VividRed
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2018
- Messages
- 865
Hi All,
I’m new to PS and new to colored gemstones but, red being my all time favorite color, I already fell in love with rubies - may my bank account forgive me one day
Jokes apart, I just made my first online purchase from an ebay seller and I am not quite sure I want to keep the stone. I know there are quite a few well known sellers out there (AJS, Wildfish, GemFix, Awesome Gems, etc.) but somehow I could not find the right combination of price and quality.
I found this 1.33ct GIA certified ruby which I bought for USD 2.5k after some bargaining.
- vendor picture (uploading here sort of killed the picture’s quality)

- Youtube video link:
- GIA certificate link: https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=2173594127
Upon receving it I was fairly disappointed with a couple of things:
1. It is way darker than suggested on the video. That much I understand but the difference is quite sustantial
2. It has a much stronger purple/pink component than suggested by the GIA report which describes it as RED
3. Under anything but daylight, the stone looks really dark purplish. Daylight will bring out a pretty pinkish-red glow but not red enough to my taste
I will try to take some descent pictures over the next couple of days (both indoor and outdoor) but in the meantime I was wondering of you could give me some feedback:
- Do you think I overpaid?
- What can I realistically expect at this price point? I’m not ready to spend big money yet as I am really new to this, so this might be as far as I can go and I may decide to give it back and wait until I find “the one”
- Would you recommend a specific online seller? Size I am interested in is 1 - 1.5 ct. - as close to vivid red as it gets, heat treatment is no problem (I don’t even bother with unheated stones, too expensive for the quality I seek).
Last point: I can still return the stone for full refund so please be candid
Peace and merry Christmas!!
I’m new to PS and new to colored gemstones but, red being my all time favorite color, I already fell in love with rubies - may my bank account forgive me one day
Jokes apart, I just made my first online purchase from an ebay seller and I am not quite sure I want to keep the stone. I know there are quite a few well known sellers out there (AJS, Wildfish, GemFix, Awesome Gems, etc.) but somehow I could not find the right combination of price and quality.
I found this 1.33ct GIA certified ruby which I bought for USD 2.5k after some bargaining.
- vendor picture (uploading here sort of killed the picture’s quality)

- Youtube video link:
- GIA certificate link: https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=2173594127
Upon receving it I was fairly disappointed with a couple of things:
1. It is way darker than suggested on the video. That much I understand but the difference is quite sustantial
2. It has a much stronger purple/pink component than suggested by the GIA report which describes it as RED
3. Under anything but daylight, the stone looks really dark purplish. Daylight will bring out a pretty pinkish-red glow but not red enough to my taste
I will try to take some descent pictures over the next couple of days (both indoor and outdoor) but in the meantime I was wondering of you could give me some feedback:
- Do you think I overpaid?
- What can I realistically expect at this price point? I’m not ready to spend big money yet as I am really new to this, so this might be as far as I can go and I may decide to give it back and wait until I find “the one”
- Would you recommend a specific online seller? Size I am interested in is 1 - 1.5 ct. - as close to vivid red as it gets, heat treatment is no problem (I don’t even bother with unheated stones, too expensive for the quality I seek).
Last point: I can still return the stone for full refund so please be candid
Peace and merry Christmas!!