Need Help with Sapphire Purchase

[robbnick]

Hi All,

I am very new to ring purchasing and I am looking for a sapphire engagement ring. I've gone into a couple stores looking at rings and I've had really bad experiences. I've felt like these places were trying to take advantage of me and sell me inferior stones, and even showed me some with 40% windows. I am sorry to say, but I am very turned off by the stores and have turned to the web to educate myself.

Sapphire's Requirements

• Royal Blue color

• Medium Tone

• Strong/Vivid Saturation

• 2-3 carats

• Not too many facets. My gf wants the stone to look very nature and unaltered

• Budget: $8,000

I've been surfing the forums and I have heard a lot of good things about Gemfix. After checking out their website, I've found a stone which I think she will really like, but I would love some advice as to whether it is a good stone and/or a good buy. I think in terms of color it is dead one.

Gemfix
Untreated Sapphire Cushion Mixed Cut
Weight: 2.91 cts
Measurements: 8.1x6.9mm, height 5.6mm
Clarity: VVS
Origin: Sri Lanka
Enhancements: None
Price: $ 7560.00
Order/Stock No.: sapphire_blue_1062
Description: Absolutely fantastic. Royal "Kashmir" style "glowy" blue with a hint of violet. Certified untreated. Amazing!
Pantone 2728 & 2738C



Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Robbnick

 

[LD]

Hi All,

I am very new to ring purchasing and I am looking for a sapphire engagement ring. I've gone into a couple stores looking at rings and I've had really bad experiences. I've felt like these places were trying to take advantage of me and sell me inferior stones, and even showed me some with 40% windows. I am sorry to say, but I am very turned off by the stores and have turned to the web to educate myself.

Sapphire's Requirements

• Royal Blue color

• Medium Tone

• Strong/Vivid Saturation

• 2-3 carats

• Not too many facets. My gf wants the stone to look very nature and unaltered

• Budget: $8,000

I've been surfing the forums and I have heard a lot of good things about Gemfix. After checking out their website, I've found a stone which I think she will really like, but I would love some advice as to whether it is a good stone and/or a good buy. I think in terms of color it is dead one.

Gemfix
Untreated Sapphire Cushion Mixed Cut
Weight: 2.91 cts
Measurements: 8.1x6.9mm, height 5.6mm
Clarity: VVS
Origin: Sri Lanka
Enhancements: None
Price: $ 7560.00
Order/Stock No.: sapphire_blue_1062
Description: Absolutely fantastic. Royal "Kashmir" style "glowy" blue with a hint of violet. Certified untreated. Amazing!
Pantone 2728 & 2738C



Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Robbnick

Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by not wanting too many facets? Facets are what makes a gemstone beautiful or rubbish! If you look at extremes, loads of facets will give you a concave cut ie a busy looking gemstone (it's a love/hate thing) but a lack of facets (ie to preserve weight at the expense of beauty) can result in a window that may affect performance. So I think you may mean that you don't want a busy looking cut?

Also, what's your feeling about treatments? If you haven't done so already, please read this because it will outline the differences. [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-to-coloured-gemstone-buying-read-this-first.174284/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-to-coloured-gemstone-buying-read-this-first.174284/[/URL]

Lastly, there are lots of vendors that sell sapphires. You may want to look at this thread that has links to other vendors so you can shop around. [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-a-blue-sapphire-start-here.185711/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-a-blue-sapphire-start-here.185711/[/URL]

Looking at the stone you've linked to, it's very dark and will undoubtedly darken once set. Can you see in the handshot that there is quite a lot of black? You've said you're looking for medium tone but this is dark. Royal blue unfortunately isn't a descriptor that helps because what I call royal blue and what others call royal blue will normally be different. Have you seen a ring that's an inspiration for your search or a colour swatch of what you want?

 

[robbnick]

Not mentioned in the ad but I've asked the seller. I am hoping it is an AGL.

 

[robbnick]

Hi All,

I am very new to ring purchasing and I am looking for a sapphire engagement ring. I've gone into a couple stores looking at rings and I've had really bad experiences. I've felt like these places were trying to take advantage of me and sell me inferior stones, and even showed me some with 40% windows. I am sorry to say, but I am very turned off by the stores and have turned to the web to educate myself.

Sapphire's Requirements

• Royal Blue color

• Medium Tone

• Strong/Vivid Saturation

• 2-3 carats

• Not too many facets. My gf wants the stone to look very nature and unaltered

• Budget: $8,000

I've been surfing the forums and I have heard a lot of good things about Gemfix. After checking out their website, I've found a stone which I think she will really like, but I would love some advice as to whether it is a good stone and/or a good buy. I think in terms of color it is dead one.

Gemfix
Untreated Sapphire Cushion Mixed Cut
Weight: 2.91 cts
Measurements: 8.1x6.9mm, height 5.6mm
Clarity: VVS
Origin: Sri Lanka
Enhancements: None
Price: $ 7560.00
Order/Stock No.: sapphire_blue_1062
Description: Absolutely fantastic. Royal "Kashmir" style "glowy" blue with a hint of violet. Certified untreated. Amazing!
Pantone 2728 & 2738C



Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Robbnick

Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by not wanting too many facets? Facets are what makes a gemstone beautiful or rubbish! If you look at extremes, loads of facets will give you a concave cut ie a busy looking gemstone (it's a love/hate thing) but a lack of facets (ie to preserve weight at the expense of beauty) can result in a window that may affect performance. So I think you may mean that you don't want a busy looking cut?

Also, what's your feeling about treatments? If you haven't done so already, please read this because it will outline the differences. [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-to-coloured-gemstone-buying-read-this-first.174284/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-to-coloured-gemstone-buying-read-this-first.174284/[/URL]

Lastly, there are lots of vendors that sell sapphires. You may want to look at this thread that has links to other vendors so you can shop around. [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-a-blue-sapphire-start-here.185711/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-a-blue-sapphire-start-here.185711/[/URL]

Looking at the stone you've linked to, it's very dark and will undoubtedly darken once set. Can you see in the handshot that there is quite a lot of black? You've said you're looking for medium tone but this is dark. Royal blue unfortunately isn't a descriptor that helps because what I call royal blue and what others call royal blue will normally be different. Have you seen a ring that's an inspiration for your search or a colour swatch of what you want?

Correct, she does not want a cut that is too busy looking.

I have no preference for treatments. I have heard that there is no major difference between heated and untreated. I believe she would prefer untreated, but I do not believe there is any major reason for having that stance.

I agree the stone is a little darker, but she wants it too not be too light. Attached is an example of what I am looking to make with either an oval or cushion cut.




My difficulty is it is very difficult to find the same shade of blue. I feel like everything I see has hints of purple, and the photos always seem different than the real stone. So, while this stone above is the shade she wants, but if i were to actually see this in person it might look very different.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[LD]

Your photo hasn't come out. Can you try and reload it please?

Just a warning - nearly all sapphires will change colour in different lighting conditions (unless they're a black hole to begin with). The chances are that you WILL see some purple especially if you're going for a medium tone. If you don't see purple then the sapphire may have a grey tone (so will look a bit more steel-like). With that in mind, are you sure a blue sapphire is the one for you?

 

[robbnick]

Your photo hasn't come out. Can you try and reload it please?

Just a warning - nearly all sapphires will change colour in different lighting conditions (unless they're a black hole to begin with). The chances are that you WILL see some purple especially if you're going for a medium tone. If you don't see purple then the sapphire may have a grey tone (so will look a bit more steel-like). With that in mind, are you sure a blue sapphire is the one for you?

 

[LD]

I can see it now! That photo is flooded with light and so in real life that sapphire is probably very very dark. However, we're only looking at it for a colour comparison!

Something for you to think about. If that's the colour you're going for then the one that you've linked to originally will be fine. I just want to mention however that when stones are this dark they can have quite a lot of black areas. Of the ones you've seen locally have you noticed that?

I believe there's a good returns policy so if you have room on your credit card it's certainly worth getting for a look. If you're in no hurry it's also a good way to have a stone in hand and then it's easier to assess gemstone photos from the same vendor.

 

[minousbijoux]

To add to what LD has said, apart from it likely being darker in real life due to the flooded light, that stone is no where near vivid saturation. I would say medium saturation at best. While the tone is medium dark to dark (depending upon how it looks when not floodlit), it has weaker saturation, which gives it the greyish greenish cast is has. If you're not sure what I mean, take the two sapphires you've posted side by side. While they're both about the same lightness/darkness (tone), the second one is much less bright or vibrant. This is saturation. I admit to loving highly saturated, slightly violetish blue sapphires so my choice would be the first (but in reality, it would be darker so I wouldn't get either of these stones).

 

[pregcurious]

If that's the color that she wants, you can send the pic to Andrew at Gemfix and ask him to tell you if any of the stones look like this when he holds them on the back of his hand. You can see on the Gemfix website that the stones look slightly different in their "glamour" shots versus the back-of-the-hand shots.

If it difficult to get accurate pictures of stones, as you will notice on other people's sapphire threads on this forum. I've found it's better to work with a trustworthy vendor who is honest about how the stone looks in real life. This is my personal experience.

If you plan on putting a diamond halo on your stone, like your example, you may also want to mention this to Andrew so he can pick something a little bit lighter. Once the stone is put in a halo, or in any type of setting that reduces the light that comes into it, the stone will darken a little.

 

[Jesusfreak]

Hey,

Newbie here but I have been looking out for you anyhow.

I have done a fair share of looking at stones and came across this one.

You can find it here:
http://www.greenlakejewelry.com/gallery/stone_gallery.aspx

What do you think of it?

If your dropping that kind of cash, I would consider sticking with an untreated stone. Its my understanding that they increase in value more but I guess at the end of the day it depends on what she likes.

Stone # : 1-11PPPCEN
3.44 Carat Oval Blue Sapphire
Item ID 1-11PPPCEN Type Sapphire
Dimensions (mm) 9.90 x 7.70 x 5.16 Weight (cwt) 3.44
Color Blue Color Intensity Intense
Shape Oval Cut Mixed Brilliant
Treatment No Enhancement Clarity Gem Clarity
In Stock Item (1) available $7500.00

Ulysses

 

[corundum_conundrum]

Great color, Ulysses, medium sized window that is going to rob one of a good deal of the color and liveliness.

 

[chrono]

The description of what you want is very different from the picture you posted. My monitor shows a blue sapphire that is medium dark to dark tone with medium saturation. Are you absolutely sure this is what she wants? For comparison, please look at Slksapphire's avatar to see the gold standard that all blue sapphires aim for. Hers is a medium dark sapphire with strong to vivid saturation.

 

[minousbijoux]

robbnick: the sapphire Ulysses posted is lighter than you have indicated you seek, but do you see how bright it is? That's due to a large degree to the fact that it has very strong saturation. I hope that helps and forgive me if you already understood the terms; there are so many people looking for blue sapphires and so many that confuse lightness/darkness with intensity of hue/vibrancy/saturation that it just always bares repeating - if not for you, then for the next one right behind you!

 

[LD]

robbnick: the sapphire Ulysses posted is lighter than you have indicated you seek, but do you see how bright it is? That's due to a large degree to the fact that it has very strong saturation. I hope that helps and forgive me if you already understood the terms; there are so many people looking for blue sapphires and so many that confuse lightness/darkness with intensity of hue/vibrancy/saturation that it just always bares repeating - if not for you, then for the next one right behind you!

.......... and how the photograph has been taken - can you see how blue the background is? I suspect that's not a blue background at all but has something to do with the photography.

 

[minousbijoux]

duly noted, LD!