Can we discuss this sapphire?

[pregcurious]

This sapphire has a color I like and I would like to know the correct terms for it. (The vendor lists it as having color zoning, which I see.)

How would you describe this color in the picture? The color is listed as medium violetish blue, which it may be in real life. In the photo, do you see violet or green as the modifier, if at all? I was thinking this is on the light side of medium, with gray tone, and not very saturated.

Please comment.

 

[Lula]

I don't see the violet. But I do see the gray. I'm wondering if it would be more of a medium-dark tone in "real life."

ETA: I definitely don't see any green!

 

[LD]

I see both green and violet in the stone (and not much grey)! Do you want me to highlight which bits Preg?

BTW that zoning is quite fierce. I've got a blue sapphire with zoning and it bugs me. I think it's one of those love/hate things!

 

[pregcurious]

LD, If you could highlight the colors, that would be great. I see the stone as overall neutral blue. I see parts that are violet. I don't see the green, but I believe you that it is there. I assume in real life it has a violet modifier and/or it shift to violet for the vendor to list it as a modifying color.

I think I don't get "tone" yet. Do you see lower saturation, and then little grey? That's actually what I want in my "mind", but I think I don't know how to perceive it yet.

If it weren't for the zoning...eh, I'm broke anyway. I don't think I could take the zoning. Lengthwise, the stone is about 9.5 mm, so the zoning would be noticible on that size. The depth is 4.8. Do you see a window? I see something that looks like in a window in the last oval in the middle.

 

[LD]

Basically the lighter areas are showing green (marked on the photo below - although there are more areas but this is just to act as a general pointer). Overall the colour has a violet tone (as you say). I also suspect this will become more violet in incandescent lighting.

For me, the grey is minimal and certainly doesn't overwhelm the stone at all.

 

[pregcurious]

Weird. I cannot see the green. The first time I took the color test, I got a 8 and errors were in green/blue. The second time, I got a 3, and no color section was indicated for errors, but I bet I really do have green/blue issue.

Guess I can save money on a sapphire and get one with green because I can't see it But I realize that means I have to post on here so you guys can tell me so I know if the price is right.

Thanks, LD.

 

[corundum_conundrum]

Preg,

Don't rule out that your monitor, and not your eyes, might not be allowing you to see the green...

 

[pregcurious]

Thanks, CC, for the optimism.

 

[LD]

Weird. I cannot see the green. The first time I took the color test, I got a 8 and errors were in green/blue. The second time, I got a 3, and no color section was indicated for errors, but I bet I really do have green/blue issue.

Guess I can save money on a sapphire and get one with green because I can't see it But I realize that means I have to post on here so you guys can tell me so I know if the price is right.

Thanks, LD.

Preg walk away from the screen and then come back and look again. I found that as the daylight faded here (even on the monitor) the green was less noticeable. Also when I copied the photo to mark it up, the colour changed again. So it's very faint and not obvious.

 

[pregcurious]

Good idea. I'll wait to use the computer screen I got the better score of 3 on.

Okay, here is another one. I see no green. I see some violet. I see areas of extinction at 1, 4 and 7 o'clock, and a thin bow-tie. No window. Is that you guys see? (Please say you see no green, otherwise I am hopeless.)

 

[LD]

Preg do you not see the green in these areas? It's actually more prominent in this photo.

 

[pregcurious]

Those areas read as light blue to me. Is that what I'm supposed to look for when looking for green? I am clueless.

Would you call this blue with a green modifier?

The rest of the stone looks most neutral blue. I see areas that may be violet. I am starting to see why one wants blue with a slight purple--this would mean no green.

EDIT: Okay, now that I stare at the 2 stones, I can see how the areas you have circled are aquamarine colored. I think I'm starting to get it. Are these green enough to be priced lower than a more neutral looking blue sapphire? Or would you consider these neutral blues that show areas of both green and purple?

 

[minousbijoux]

As you know, green is not a sought after modifier in blue sapphire. The trade ideal is blue with a slight violet modifier. What I have found is that often a less saturated blue sapphire reads as greyish/greenish. I don't see green only where LD does, as I see it also in the darker areas of both sapphires as well. Maybe if you were to have two windows open at once, and on the other you pulled up one of the recent examples of a vivid blue sapphire, and compared them, by default you'd see it. I know that the way I "learned" to see it was not to look for green or grey, but to look at the areas that were not pure blue - and, well, try to describe them without saying something like "less saturated than vivid." That is, if you have to call it something, what does it come closest to, if that makes any sense...

 

[pregcurious]

Minous, LD your comments have helped a lot. I can how if I mentally hold a picture of LD or silksapphire's stones next to these, they look greenish. I'm slowly making progress.

 

[LD]

Preg - some people have a colour "memory" and others don't. By that I mean that if somebody shows you a swatch of colour and then you have to pick out the same colour from hundreds of others (all toned and shaded) could you do it? If you have colour memory you can. If you don't have, then it's far less easy to do. So instead of relying on your memory, get two photos next to each other to compare (if you haven't already done so). You'll soon see the differences when you do that.

 

[pregcurious]

Thanks, LD. I have a pretty good color memory, but I wouldn't rely on it for an expensive purchase. I'll refer to pictures, like you suggested.

Just to share with others, I will post pics that represent ideal sapphire color (to me) as a reference. These stones (from silksapphire and LD) are vetted through PS as not having a green modifier. One can compare with the pics above, and see green in those.

If anyone ever sees someone running around Intergem with these pictures in hand, that's me.