First loose gem purchase - sapphires

[rae]

This was a bit of an impulse purchase, but I went into a shop on the weekend in a small village in North Queensland (I was travelling) and saw they had three loose sapphires for sale.... so I bought them! They are apparently natural (untreated) Australian sapphires, but I don''t know where from.

I wished I had had a loupe at the time, but I haven''t found/bought one yet.... the blue one, which I thought was a bit darker than ideal, I now realise is quite flawed - a large inclusion, although it is near the edge so it might be able to be covered by a prong.... not sure. I almost didn''t buy it but they gave me a further discount for the three, so I thought, ''why not''.

Regardless, I love them because they are the first gem purchase I have made.... whether I actually do anything with them or not, I haven''t decided yet...

I spent an hour or so trying to get some photos.... but of course, managed to smudge them thoroughly in the process!! So, sorry for the condition of the stones. This is actually not too bad a photo of the blue one, which is hard to get... the other two (particularly the yellow) look lovely in nearly all the shots!!

Anyway, here they are. Any and all comments/criticisms/advice/suggestions etc, welcome!!

 

[Cave Keeper]

Wow! They look like beautiful diamonds.

What flaw? You''ve been driving too near the car in front of you.

Sizes? Prices?

Each one deserves its own ring.

 

[rae]

LOL at the car comment, CK....!!

Table down, you can see the inclusion in the blue stone clearly... I only noticed it when taking photos with my macro lens, though.... and table up, it is less visible (althought definitely still visible in the right light... the fact it (the stone) is a bit darker masks the inclusion a bit...).

Unfortunately, I don't know specs on any of them, but price-wise all three together cost me less than AUD 350. The original marked price was AUD 250 per stone, but obviously that includes a hefty retail mark-up.

 

[rae]

The yellow stone is so sparkly!!

 

[rae]

The greeny one was described as a "colour-change" sapphire....

Edit: And no, the table is not that shape - it's just the photo.

 

[singingbell]

Such pretty sapphires!

The yellow stone is yummy! I can relate to your excitement, because I just bought my first loose sapphire, and I''ve been spending plenty of time putting smudges all over it.

My digital photos didn''t come out nearly as good as yours though -- most of mine were blurry!

The inclusion in your blue sapphire doesn''t seem to detract from the look of the stone. I found the same type of inclusion in my stone as well, and I kind of like that it makes the stone unique.

Enjoy! Let us know what you decide to do with them... That can also be part of the fun!

 

[partgypsy]

very pretty! I love the different colors of sapphires.

 

[MissAva]

All three are very lovely! Those tones are spiffy! What about a left to right or east/west pendent.

 

[widget]

Wowie!!!!! Those are just great!

!!! The yellow one in particular knocks me out...it looks like a diamond!

Congrats on your first gemstone purchases. You done good, girl!

(You do realize, I hope, that this is an incurable disease and these won't be your last gemstone purchases....)

any idea yet what you're going to do with them?

widget

PS: You are a girl, aren't you?

 

[Cave Keeper]

Date: 9/6/2005 12:45:06 PM
Author: rae
:

Unfortunately, I don't know specs on any of them, but price-wise all three together cost me less than AUD 350. The original marked price was AUD 250 per stone, but obviously that includes a hefty retail mark-up.

:

Thanks for the prices, Rae

If you could measure their diameters in mm., I could tell you roughly what their weights are. Would you like that? Alternatively, 5 carats = 1 gram ; 1 carat = 100 points: There you go.

 

[colormyworld]

Those are some beautiful sapphires Rae. I think they would look nice in a three stone pendant. The yellow on top then the yellow blue (green) and the blue at the bottom. Like one color blending into another. In white gold. Very nice.

 

[rae]

Date: 9/6/2005 9:03:06 PM
Author: widget
Wowie!!!!! Those are just great!

!!! The yellow one in particular knocks me out...it looks like a diamond!

Congrats on your first gemstone purchases. You done good, girl!

(You do realize, I hope, that this is an incurable disease and these won''t be your last gemstone purchases....)

any idea yet what you''re going to do with them?

widget

PS: You are a girl, aren''t you?

Hehehe... yes, I am a girl....

And I know this is a disease.... The Boy is yet to realise... he will be rueing the day I discovered PS, no doubt!!

And no, I haven''t worked out what to do with these stones yet... but thank you (and everyone else) for the suggestions...

It will be a little while before I can get them set, as I am fairly busy and sort of a bit "in transit" over the next few months... but perhaps early in 2006 I will be able to... I do like the idea of a pendant, but the yellow one is so pretty, I am considering putting that into a ring.... decisions, decisions....

Cheers

 

[rae]

Date: 9/6/2005 11:11:36 PM
Author: Cave Keeper
Thanks for the prices, Rae

If you could measure their diameters in mm., I could tell you roughly what their weights are. Would you like that? Alternatively, 5 carats = 1 gram ; 1 carat = 100 points: There you go.

Hi CK... thanks for your comments.... I would greatly appreciate your guesstimate on the carat weight of these stones... (not that it matters, but just for my own curiosity)

The (rough) dimensions are:

Blue: diameter just on/under 6mm; depth about 3.9mm

Yellow: diameter just on 5mm; depth about 3.5mm

Green: diameter just on/over 6mm; depth about 4mm


I would be interested in any comments anyone might have re the price I paid for these.... say, AU$120 ea for yellow and green, and AU$100 for blue... was it a bit extravagent, or is this reasonable, or a good deal, or what? (IF it is possible to tell this from these photos....)

Many thanks for all the responses!!

 

[Cave Keeper]

Date: 9/7/2005 10:35:32 AM
Author: rae

Date: 9/6/2005 11:11:36 PM
:
The (rough) dimensions are:

Blue: diameter just on/under 6mm; depth about 3.9mm
Yellow: diameter just on 5mm; depth about 3.5mm
Green: diameter just on/over 6mm; depth about 4mm
:

I''ve ignorned the depths; and, my estimates are pretty rough.

The yellow sapphire, which is the smallest stone, probably weighs 0.5 carats, while the other two larger stones should weigh about 0.75 carats each.

I''m assuming they are in proportion not cut as deep as brilliant round diamonds; otherwise, perhaps you should add 14% to the estimates as sapphire is 14% denser than diamond.

 

[LittleRock]

It is my desire to own every color there is of sapphire........I'm so jealous

Very, very pretty!