auction house and sell it through then, good ones will take 20-33% but have a network of clients and deserve every penny you pay them.

It would likely take you 24 months to get the same money that they will get you in 6 months or less.

Also: congratulations from a doubter! Nice score, I hope you do better than expected with it.

 

[Bron357]

Thanks for the advice. The lab report is on its way to me along with the ring, might be in my mailbox now actually. I have done eBay selling in the past, I guess I will find out if I can list it as high as I want or not. If eBay is not the best place to sell it, what is? As for the ring you shared...yeah but how many of these rings have they sold? I have seen four sales using the same lab report from the same seller on eBay, and two different sellers in two different cities claiming to be selling the same stone with the same lab report. A top color clean natural unheated Ceylon over 7 carats should be a $70,000 stone, and they would not offer it for less unless it was actually a synthetic copy of the real one.

The eBay seller is a US business seller with over 11,000 sales, 100% positive. The report was from AGL so trustworthy.
Your other sale options would be via consignment with an established vendor ie Jewels by Grace (not sure what the fee is) or via an Auction house fine jewellery auction In this case Auction houses usually charge around 20% commission to the seller AND around 20% commission to the buyer. At Auction you can set a reserve price.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

As an eBay seller and buyer myself for almost 20 years, I personally hesitate to buy or sell anything beyond a few thousand dollars, in the event I am scammed and are unable to recoup my money or item respectively. Horror stories abound on the internet re eBay scammers, so I would highly caution against selling such a valuable item on eBay. An unscrupulous buyer could insist you sent them an empty box and PayPal would likely still favor the buyer in that case. Think about how upset you would be at losing your ring in such a manner.

I would get an estimate at Sotheby or Christie’s. A recent 6+ carat sapphire ring sold for about USD $8000 while a larger 9+ carat sapphire ring estimated at over $10000 did not sell. See links below:

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/fine-jewels-6/sapphire-and-diamond-ring?locale=en

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2019/jewels-online-3/sapphire-and-diamond-ring-3?locale=en

Not to be a downer, but I think you would perhaps not get $15000 for your ring at this time given the economy, COVID, etc, unless a buyer really takes an emotional liking to it and is willing to pay more (hey, CAN happen—ie how my then fiancé—now hubby—overpaid for my sapphire ring bc I loved it so much lol). Market-auction value as seen above probably puts the estimate closer at $8000-$10000.

Another thought is to try a consignment shop like @Bron357 suggested. They take a commission but at least the final selling price is more “predictable” (which you negotiate beforehand, kind of like a reserve price at auction) than at auction. I’ve consulted Jewels by Grace before for a piece and would recommend them highly.

 

[Bron357]

I would also caution against selling such a valuable ring on eBay.
I too am an almost 20 year eBay veteran and I have purchased items for over $10,000. And as a buyer I am aware that the dispute process weighs in buyers favour.
Currently with no guaranteed “signed for delivery” due to Covid I am not buying anything over a few hundred dollars online.
I choose my sellers with great care. For a purchase over $2,000 I only purchase from business sellers. Such sellers also have a bricks and mortar store AND use eBay to sell. They usually have feedback in the thousands and high satisfaction. They also tend to have multiple expensive items listed, their past sales history (which I always check) includes other expensive items they have sold.
I think consignment would be safer, though it takes longer.

 

[chroman]

Yes, I have seen that a lot of the gem listings are fraudulent. Where would you recommend?

Like others have mentioned, without some established footprint, selling to consumers in this space is tricky.

Agree with exploring the auction or consignment routes - both would take a piece of the action, but you’re paying for their client relationship/reputation.

Not sure if it would work, but maybe also cold-calling vendors who sell a lot in this space and tell your story (you’re an estate buyer, ended up with a piece outside your usual retail lane, have a report, etc). With all the covid disruptions, consumers may still be buying (erings, for instance) but supply chains are all messed up. Without the usual trade shows, vendors might be more amenable to non-traditional sourcing.

 

[Pennyc]

@Tribalypredisposed I'm in Australia too.

I have used Leonard Joel auction rooms before and they have been flexible on commission they are in Melbourne

you can check out past auction results on their website although you would be better to wait until Melbournes harsh lock down is over with as I wouldn’t drop that on a ring I couldn’t inspect in person.

Lawsons is in sydney not sure on their rates.
They both sell mid range and higher end jewellery I would steer clear of auction rooms like lloyds who have less valuable items.

Good luck with the sale and congrats on a great find

 

[Tribalypredisposed]

By far the best way to sell this is to get in touch with an auction house and sell it through then, good ones will take 20-33% but have a network of clients and deserve every penny you pay them.

It would likely take you 24 months to get the same money that they will get you in 6 months or less.

Also: congratulations from a doubter! Nice score, I hope you do better than expected with it.

I was thinking about that, but it seems like the prices you get are lower through the auction houses like Sotheby's except for the most exceptional stones. I think I can get $8-9,000 for it from a local dealer, if the appraiser who gave me their phone number is right. That seems likely to be what I would get from Sotheby's, so if those are the two options then might as well get the money right away.