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I just bought a 5.5 ct unheated sapphire. What do I need to look for/ be aware of when I get it?

winnietucker

winnietucker

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 4, 2019
Messages
2,695
I’d also like some general feedback. It seemed like a good deal so I pounced. But I know nothing about sapphires/ buying them/ what they should cost/ etc and need some feedback because the inspection period is only 3 days. Thank you!
 
really looking forward to seeing your photo's when it arrived
what a stunner !
 
winnietucker said:
Ok I feel a little bit better about this. When I saw it I was like, “I better ask PS first” but I was worried it would sell before I could get a response.
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in so glad you got it before someone else did
what finger did you hope to wear it on ?
 
Daisys and Diamonds said:
in so glad you got it before someone else did
what finger did you hope to wear it on ?
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I only wear rings on my left ring finger... idk why I just can’t do other fingers.

I actually really care for the setting and had planned to scrap it and reset. I’m not sure how yet but tapered French cut sides are the top idea floating around in my head.
 
winnietucker said:
I only wear rings on my left ring finger... idk why I just can’t do other fingers.

I actually really care for the setting and had planned to scrap it and reset. I’m not sure how yet but tapered French cut sides are the top idea floating around in my head.
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it looks like it has a fare amount of gold in that setting :appl:
good luck with the reset


please still post hand shots
before and after comparisons ;)2
 
I think it's a steal if it's the same stone. Not sure why they would get the unmounted unheated GIA report -- and then flush-mount it to sell at not much of a premium (?). I can't see enough detail in the photos but that has to be a new mounting. Maybe it's overly light and the bezel closes it up a bit. Based on the geometry and cut, I would not expect it to have a window (the other reason for a bezel). The in-the-box photo looks pretty honest, color-wise -- the royal blue ring box doesn't look fake-y blue. I actually like violet-ish sapphires. Take it outside as soon as you get it.
 
Daisys and Diamonds said:
it looks like it has a fare amount of gold in that setting :appl:
good luck with the reset


please still post hand shots
before and after comparisons ;)2
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Will do!

And if anyone has setting ideas, please share. A large, natural unheated sapphire has been on my wish list for long while so I want to one and done the setting instead of my usual reset too many times and flip flop in every direction because I can’t make a decision to save my life.
 
LilAlex said:
I think it's a steal if it's the same stone. Not sure why they would get the unmounted unheated GIA report -- and then flush-mount it to sell at not much of a premium (?). I can't see enough detail in the photos but that has to be a new mounting. Maybe it's overly light and the bezel closes it up a bit. Based on the geometry and cut, I would not expect it to have a window (the other reason for a bezel). The in-the-box photo looks pretty honest, color-wise -- the royal blue ring box doesn't look fake-y blue. I actually like violet-ish sapphires. Take it outside as soon as you get it.
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I’m in the PNW so it’s mostly clouds now. And with my luck it’ll be super gloomy for all 3 days of the inspection period. Will that be an issue with the color? I have a grow light for my orchids (not the pink kind) with different settings I can play with if that’d be more accurate.
 
It looks like a nice Sapphire in terms of colour and cutting to my untrained eyes, and had it been in White Gold, I could have bought it as I love Gypsy settings.

If I were to re-set it, I may re-set it North-South with a pair of round, trillion or tapered baguette white/colourless side stones.

Looking forward to see the IRL photos.

DK :))
 
dk168 said:
It looks like a nice Sapphire in terms of colour and cutting to my untrained eyes, and had it been in White Gold, I could have bought it as I love Gypsy settings.

If I were to re-set it, I may re-set it North-South with a pair of round, trillion or tapered baguette white/colourless side stones.

Looking forward to see the IRL photos.

DK :))
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I’m always a fan of a 3 stone. And tapered baguettes! I’ll definitely add those to my list of possibilities.
 
The price of sapphires can be all over the place, and a lot depends upon how vivid they are. A vivid stone will sell for far more than a dull stone of the same color.

The color in the hand shot looks very good, although it seems much lighter in the box shot. However I guess just about any sapphire is not going to look great against that royal blue background!

There's a lot to love about your stone, and the price is right, particularly given it's unheated. I think you'll know within minutes of opening the box if it's a keeper or not.
 
prs said:
The price of sapphires can be all over the place, and a lot depends upon how vivid they are. A vivid stone will sell for far more than a dull stone of the same color.

The color in the hand shot looks very good, although it seems much lighter in the box shot. However I guess just about any sapphire is not going to look great against that royal blue background!

There's a lot to love about your stone, and the price is right, particularly given it's unheated. I think you'll know within minutes of opening the box if it's a keeper or not.
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True about loving it when I open it. I don’t know a lot about colored stones so I kind of forgot about that part. Was too busy being worried about it being good since I couldn’t consult with my trusted experts first.

Sapphire pricing in general is confusing to me. Are there any resources out there to learn more about all of that? I’m currently reading through old posts.
 
Thats one hell of a deal for a no heat stone, even set!

Ok I'm being a negative nelly (a little bit) but I guess I need to be because....
What I'm a little bothered with is why have a report done, set it, then turn around and sell it 5 months later? Only way I can see it is maybe if the stone was already set, a jeweler unset it, sent it to GIA, then reset it after the report was finished. and maybe it was meant to be resold anyway..... 5.5 ct sapphires are not cheap in general so the pricing is what makes me blink a little.....
+ price of gold is high....

I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, and 2020 is a messed up year, I'm just saying it gives me pause. It would be worth having it examined once you receive it.

@winnietucker for your sake I sincerely hope its just a hell of a deal and you made out well.
 
Arcadian said:
Thats one hell of a deal for a no heat stone, even set!

Ok I'm being a negative nelly (a little bit) but I guess I need to be because....
What I'm a little bothered with is why have a report done, set it, then turn around and sell it 5 months later? Only way I can see it is maybe if the stone was already set, a jeweler unset it, sent it to GIA, then reset it after the report was finished. and maybe it was meant to be resold anyway..... 5.5 ct sapphires are not cheap in general so the pricing is what makes me blink a little.....
+ price of gold is high....

I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, and 2020 is a messed up year, I'm just saying it gives me pause. It would be worth having it examined once you receive it.

@winnietucker for your sake I sincerely hope its just a hell of a deal and you made out well.
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Ooh def taking it to my local jeweler when I get it in!
 
Arcadian said:
Thats one hell of a deal for a no heat stone, even set!

Ok I'm being a negative nelly (a little bit) but I guess I need to be because....
What I'm a little bothered with is why have a report done, set it, then turn around and sell it 5 months later? Only way I can see it is maybe if the stone was already set, a jeweler unset it, sent it to GIA, then reset it after the report was finished. and maybe it was meant to be resold anyway..... 5.5 ct sapphires are not cheap in general so the pricing is what makes me blink a little.....
+ price of gold is high....

I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, and 2020 is a messed up year, I'm just saying it gives me pause. It would be worth having it examined once you receive it.

@winnietucker for your sake I sincerely hope its just a hell of a deal and you made out well.
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+1 for all of this.

winnietucker said:
Ooh def taking it to my local jeweler when I get it in!
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I'm afraid that your local jeweller will be limited in what they can tell you.

Arcadian has hit the nail on the head ...... if this price was for a 5.5ct unheated sapphire it would make you blink and look for the catch. Add in the gold price and ............... you've either got a seriously phenomenal deal or there's a catch and you need to find out what it is. Is it the same stone as the report? Is it an unheated but low quality sapphire? It sounds a little too good to be true. I hope that it turns out to be deal of the century so I'm keeping everything crossed for you.
 
LD said:
+1 for all of this.



I'm afraid that your local jeweller will be limited in what they can tell you.

Arcadian has hit the nail on the head ...... if this price was for a 5.5ct unheated sapphire it would make you blink and look for the catch. Add in the gold price and ............... you've either got a seriously phenomenal deal or there's a catch and you need to find out what it is. Is it the same stone as the report? Is it an unheated but low quality sapphire? It sounds a little too good to be true. I hope that it turns out to be deal of the century so I'm keeping everything crossed for you.
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Who would I verify with? Or how could I verify? I had assumed I’d pop into my jeweler and they’d verify for me. Sin City Finds seems to be a reputable vendor so I’m hoping it’s not swapped or anything, and she seems legit from my previous interactions with her so I trust her, but I would like to verify since I have 3 days to do it.
 
I would also be cautious because it's a heck of a deal and for the same reasons @Arcadian has mentioned. Maybe the stone has a badly chipped girdle or something so they set it in a heavy bezel so you can't see it? Pure speculation, ofc, but it warrants a good look-over in detail.
 
winnietucker said:
True about loving it when I open it. I don’t know a lot about colored stones so I kind of forgot about that part. Was too busy being worried about it being good since I couldn’t consult with my trusted experts first.

Sapphire pricing in general is confusing to me. Are there any resources out there to learn more about all of that? I’m currently reading through old posts.
Click to expand...

DW and I went to a number of auction previews towards the end of 2019. We saw a lot of sapphires and one thing we learned was it's almost impossible to see the true beauty of a sapphire from a photo. However once you've seen a $5,000 sapphire next to a $50,000 sapphire you'll know the difference. I almost wish we had never seen the $50,000 sapphire!

If the stone has been swapped it's most likely with a synthetic. If you live near a big city, it might be possible to find an appraiser who regularly looks at colored stones, and has the expertise to tell the difference between natural and synthetic. Otherwise you could ask @Bron357 to get the next plane over here. =)2
 
prs said:
DW and I went to a number of auction previews towards the end of 2019. We saw a lot of sapphires and one thing we learned was it's almost impossible to see the true beauty of a sapphire from a photo. However once you've seen a $5,000 sapphire next to a $50,000 sapphire you'll know the difference. I almost wish we had never seen the $50,000 sapphire!

If the stone has been swapped it's most likely with a synthetic. If you live near a big city, it might be possible to find an appraiser who regularly looks at colored stones, and has the expertise to tell the difference between natural and synthetic. Otherwise you could ask @Bron357 to get the next plane over here. =)2
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I’ll post pics once I get it so hopefully that will kinda help. I have no idea when she’s shipping, but hopefully I get it by the end of next week.

And I actually do! Do you have any Seattle suggestions? I can get down to Portland quickly as well.
 
chrono said:
I would also be cautious because it's a heck of a deal and for the same reasons @Arcadian has mentioned. Maybe the stone has a badly chipped girdle or something so they set it in a heavy bezel so you can't see it? Pure speculation, ofc, but it warrants a good look-over in detail.
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What would you say that price is good for ct wise? I’m thinking this could be a reasonable answer to the setting concerns. But I could get it fixed by a cutter. I know that would cause it to lose some weight so I want to be more or less prepared for that possibility. Esp because I’m certain as soon as I unset, she won’t take a return.
 
The price is great for that carat size if the stone looks anything like the one in the hand shot. It would be great for heated, tremendous for Ceylon unheated.

If you don't have a pair of calipers it might be a good idea to go to Home Depot and buy one. If the dimensions match the GIA report, your odds of this being the real deal are greatly improved.
 
prs said:
The price is great for that carat size if the stone looks anything like the one in the hand shot. It would be great for heated, tremendous for Ceylon unheated.

If you don't have a pair of calipers it might be a good idea to go to Home Depot and buy one. If the dimensions match the GIA report, your odds of this being the real deal are greatly improved.
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Oh shoot that’s easy enough! I do have a pair. I’ll still take it into my jeweler for review too. I’m not sure how much time it takes to unset a stone in this kind of setting during a busy season, but I’ll keep PS posted on the journey. If anything looks sketchy along the way, hopefully someone can point it out. I paid PayPal... so I paid slightly more but I get some protection too if anything is seriously wrong.
 
Cautiously optimistic!

The pavilion looks similarly wonky on both the report and the vendor photo. So if its not the same stone, someone went to a lot of trouble.

If its all what it seems, its a steal. But is it? Hmm. Maybe the setting isnt solid. Maybe its a gray purple, or someone took a bite out of the girdle..

Price/ct will depend a lot on the color. Theres a big diff between the two vendor pics..
 
chroman said:
Cautiously optimistic!

The pavilion looks similarly wonky on both the report and the vendor photo. So if its not the same stone, someone went to a lot of trouble.

If its all what it seems, its a steal. But is it? Hmm. Maybe the setting isnt solid. Maybe its a gray purple, or someone took a bite out of the girdle..

Price/ct will depend a lot on the color. Theres a big diff between the two vendor pics..
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Oh yes, that was a question I forgot to ask and it’s prob a dumb question but I need to know. She said it changes color but GIA wouldn’t call it color change because it’s not significant enough. If it’s all good and everything is as seems and I keep it, could I somehow get GIA to reconsider? Color change was an interesting possibility and Finewater Gems had one - but it was too dark for my taste. So it’d be nice if it were official. Not sure how that affects value and if GIA would even consider it though.
 
I have bought from her a ton in the past. She's an honest broker, I think.

If the thought is that she switched the stone, I think that's far fetched. She probably picked it up from someone else in the trade that didn't move it. Ask her how she got it and why it's set now as well as why the report is 5 months old. I'm sure she'd be forthright with you.
 
I’ve purchased several things from Sin City Finds and have always had positive experiences. While “trust but verify” is always a sensible approach, I’m a little disturbed by the speculation in this thread. Those are pretty serious accusations to throw around casually.

Edited to add: Diana once sold me a ring that was glued into the setting. She had asked her setter to replace the original stone and he took the liberty of using glue instead of asking her if she wanted the prongs rebuilt. She disclosed this to me fully, sent photos, and discounted the ring without being asked. Those aren’t the actions of a shady operator.
 
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