Kashmir sapphire may have been switched.

[deorwine]

Oh! Exactly the same thing happened to me, with the stone in my avatar, which I had been wearing a lot in a ring. I had my jeweler reset it. When I got the new ring back, I said, "Wow, I can't believe this is the same stone!" -- it went from a sleepy stone to a much more crisp sparkly one, and if I remember correctly I did perceive more purple in it in fluorescent/incandescent light (though not in daylight).

I mean, I was mostly joking -- it was clearly the same stone, with a wonky native cut. And the picture in my avatar is from the original vendor and you can see it always had some purple in it. Turns out all they did was clean it really well before putting it in the new setting! On my finger it had gotten dirty (I'd been cleaning it but I guess wasn't able to clean it as well as they did), which made it more sleepy-looking. I would also not be surprised if something about the grime changes the way the light goes through the stone, potentially changing the perceived color somewhat.

OK, now I want someone to do an exhaustive color comparison with dirty and clean stones!

 

[LightBright]

Hi Tigertales. After living with your sapphire for a while, do you still have the same sense that it was switched? Honestly, I think I know what you mean about the color of the before and after not matching. Your old stone photo was predominantly blue. The photos of the new stone look like it has a purpleish tone. Very subtle but I can see it. I’m also wondering if your “new” stone doesn’t have the silk characteristics of the old. It looks less silky from photos only. And your photo of the scratches on the new stone seem really interesting to me. I’m basing my ideas about how a one hundred year old worn sapphire would look based on a couple antique worn sapphires and diamonds I’ve seen. Those have subtle all over finely abraded facet junctions very much like a patina that accentuates faceting, but nice quality flat surfaces. This is what I observed. I’ve also come into contact with an antique Kashmir sapphire. It is blue. Very very little if any purple. I’m wondering about your “new” stone. Does it light up like a medium bright blue lightbulb when it comes into contact with bright sun? Does it perform in light the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts now that you’ve lived with your stone for a while and see more photos since I think It is BEAUTIFUL. I’d also love to hear about how when and where your family obtained your Kashmir sapphire.

 

[tigertales]

@LightBright
Thank you for your thoughts...yes it's beautiful in all lighting.
It was my great-grandmother's, circa 1904.