Feedback needed on this sapphire, please :)

[Kit]

Hi folks,

Well I ordered a loose sapphire from Simply Sapphires and it arrived today. I have been taking photos for about an hour straight and hopefully I have captured a few decent shots for you to take a look at.

Simply put, is this baby a keeper? I would really appreciate anyone''s feedback!

Stats:
Ceylon
unheated
cushion
1.71 carats
7.8x5.6x4.2 mm
Color, to my eye, is a medium cornflower blue

Pic from the vendor (this is darker than what the color is in real life):

 

[Kit]

The stone became really dirty as I was handling it, from my perspective it is indeed eye clean.

 

[Kit]

...

 

[Kit]

...

 

[chrono]

I''m pleasantly surprised to see it look quite pretty indeed. What is your opinion, Kit? How does it look under various lighting?

 

[Kit]

Chrono! Yay, so glad to hear from you.

Well, first I have to say taking pics is hard!!! Ugh.

Second, I would say I really like the color. Very pretty. It also sparkles a lot in direct sunlight which is just a nice thing for me.

My main concern is what appears to be what I would refer to as a bowtie in the middle of the stone. Kind of in the rectangular part of it. On the two ends there is lots of faceting and color and sparkle. In the long part it is a slightly duller color and more translucent. Is this normal?

I am also not sure of the window. I tried to read text through it and could not, although if you put the stone on its side you can see through it. Is that normal?

Above all, this stone may be far from perfect but I do like the color and sparkle. If it is in fact completely natural and untreated, and I have no reason at this point to suspect otherwise, am I getting a good deal on the stone?

These are my questions.

 

[chrono]

Date: 7/23/2007 4:37:59 PM
Author: Kit
Chrono! Yay, so glad to hear from you.
Glad to be able to help.

Well, first I have to say taking pics is hard!!! Ugh.
I agree.

Second, I would say I really like the color. Very pretty. It also sparkles a lot in direct sunlight which is just a nice thing for me.
This is good to hear. How dark does it get when it is away from direct sunlight? Fluorescent? Incandescent?

My main concern is what appears to be what I would refer to as a bowtie in the middle of the stone. Kind of in the rectangular part of it. On the two ends there is lots of faceting and color and sparkle. In the long part it is a slightly duller color and more translucent. Is this normal?
Thie "bow-tie" you are seeing is due to its longer rectangular shape. If it was more squarish, the "bow-tie" would be less noticeable. The facet is also larger, hence, probably a bit duller too, unless it catches the light, then it''ll be a bright blue.

I am also not sure of the window. I tried to read text through it and could not, although if you put the stone on its side you can see through it. Is that normal?
I don''t think I see any windows. It is normal to be able to see through the side.

Above all, this stone may be far from perfect but I do like the color and sparkle. If it is in fact completely natural and untreated, and I have no reason at this point to suspect otherwise, am I getting a good deal on the stone?
I don''t see any red flags. If you like the colour, the shape, and how it performs in both direct and indirect sunlight, I''d say there''s no reason not to keep it.

These are my questions.

 

[Kit]

Another pic!

 

[Kit]

Date: 7/23/2007 4:45:36 PM
Author: Chrono

Date: 7/23/2007 4:37:59 PM
Author: Kit
Chrono! Yay, so glad to hear from you.
Glad to be able to help.

Well, first I have to say taking pics is hard!!! Ugh.
I agree.

Second, I would say I really like the color. Very pretty. It also sparkles a lot in direct sunlight which is just a nice thing for me.
This is good to hear. How dark does it get when it is away from direct sunlight? Fluorescent? Incandescent?

My main concern is what appears to be what I would refer to as a bowtie in the middle of the stone. Kind of in the rectangular part of it. On the two ends there is lots of faceting and color and sparkle. In the long part it is a slightly duller color and more translucent. Is this normal?
Thie ''bow-tie'' you are seeing is due to its longer rectangular shape. If it was more squarish, the ''bow-tie'' would be less noticeable. The facet is also larger, hence, probably a bit duller too, unless it catches the light, then it''ll be a bright blue.

I am also not sure of the window. I tried to read text through it and could not, although if you put the stone on its side you can see through it. Is that normal?
I don''t think I see any windows. It is normal to be able to see through the side.

Above all, this stone may be far from perfect but I do like the color and sparkle. If it is in fact completely natural and untreated, and I have no reason at this point to suspect otherwise, am I getting a good deal on the stone?
I don''t see any red flags. If you like the colour, the shape, and how it performs in both direct and indirect sunlight, I''d say there''s no reason not to keep it.

These are my questions.

Mmm-hmm, everything you say makes sense. That is what I was hypothesizing to myself about the "bowtie" if we can call it that, it is a longer set of facets. I do like the rectangular shape, though, I have to say.

Regarding other lighting, under a florescent light it is still a nice bright blue color and has a liveliness to it, very subtle sparkles of white light. So that seemed good.

Under incandescent, the middle of the stone takes on a bit more of a grey-blue color and it does seem a bit more translucent in the "bowtie" area. However I think this may be counteracted by the setting I plan on putt it in--a diamond halo. So the very outer edge of the stone on its long sides will be covered up a bit.

I think I will look at it tonight when there is no natural light in my house and examine it further.

 

[strmrdr]

looks yummy!
congrates!

 

[twodoor2]

I don't know if it's something you want to share, but it's hard to tell you if you've got a good "deal" or "value" if we don't know how much you paid for it. That also plays a big part.

The stone is pretty, it has some extinction in the middle, but the color is a nice blue, and it looks a bit dichroic, It looks as if it has a purple secondary hue, is that true? It reminds me of a tanzanite.

 

[Kit]

Date: 7/23/2007 5:38:39 PM
Author: twodoor2
I don''t know if it''s something you want to share, but it''s hard to tell you if you''ve got a good ''deal'' or ''value'' if we don''t know how much you paid for it. That also plays a big part.

The stone is pretty, it has some extinction in the middle, but the color is a nice blue, and it looks a bit dichroic, It looks as if it has a purple secondary hue, is that true? It reminds me of a tanzanite.

Ha! LOL, good point. It cost about $380 per carat.

Yeah, the middle is kind of a bother...but I am on a tight budget so I will have to sacrifice something in order to get the size stone I am looking for.

Re the color...I am not sure about dichroic. I looked it up on wiki but could not tell you what it means! Haha. I think that you could see a bit of a pale violet/lavendar color in there along with the greyishness of the middle area.

 

[chrono]

Date: 7/23/2007 7:48:33 PM
Author: Kit

Date: 7/23/2007 5:38:39 PM
Author: twodoor2
I don''t know if it''s something you want to share, but it''s hard to tell you if you''ve got a good ''deal'' or ''value'' if we don''t know how much you paid for it. That also plays a big part.

The stone is pretty, it has some extinction in the middle, but the color is a nice blue, and it looks a bit dichroic, It looks as if it has a purple secondary hue, is that true? It reminds me of a tanzanite.

Ha! LOL, good point. It cost about $380 per carat.

Yeah, the middle is kind of a bother...but I am on a tight budget so I will have to sacrifice something in order to get the size stone I am looking for.

Re the color...I am not sure about dichroic. I looked it up on wiki but could not tell you what it means! Haha. I think that you could see a bit of a pale violet/lavendar color in there along with the greyishness of the middle area.

Dichroic - changes colour depending on the angle you view it.

A thought occured to me as I left work yesterday. Kit, can you please post a side view and a back view of the stone. Just to check colour and crown/pav. For the price, I would not expect perfection, but still would want a good stone.