Nov birthstones, which is better?

[LollyBear]

I just got a quote from Pearlmans for this ring with Yellow Topaz in place of the pink sapphires. Now I''m wondering if I shouldn''t have asked for Citrine instead.
http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/jewelry-designers/beverley-k-jewelry/rings/12PP1/240/240/
This is going to serve as my "mother''s ring" and since it''s a big purchase for me I want to be 100% confident in my choice. Since you are all so knowledgeable I was hoping you could tell me which is a better stone.
I appreciate any info you can offer!

 

[marcy]

I like the color of citrine better than yellow topaz but topaz is 8 on the mohs scale and citrine is 7. I think either one will work in your ring though. It is very pretty.

 

[LollyBear]

Marcy - Thanks for the reply! I don''t really prefer one to the other which is what makes the decision so hard. I just want the stone to be a nice, bright yellow in the ring.
I just asked for a quote for the ring with Citrine. I can''t spend more than $1000 and the topaz version is already teetering at the edge of my budget. If the citrine is much more I may have to take it out of the running.

I tried doing a little research on the stones and found a site that had this to say about them:

Imperial topaz
Enhancements: heat treated and/or irradiated. Reacts fair to ultrasonic
Special Care: Avoid chemicals and heat. Reacts badly to steamng

Citrine
Enhancements: Usually heat treated. Reacts fairly to steaming and good to ultrasonics
Special Care: Avoid heat

I have a "Jewelry Spa" and definitely want my ring to stand up to cleaning and this makes it sound like the Citrine is tougher in that respect, right?

I''d love to hear any other opinions.

 

[desertgem]

Hi SB,

You might ask for the price in yellow sapphires. I suspect that the reason the ring is 850 with the pink sapphires and you mentioned it was close to 1000 with topaz, is that sapphires are much more used in the small 2.5-3mm size which the stones appear to be. Sapphires are readily available machine cut and calibrated to fit such rings, but topaz and citrine are much less common in those sizes and would be more troublesome ( expensive) to locate and replace.


Yellow sapphires would be much preferred for wear&tear than topaz ( cleaveage planes) and citrine ( 7 hardness ). Also most likely all 3 possiblities are almost certain to be heat treated in my opinion.

Jim

 

[crown1]

hi! i did some googling since i was not thinking these two stones were that durable. i found the moh scale was 8. that is better than i thought and only one down from what i was going to suggest, yellow sapphire.

i noticed you wanted a nice yellow and one of the sites i looked at said yellow sapphire was once called oriental topaz. anyhoo, the reason i thought about the yellow sapphire is that some time back i asked signed pieces if they could do their maternity rings in yellow sapphire. at that time the answer was yes. i don't know if they still will since they have made some changes since then. just a thought. good luck!

let us know what you end up doing.

ps did you ask pearlmans about the yellow sapphire in place of the pink

eta: while i was fooling around typing someone else was thinking like me.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

That was good advice. Yellow sapphire would be more durable and could be cleaned in an ultrasonic. My second choice would probably be the topaz.

 

[LollyBear]

desertgem, crown & diamondseeker - Thank you all so much for the replies. You raise a good point about the yellow sapphire and I will see if Pearlmans won''t mind doing a quote with that stone too. I''d love to use it for the sake of durability and I know I said I want a nice yellow, but I think I may prefer one of the others because they''re Novembers birthstones as well as being yellow. If I keep telling myself that the yellow sapphire is "oriental topaz," it would make buying it much easier. I''m not sure what I''ll end up chosing... so much to consider.

I will let you know what I decide.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[marcy]

I like the idea of yellow sapphires too. They were be very durable and I like sapphires much better than topaz and citrine.

 

[crown1]

i was searching for ruby eternity bands and came across a site that had yellow sapphire eternity bands fairly inexpensive. i know nothing about the place. i posted an inquiry in the shopping section. the name is juno jewelry. site says it is located in los angeles diamond district. i did a ps search and nothing came up. maybe somebody here has heard something about it. i saw something i liked but i am afraid of the unknown.