New antique blue sapphire ring, with friends

[glitterata]

A jewelry shop I like was having a half-off sale after Christmas, making this 1920s platinum navette sapphire ring a decent price, and I succumbed. The store owner, who is not a gemologist, said the sapphires were natural (looks likely). When I asked about heat, he said they were original to the ring (sounds plausible) and therefore too old to be heated (nonsense, but whatever--they are small, at most half a carat each, and for what I paid, it doesn't much matter). The color is a pleasant medium blue, brighter in sun, darker in shade. It's a very wearable little ring. I'm wearing it on my left hand in these pictures so I can take photos with my right hand, but it works well on my right ring finger. Ugh, sorry the photos are so big!






The color can't compare to my Ceylon sapphire--here they both are in the weak midwinter sun--but it's still pretty, I think:



And here's my entire collection of blue sapphire rings, so far. (Oh, except a pair bands.) Top row, left to right: The 1920s navette, a late 19th century cabochon with a rose-cut diamond halo set in gold, and a 1920s platinum deco ring. Bottom row, left to right: My Ceylon blue sapphire in a platinum crown setting (the only one that I didn't buy used/vintage/antique), my 1920s platinum maybe-Tiffany, and a deco setting from that era that had a terrible OEC in it which I replaced with a natural, heated blue sapphire. I might replace that sapphire with a different colored stone or a better OEC now that I have many other, more exciting blue sapphire rings. This photo is not showing the wide range of colors and intensities of the sapphires very well. The Ceylon sapphire blows them all out of the water, especially in good lighting, though I think the maybe-Tiffany might hold its own if it were polished and well lit.



One last pair of photos--a little preview. I bought this star sapphire "pendant," really a former stickpin, c. 1900-1910s, with its pin sadly snipped off. It's going to become a ring soon.

 

[Bijouteried]

A jewelry shop I like was having a half-off sale after Christmas, making this 1920s platinum navette sapphire ring a decent price, and I succumbed. The store owner, who is not a gemologist, said the sapphires were natural (looks likely). When I asked about heat, he said they were original to the ring (sounds plausible) and therefore too old to be heated (nonsense, but whatever--they are small, at most half a carat each, and for what I paid, it doesn't much matter). The color is a pleasant medium blue, brighter in sun, darker in shade. It's a very wearable little ring. I'm wearing it on my left hand in these pictures so I can take photos with my right hand, but it works well on my right ring finger. Ugh, sorry the photos are so big!






The color can't compare to my Ceylon sapphire--here they both are in the weak midwinter sun--but it's still pretty, I think:



And here's my entire collection of blue sapphire rings, so far. (Oh, except a pair bands.) Top row, left to right: The 1920s navette, a late 19th century cabochon with a rose-cut diamond halo set in gold, and a 1920s platinum deco ring. Bottom row, left to right: My Ceylon blue sapphire in a platinum crown setting (the only one that I didn't buy used/vintage/antique), my 1920s platinum maybe-Tiffany, and a deco setting from that era that had a terrible OEC in it which I replaced with a natural, heated blue sapphire. I might replace that sapphire with a different colored stone or a better OEC now that I have many other, more exciting blue sapphire rings. This photo is not showing the wide range of colors and intensities of the sapphires very well. The Ceylon sapphire blows them all out of the water, especially in good lighting, though I think the maybe-Tiffany might hold its own if it were polished and well lit.



One last pair of photos--a little preview. I bought this star sapphire "pendant," really a former stickpin, c. 1900-1910s, with its pin sadly snipped off. It's going to become a ring soon.

I do not know what it is with me and cabochon stones, but that pendant is so milky beautiful! What kind of chain will you use to showcase it?

 

[glitterata]

I do not know what it is with me and cabochon stones, but that pendant is so milky beautiful! What kind of chain will you use to showcase it?

Thank you! The "pendant" never was a pendant, and it won't become one. It was a stickpin, the kind where the pin is supported by a little loop of metal, and someone snipped the pin off and called it a pendant. But the loop is too small for a chain to go through it without a lot of fuss and alteration, and if I wore it around my neck my head would cast a shadow and nobody would see the star, which is the whole point of a star sapphire. So it is going to become a ring as soon as I can get it to a jeweler and figure out how to add a shank to it harmoniously.

Suggestions welcome! All I know is that it needs to be a matching shade of yellow gold.

 

[Starstruck8]

I love that star sapphire. Such dreamy translucency. And the star is beautifully sharp. It has depth - it seems to go right into the stone.

Of course it has to be a ring. It will be tricky to match the style. I don't have any great ideas. Maybe a split shank, with an elegant curve in each arm? Or maybe just a plain band, because you don't want to compete with the setting? It will be fascinating to see what you come up with.

 

[Bijouteried]

Thank you! The "pendant" never was a pendant, and it won't become one. It was a stickpin, the kind where the pin is supported by a little loop of metal, and someone snipped the pin off and called it a pendant. But the loop is too small for a chain to go through it without a lot of fuss and alteration, and if I wore it around my neck my head would cast a shadow and nobody would see the star, which is the whole point of a star sapphire. So it is going to become a ring as soon as I can get it to a jeweler and figure out how to add a shank to it harmoniously.

Suggestions welcome! All I know is that it needs to be a matching shade of yellow gold.

I bet it was beautiful as pin, but I look forward to seeing the new creation!

 

[glitterata]

I love that star sapphire. Such dreamy translucency. And the star is beautifully sharp. It has depth - it seems to go right into the stone.

Of course it has to be a ring. It will be tricky to match the style. I don't have any great ideas. Maybe a split shank, with an elegant curve in each arm? Or maybe just a plain band, because you don't want to compete with the setting? It will be fascinating to see what you come up with.

Thank you, Starstruck! Yes, the stone is very translucent and the star goes deep. I wish I had the pin. I bet I could have used it for the shank, at least partly. But I'm not complaining. It would have been hard for me to bring myself to alter it if it had been in its original state, and it was such a great find. I asked to see it and the seller said, "Isn't it pretty? It's a star something, I forget what." I said, "A star sapphire," and she said, "No, I don't think that's it. Moonstone, I think." And the price she charged was in line with with a moonstone pendant, not a beautifully translucent, pale blue 5 1/2 ct star sapphire with a lovely high dome. It has some color zoning and a little natural on the side. It's going to be one of my favorite rings once I get it converted. I should have started its own thread. I love stones that DO things!

 

[Starstruck8]

I asked to see it and the seller said, "Isn't it pretty? It's a star something, I forget what." I said, "A star sapphire," and she said, "No, I don't think that's it. Moonstone, I think." And the price she charged was in line with with a moonstone pendant, not a beautifully translucent, pale blue 5 1/2 ct star sapphire with a lovely high dome.

Great story! Well done!