Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center stone

[moak]

Re: Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center st

Hey - so an update to this thread.

I have two sapphires to evaluate. One is a NSC, and one is a custom cut. Both are cut with a step cut pavilion.

They are nearly identical in color. One of them (stone 1) has a more centered pavilion, a shorter crown, and the pavilion is cut straighter. The other (stone 2) has an off center pavilion, a taller crown, and more "bulbous" or the pavilion has more of a arc to it. Stone 1 has some very slight inclusions visible only at the right angle in the right lighting, on a light background. Stone 2 is perfectly clear.

I'm pretty sure stone 2 has either a slight window, or slight extinction but I can't really tell.

Some differences of how they behave:
On a black background, stone 2 has dark spots looking directly through the table, while stone 1 reflects light back directly up through the table from the bottom. But stone 1 has a brighter, more brilliant outer area, or the area right around the table when looking at it (don't know the term) on a black background or on the back of my hand.

So I guess I'm saying is it more important to have better brilliance on the outer area, or better straight through the table reflection.

Also is a shorter crown better than a taller one?

I have some pictures, but my phone doesn't want to upload them. I'll try to get them up here.

 

[moak]

Re: Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center st

Here is a pic of the two

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center st

So I guess I'm saying is it more important to have better brilliance on the outer area, or better straight through the table reflection.

Also is a shorter crown better than a taller one?

I have some pictures, but my phone doesn't want to upload them. I'll try to get them up here.

I'm guessing that stone 1 is the one that isn't from NSC?

Stone 1 looks much better cut, while stone 2 looks like it probably has a window. Can you post more pictures? Even if it's just of one stone, it's best to get straight through the table so we can get an idea of what kind of cut flaws we're looking at.

So far, I'd say I like the stone color of number 2 better, but the cut of 1 would cause me to choose it.

 

[chrono]

Re: Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center st

Looking the picture you posted, there is no way there are near identical in colour.
Left stone - clearly purple
Right stone - blue with a slight purple modifier

Remember that coloured stones are judged face up, including the cutting. It would help if you posted pictures of the stone straight one (camera lense exactly perpendicular to the stone's table).

View the stones under indoor lighting and note what you see (colour, sparkle, etc).
View the stones under strong diffused sunlight and note what you see.

 

[deskjockey]

Re: Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center st

Kind of a tough call on those, I like the cut of the one on the left better, but prefer the color of the one on the right. Is the picture straight on/perpendicular to the top of the stone? Hard to tell if that's a real window or a tilt.

If it were me I'd go towards the one with the better cut, but as this is for a pretty important ring it might be worth looking around more, we don't want to "settle" on this

 

[T L]

Re: Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center st

Kind of a tough call on those, I like the cut of the one on the left better, but prefer the color of the one on the right. Is the picture straight on/perpendicular to the top of the stone? Hard to tell if that's a real window or a tilt.

If it were me I'd go towards the one with the better cut, but as this is for a pretty important ring it might be worth looking around more, we don't want to "settle" on this

Not me, but some people are more about color, and others are more about cut. You have to decide which camp you're in.

Both are not precision cut gems, so in this case, the color, at least to me, makes the one on the right the most obvious choice. It has more depth of color, while the one on the left is a straight flat purple with no depth.

 

[moak]

Re: Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center st

Thanks for the insight everyone. I have since chosen which one to go with. I chose the one of the left. The one on the left was a flat facet step cut pavilion by Richard Homer, 1.15ct, 6.3mm diameter by 3.7mm tall. He specifically picked out a piece of rough and cut it to my exact specifications. I told him I wanted a true purple purple. The one on the right was a purple from NSC 6.3mmx6.36mm x 4.4 mm tall. Although the NSC definitely had more sparkler or "shimmer" in certain lighting, I chose the other one for these reasons:

My gf's favorite color is purple. For this reason, I wanted a sapphire that was always purple, in all lighting conditions. Even though more depth of color and color shift is cool, I wanted it to always look purple when she looks at it. In natural diffused sunlight, the NSC clearly looks blue while the RH is definitely still purple. In natural diffused sunlight the NSC was also a very light tone, where I know she wants a dark colored sapphire.

The stone from RH was custom cut for me, (or her) from a piece of rough sapphire. This is pretty cool, and adds to the story behind it. I had the ring custom made (ordered from a designer, but it had to be made, wasn't just sitting around waiting), so I think knowing the center stone was even more custom, specifically cut from a piece of rough, means something more than a standard NSC stone.

Oddly enough, even though it was a poorer cut and had a window, I think because of a higher crown the NSC had more sparkle or shimmer inside it in certain lighting. (Directly overhead LED/fluorescent, or diffused daylight coming through a window when close to the window. In other lighting they were very very similar). Although it had more sparkle, it was only around the outside of the stone, never directly in the middle where the window was, or across from one side to the other going through the middle. The RH cut one had less overall sparkle to it, but didn't have the window and at times the entire piece would flash. Because of this it seemed to be slightly more alive if that makes sense.

Those are the three main reasons. If the RH wasn't a custom cut, I probably would have chosen the NSC. But I think being able to tell people you're center stone is custom cut makes it more valuable to her. That's the biggest factor that affected the decision. I honestly couldn't make up my mind, and the designer helped me make the decision based on that reasoning.

The setting is also designed for a 1 ct diamond, and looking at normal sizes, the 3.7mm RH seems closer to those sizes. I was somewhat concerned the 4.4mm NSC deep would be a little too deep, and not quite fit great, but this was a very minor concern. It was mostly the three reasons above.

I apologize about the picture quality as they were from my phone and I cropped out the unnecessary parts which enlarged them even more and blurred them a bit. But I'm attaching some other photos that show a few other comparisons. The first one shows another similar shot to the picture I posted previously. The next one shows what I mean about RH's sapphire having more overall life without that dead spot in the middle. The last picture shows how the NSC has more sparkle to it around the edges. This was only in the specific lighting that I stated earlier that it sparkled around the edges like that though.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[VirginiaZee]

Re: Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center st

That's a very pretty purple, and will look fantastic in the setting! I love all the thought you put into picking out the perfect stone and ring for her.

 

[moak]

Re: Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center st

Thanks. I just took a new job and we're in the process of finding a home to buy. I'm not sure which has been more stressful lol

And the engagement will be in disneyland

 

[VirginiaZee]

Re: Help picking out deep blue/purple sapphire for center st

Stressful as it was, as a fellow purple lover, you've found a beautiful purple-purple sapphire for the engagement ring. And the engagement itself sounds like it'll be awesome.