Grey/Gray Princess Cut

[Rare_Swan]

Allo, I am new here, and would like some help or advice from those who are more knowledgeable than I. Thank you in advance!

I am searching for a grey/gray stone for an engagement ring. My cut of choice is princess. Through my research, I have found that there are diamonds, sapphires, and spinel that are grey/gray.

I found one grey/gray princess cut diamond, but it was way out of budget at $25,529; therefore, fancy diamonds seem to be out due to cost. See link below:

https://www.leibish.com/gray-diamonds/fancy-blue-gray-princess-33275

Ideally, I would like the stone to be 1+ carat and my budget is a max of $5000. I am okay with some blue or purple undertones. I would prefer sapphire over spinel due to the significants of it being September's birth stone, but that is only a slight preference. I appreciate the help in finding something or explaining to me why this combination is so rare or difficult. Thank you again!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I'm sure other PSers can help you with a grey sapphire soon enough!

In the meantime I think it is lucky you cannot afford that grey diamond as it is hideous! I don't usually diss a stone but that stone is by far the most hideous thing I have ever seen! I would not waste $100 trying to set that thing! It reminds me of the graphite in my son's school pencils! I am shocked anyone is trying to hock it off for $25,000.

 

[missy]

I'm sure other PSers can help you with a grey sapphire soon enough!

In the meantime I think it is lucky you cannot afford that grey diamond as it is hideous! I don't usually diss a stone but that stone is by far the most hideous thing I have ever seen! I would not waste $100 trying to set that thing! It reminds me of the graphite in my son's school pencils! I am shocked anyone is trying to hock it off for $25,000.

Yes I agree completely. Save your money. This is not a pretty diamond IMO.

 

[T L]

Allo, I am new here, and would like some help or advice from those who are more knowledgeable than I. Thank you in advance!

I am searching for a grey/gray stone for an engagement ring. My cut of choice is princess. Through my research, I have found that there are diamonds, sapphires, and spinel that are grey/gray.

I found one grey/gray princess cut diamond, but it was way out of budget at $25,529; therefore, fancy diamonds seem to be out due to cost. See link below:

https://www.leibish.com/gray-diamonds/fancy-blue-gray-princess-33275

Ideally, I would like the stone to be 1+ carat and my budget is a max of $5000. I am okay with some blue or purple undertones. I would prefer sapphire over spinel due to the significants of it being September's birth stone, but that is only a slight preference. I appreciate the help in finding something or explaining to me why this combination is so rare or difficult. Thank you again!

If you don't mind a little brown, yellow or olive green in your diamonds, grey diamond can be much more affordable. If you look for a secondary color of blue, the price will be much higher.

For example, a 3+ carat round is a bargain here, although I don't know this dealer. Some dealers charge a lot more for this color, but you can find it for much less elsewhere. For this color, an IGI report should suffice. It's not a valuable rare color, but it has gray. I have several diamonds this color and I love them in rose gold.

https://denirdiamonds.com/en/home/3-51-carat-natural-fancy-grayish-yellow-round-vvs2-clarity-igl-512

 

[daneshpastry]

I'd can't say I've seen too many truly grey sapphires that don't read blue or violet. Spinel would be your best option if you want a true grey, but it's going to be a challenge to get a princess cut. If you do want a sapphire, I'd look at the Montanas.

Here's a grey-green sapphire:
https://gemfix.com/gems/sapphire-montana-12-527

The diamond you linked looked more like a "salt & pepper" than a coloured stone (ie - ugly inclusions). Unless you're willing to go the lab-grown route (which is fine) a diamond is going to be a very expensive option.

 

[Seaglow]

I agree with TL’s comment. A secondary modifier such as violet, purple, or blue will increase the price drastically. The grays should be affordable with yellow or green or brown secondary colors. You can select faint secondary colors on these and it will appear almost like pure gray and will fit your budget. You may also opt for cut cornered square of which many FCDs are shaped with. Gray sapphires and spinels are also an option but I think you can get a diamond at your budget.

 

[arkieb1]

I had (and sold so hopefully no one will mind me talking about it) the most awesome grey 4.22 carat emerald cut spinel. One of the nicest darker grey stones I've owned, lots of sparkle really eye catching, and retail wise would have been around $1500 to $2500 maybe more at some of the more expensive stores. I sold it for half that. The reason I mention this is there are affordable and good looking options available to you, that are brighter and much more visually appealing than the diamond you have selected. And the other thing is that a resale value and general appeal on a diamond that colour I think is really really limited.

A diamond that looks like the one you have selected is going to be a dog in the fire and razzle dazzle department. Grey sapphires aren't going to have a lot of fire and sparkle to them either IMHO.... Sorry but I had to say it. How do you want the stone to look?

 

[Rare_Swan]

mellowyellow girl and missy - I agree that it isn't the prettiest diamond out there for sure, but it was an example of a grey diamond and the only one in the cut I want.

T L - I really dislike brown, yellow, and green undertones in diamonds. That along with the cut I want is why I have pretty much ruled them out when it comes to finding a grey stone.

daneshpastry - I am fine with a blue or purple undertone in order to find a sapphire. Why is a princess cut going to be hard to find? Because of the size of the rough stone it takes to cut one? I would really like to avoid lab made.

 

[daneshpastry]

mellowyellow girl and missy - I agree that it isn't the prettiest diamond out there for sure, but it was an example of a grey diamond and the only one in the cut I want.

T L - I really dislike brown, yellow, and green undertones in diamonds. That along with the cut I want is why I have pretty much ruled them out when it comes to finding a grey stone.

daneshpastry - I am fine with a blue or purple undertone in order to find a sapphire. Why is a princess cut going to be hard to find? Because of the size of the rough stone it takes to cut one? I would really like to avoid lab made.

I don't have a technical reason why a princess cut would be harder to find - just from personal experience, browsing the various coloured-stone vendors, you just don't see them very often. Hopefully someone with more technical-know-how will help answer this.

ps - here's a weird one: https://loupetroop.com/listings/loose-stones-colored-gemstone/2-dot-75ct-unheated-sapphire
And a very pretty one: https://loupetroop.com/listings/loo...n-3-dot-80ct-grey-slash-lavender-spinel;19052

Again, not princess, but at least square/rectangular

 

[gingercurls]

Spinels will probably get you the closest to a true grey color. Try looking here:
https://gemcal.com/gemstones/spinel/fancy-spinel/fifty-shades-of-gray

I do not know if they are reputable or not, maybe another poster can chime in about that, but caratsgems on ebay has several grey spinels that look to be precision cut and are square, but not princess cut.

Here is a sapphire from gemfix.com that you might like:
https://gemfix.com/gems/sapphire-montana-12-882

This ring on Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/599358...b759db569b9d391b37a70f54d7ca608f7f0:599358087

 

[T L]

mellowyellow girl and missy - I agree that it isn't the prettiest diamond out there for sure, but it was an example of a grey diamond and the only one in the cut I want.

T L - I really dislike brown, yellow, and green undertones in diamonds. That along with the cut I want is why I have pretty much ruled them out when it comes to finding a grey stone.

daneshpastry - I am fine with a blue or purple undertone in order to find a sapphire. Why is a princess cut going to be hard to find? Because of the size of the rough stone it takes to cut one? I would really like to avoid lab made.

I've seen them in princess cuts, and they throw off a rainbow of color and fire that you would never see in another species of stone. I actually think the darker background lends itself to more fire than colorless diamonds. I don't like that khacky olive color either, but when it comes to diamonds, I can resist. However, it's up to you. I will just say that if you're looking for a gray stone in another gem species, make sure it's lighter in tone, otherwise it will look like a piece of charcoal. That goes for diamonds too, some are too dark and go dead.

 

[Seaglow]

Perhaps you have not seen gray diamonds with faint yellow and green secondary colors. They’re not always mud or gravel colored. Some are rather nice and silvery with hint of the secondary color. Here are two stones. One has a faint yellow secondary color and one has a green. You can see the secondary color in some light but not in some.

 

[T L]

Perhaps you have not seen gray diamonds with faint yellow and green secondary colors. They’re not always mud or gravel colored. Some are rather nice and silvery with hint of the secondary color. Here are two stones. One has a faint yellow secondary color and one has a green. You can see the secondary color in some light but not in some.

Don't forget that metallic luster.

 

[Rare_Swan]

arkieb1 - Do you have a photo of the spinel you sold? The diamond I posted was the only princess cut I found in grey; I do want a stone that has some fire and sparkle to it.

daneshpastry - I will have to keep looking for a princess cut or sort out a different set of priorities with my stone if I can't find a princess cut. Thank you.

gingercurls - Spinels do seem to be winning thus far.

T L - I will be careful not to go too dark. Thank you for the advice.

Seaglow - Thank you for showing me different examples of grey diamonds with yellow or green undertones. Sadly, I still am not a fan of either undertone; that is just my personal preference.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

I'd contact Elle (https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGemstoneProject) or Peter Torraca (http://www.torraca.net/contact/). Elle is kind of the unofficial queen of gray spinels and I know Peter has cut some as well. I think they'd be the best vendors to help you with your search.

 

[Seaglow]

No worries. Regarding princess cut, you seldom will find them in Colored Stones because princess cuts are done to maximize brilliance and has a better yield for an octahedral diamond crystal when cut in two.

Colored Stones are cut mainly for color. Also, even though a spinel can be octahedral, it is not as hard as a diamond. The corners of the princess cut are prone to chipping and even though the next in line, sapphire, has a MOH’s scale hardness of 9 (and to boot princess cut is not a high yield cut for most sapphires crystals) in reality, a diamonds is many times and way far harder than a sapphire.

Also for gray diamonds you will not find a princess often because FCDs are also cut for color. And if you cut an FCD with a cut that maximises brilliance (such are princess cut and round brilliants), you will not get the maximum color of the stone. Gray is still a color that if it does not pass the normal D-Z (together with yellow and brown) on the normal diamond color scale, you can get a lower color with less value that might fall from P-Z.

If you like the lighter tones, you can get a gray diamond in the P-Z color as faint gray, but gray is actually quite rare in such a case.

 

[Rare_Swan]

SparkliesLuver - I have reached out to Elle (The Gemstone Project) and I will keep Peter in mind. Thank you.

Seaglow - Thank you for explaining why princess cut is so hard to find. I think I am going to have to ponder this for a while. . . if I really want a princess cut, I will have to go with a diamond OR if I want a grey spinel, I will have to pick a different cut that I like.

 

[PrecisionGem]

I used to cut princess cuts often years ago, but they didn’t sell well. Most rough stone shaped don’t lend them selves well to square cuts as there is ofteb more waste. It’s really no bearing on the crystal habit of the mineral, as very few pieces of rough actually take on thier crystal shape.
Chipping is much different than scratching. Diamonds are very hard, which means there is nothing on earth other than other diamonds that can scratch them, but they can be chipped just like any other stone. Actually many colored stones are less prone to chipping than diamonds are.
Since you are looking for a gray stone, gray stones will sell for much less than a pretty color in both spinel and sapphire. The extra lost material shouldn’t make too much difference to a cutter since the material would not be at the high end for mineral.

 

[Seaglow]

PrecisionGem is right. So let me correct my statement. Indeed hardness is different from toughness and a stone’s durability is a combination of hardness, toughness, and stability.

I still think though that the corners of princess cut is prone to chipping of all cuts and a protective setting is highly advisable for the corners.

It is true that rough can occur in many forms such as pebbled stones or flattened crystals, but I could hardly think of a shape of a sapphire or spinel that would get good yield for a princess cut but I’m not a cutter so cutters will have better advise on this. Two diamonds are cut from an octahedral crystal though is more for economies and value in reaching magic numbers (price jump in carats), and may not be applicable for most colored stones.

The material is not high end indeed. There would be no problem with availability in spinel. However, many white, gray and grayish sapphires are heated to improve color (and in many cases, make the whites and light grays to blue color, which now become a valuable material). There should be more luck in sources though like Montana wherein not all stones respond well to heating and are better left untreated.

 

[arkieb1]

I was going to say the same thing the reason you don't see a heap of princess cuts at the moment is they went out of fashion and have not been selling so cutters have been cutting less of them, but it would not be difficult to get a princess grey spinel cut for you.

Here is an example of an EC cut one;

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-01ct-Nat...107860?hash=item362e01dc54:g:RpgAAOSwY4taq-~7

Jeff (in Thailand could have his cutters cut you one);

http://stores.ebay.com/finegemstonesandjewelry?rmvSB=true

Or Ryan could probably cut you one;

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RyanQuantzStudios

Or one of the high end spinel vendors;

https://ivynewyork.com/collections/grey-spinel-1?page=1