Need input on star sapphire

[Richard Sherwood]

Date: 7/4/2009 12:19:21 PM
Author: Upgradable

Date: 7/4/2009 12:10:29 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I''m not an expert in star sapphires, but make sure it''s a true Ceylon star. The Indian ones are much less valuable. The asterism is nice, but truth be told is that the Indian star sapphires can have very fine asterism as well. However, color, translucency, are other very important aspects to these stones. Just make sure you''re paying a fair price for the quality is what I''m trying to say.

That''s what I''m hoping to get help with. I will be sending it to Rich Sherwood who will confirm origin. Is $100 per carat a reasonable price even if it is Indian?

The stone has a Ceylon (Sri Lankan) look to it, and $100 per carat certainly seems reasonable from what I can tell from the photos.

A fine star on a commercial quality body.

 

[Upgradable]

Oh, thank you Rich! Again, the most important thing is that I love it, and I DO! However, I wanted an educated, critical eye to save me from myself if need be. I appreciate all of the help!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

The way to save you from yourself is to make any significant gemstone purchase contingent upon it appraising out to your satisfaction with the independent appraiser of your choice, with a right of return for any reason.

If you stipulate this up front, most jewelers/vendors will go along with it.

That way you can''t lose.

 

[Upgradable]

What would make this stone a potential "loser"? Diffusion treatment? Indian origin?

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Yeah, both of those would be deal breakers. To answer an earlier question, $100 per carat would not be a reasonable price for an Indian star stone. But this one looks Ceylon (Sri Lankan), so I don''t think you have a worry in that regard. I''d be surprised if it were diffused as well.

 

[Upgradable]

Here''s another picture with more perspective. You can see that on my hand this stone is huge! This was taken outside with clouds, no direct sun.

 

[D&T]

Date: 7/4/2009 1:13:22 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I like the white gold and the yellow gold, but I don''t care much for it in rose gold.

ditto! - but I''m starting to love the yellow one...YUMMY!

 

[chrono]

Nice looking star sapphire - I like it in both yellow and white. The white metal matches the star and the yellow provides a soft contrast. The rose just looks out of place though.

 

[Upgradable]

I have another question regarding this stone. With it''s fat belly and unattractive underside, is there any way that it could be recut or repolished to minimize the amount that would need to be hidden by the mounting?

 

[chrono]

What''s wrong with the belly? I don''t see why you''d want to reduce that.

The underside will not be seen either when the ring is worn on the finger. An option is to have a pierced or closed backing.

 

[RubyCharm]

Date: 7/6/2009 4:15:46 PM
Author: Upgradable
I have another question regarding this stone. With it''s fat belly and unattractive underside, is there any way that it could be recut or repolished to minimize the amount that would need to be hidden by the mounting?

I''ve heard that the underside is left unpolished on purpose in order to keep more light trapped inside the stone. All of the undersides that I''ve seen are relatively unattractive, so I guess that''s pretty common among star gemstones. Recutting the underside might mess up the asterism, because I think (I''m not 100% sure) the depth of the underside may contribute to the visual clarity of the star effect.

 

[Upgradable]

Here''s a side picture showing how big it is. I realize it lowers the carat weight, but it won''t affect my cost, and it could make it easier to mount.

 

[Upgradable]

and a bottom view

 

[RubyCharm]

Date: 7/6/2009 4:38:37 PM
Author: Upgradable
Here''s a side picture showing how big it is. I realize it lowers the carat weight, but it won''t affect my cost, and it could make it easier to mount.

The stone seems a bit heavy on the bottom. I don''t know if such a bottom is really necessary as far as the asterism is concerned. A lot of times cutters save some extra weight so that the stone is worth more (if that''s the case, I guess you could get it recut without damaging the star).

 

[Upgradable]

I didn''t think I wanted to go this traditional, but imagine the star in this mounting.....

 

[RubyCharm]

Date: 7/6/2009 6:53:02 PM
Author: Upgradable
I didn''t think I wanted to go this traditional, but imagine the star in this mounting.....

It would look amazing!!! I love the idea of an antique setting with a diamond halo (hehe, I''m obviously biased). I think that type of setting would fit the stone perfectly.

 

[Upgradable]

This would accommodate her generous underbelly, and I could wear it on my middle finger next to my ering.

The pics are from Fay Cullen. Who would be suited to making this? Maytal?

 

[RubyCharm]

Date: 7/6/2009 7:09:30 PM
Author: Upgradable
This would accommodate her generous underbelly, and I could wear it on my middle finger next to my ering.


The pics are from Fay Cullen. Who would be suited to making this? Maytal?

Maytal would be a good option. Also, this place comes to mind. Depending on your budget, even Van Craeynest could create a ring a like that (and they are great at mounting difficult stones---my star has a native cut that complicated things quite a bit).

 

[Upgradable]

I''d die to have a VanCraenyst!!! (You know I can''t spell that) The die struck flowers are TDF!!!!

I''ve never priced them out though. The mounting doesn''t necessarily have to have a full halo of diamonds, I''d like the 4 at N S E W. Do you have examples of what they could do for the undermounting?

Have I told you how much I love your ring?????

 

[RubyCharm]

Date: 7/6/2009 7:36:19 PM
Author: Upgradable
I'd die to have a VanCraenyst!!! (You know I can't spell that) The die struck flowers are TDF!!!!


I've never priced them out though. The mounting doesn't necessarily have to have a full halo of diamonds, I'd like the 4 at N S E W. Do you have examples of what they could do for the undermounting?


Have I told you how much I love your ring?????

Aw, thank you!!!

They can do wonders for the undermounting!!! Just go to their website, click on PDF CATALOG, and take a look at their pierced collection to get a rough idea. Also, you could email Sara and ask her for close-ups of rings that have undermountings with intricate pierced details. I originally wanted a ring with that type of undermounting, but when I found my star ruby, I had to allocate more money towards the center stone (since it turned out to be way more expensive than I had anticipated) and couldn't afford a more complex VC design. So, the underside of my ring is very simple (see attached pic). It's just smooth platinum. I could have gotten a ring with a more elaborate undermounting from a more affordable designer, but I fell in love with the die stuck details from VC!!!

 

[RubyCharm]

And, by the way, for custom work, the best thing is to contact Larry directly (Sara can give you price quotes for their catalog designs, but not for custom desigs---you need to discuss those with Larry).

 

[chrono]

That FC setting is amazing! It would be awesome to have a custom ring maker replicate it.

 

[Upgradable]

I do have another thread in Show Me the Ring forum, but I thought I''d ask just you colored stone lovers what you thought of this as an option for my star sapphire.

This would be completely different than anything I have, which is something I''m looking for.