Ok, now I want a sapphire

[athenaworth]

I know I change my mind like I change my socks, but last night I decided a 6.2 mm cornflower blue sapphire is the stone for my old setting. It's DH's birthstone and would have more meaning. I'm planning to use the funds from the sale of my old setting to pay for it. I'm hoping to get $1200 for the setting. I've already contacted Jeff White because from what I've seen, I like his cutting best, but if you guys have other ideas of who does a nice sapphire in that size/color/price range, let me know. I'm not sure Im going to get that much for my old serving though. I may only get $900 which obviously would take my budget down. Is that still realistic?

 

[Arkteia]

I think it is, if you are OK with a heated stone.

 

[athenaworth]

I am OK with a heated stone. I feel like I've looked everywhere, and have found a few things, but I am worried that my perfect color won't be in my range.

 

[Arkteia]

Have you looked at these?

I do not know your specific requirements, and I have not bought from them myself, but they have a good reputation here and were always very obliging when I e-mailed them. (Actually, went over their head trying to acomodate my request for a Namibian spessartite. Not their fault that I was out of the country and my head was spinning from all the stuff I had to do.) Perhaps they have something else in their stock? At least the prices look OK.

http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_blue.html

 

[athenaworth]

Jeff white got back to me. Not as expensive as I expected! I also love one that's on gemfix.if you could, would you use JW or GemFix?

 

[Arkteia]

OK I personally had experience with Jeff White and I can openly share my opinion of him.

- Jeff is a terrific cutter. This is not only the prevailing opinion here, he is greatly respected among his colleagues.
- He is a vendor of integrity. When he found the sapphire for me, he made normal, unedited photos of the stone in a daylight, evening light and fluorescent light I believe.
- He offered me to send the stone for an inspection before he started cutting. I refused it and now I regret it but it merely has to do with difference in lighting that I use.
- It took him a while to cut the stone because he was swamped with orders but he was keeping me abreast of the progress and communicated regularly. I belive his regular communication is even better but at that moment, he just had a new baby and was swamped with new emotions and responsibilities.
- I had much more stringent requests. I needed an unheated stone, and he found one for me. Unheated stones are more tricky.
- Everyone here has been extremely happy with his work, and he has good access to source of sapphires.
- Your stone is smaller and you do not mind unheated stones so the price should be pretty decent. I had higher requirements; can't comment on the price but suffice it to say that it was WAY lower than retail. Not even close to it.
- I believe the stone is posted in some threads. A ring, as well. I should post more photos. Daylight is stunning. Paradoxically, it looks good in office light which is an exception to the general rule. It does close at certain evening lights - it is a color-changer and becomes violetish, not inky but violet, this is something I do not like. My jeweler did not help at all by haloing it and making a bridge under the ring. I have to remount it in a different style and it will probably eliminate the problem by letting more light from the sides. I am looking for the right person to do it.

So this is my impression of working with Jeff. I think you are safe with him. I think you'll be very happy because not only is he a great cutter, he is an honest person. He has good source of sapphires. Most important, with all his reputation, his ego does not stand in the way of his work and he is an easy guy and, hopefully, will remain such.

Re. Gemfix - I personally do not know them. I saw some nice sapphires on their website and thought that the price was good, that is all. In the past, they demonstrated willingness to work and spend time on me and in fact, did spend a lot of time discussing their inventory but as I have said, I ended up with another medical complication as the result of dealing with bureaucratic hoops of my home country and ended up not feeling well. So none of the plans started at that time was brought to fruition. I am impressed at the amount of time they spent on me, this is all.

So I hope I gave your a good account of my work with Jeff and (unfinished) work with Gemfix. Personally, I am "sold" on unheated dark-blue sapphires. I have two, of which Jeff's one is lighter and Gary's Braun's one is darker. I lucked out on Gary's stone but I did not order it, just bought it off his website with subsequent recut.I had to rely on his artistic taste which, luckily, was close to mine. I bought only two stones from Gary and I am incredibly happy with both of them but like any other vendor, he may have his own percentage of returns.

This is the ring made with Jeff's sapphire. All pictures were taken in unfavorable for a color-changer light. I shall post better pics but they are in a different computer.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/jeff-whites-sapphire-is-set.153109/page-2']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/jeff-whites-sapphire-is-set.153109/page-2[/URL]

this one is the stone itself taken under the same light. See what a (bad) difference the setting has made. However... I have photos of the stone in the same setting under a different light. If you wait till tomorrow, I shall post them. You'll see that it may be a killer.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/sapphires.149439/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/sapphires.149439/[/URL]

BTW - if anyone sees this post, can he/she recommend me the proper jeweler? I need a higher setting, no halo, 6-prongs, with diamond shanks on the sides. Done by someone who understands the relationship between the light and the stone. Now I am looking for jewelers who can not only produce "beauty" but also look at the stone as they are doing it.

there was a post from a girl who was new to PS and bought an aqua from Gemfix and set it with a jeweler who may be known here but who I never heard about. I liked the finished product. Perhaps someone remembers the thread?

 

[Arkteia]

Off-topic - Chrono once gave me the greatest advise and only now do I understand the full meaning of it. NEVER, NEVER close a color-changer. You risk losing all the beauty of the stone. Trouble is, I did not even notice it was a color-changer but my jeweler ought to have... THis part is not meant for Athenaworth, but perhaps someone is watching this thread and considers setting a color-changer. Michael E. gave me another precious advice - not to bezel a sleepy stone. You learn by experience.

 

[tefutefu]

OMG Crasru that stone is a beauty!

I second Crasru's opinion with JW! Personally, since I'm still new here, I have yet to have a collection, and actually came here in search of a sapphire as well for my e-ring.

I was recommended to several vendors, and JW was one of them. He was great with communication and answered whatever silly questions a newbie had, and although I ended up not buying my sapphire from him, he was really nice about it! The deal failed because I had a REALLY low budget, way lower than probably 99% of the people out there who are looking for e-rings Now that I think back about it, the price I was quoted for the colour I was looking for, size, etc.. was in my opinion, pretty fair, given his beautiful cutting that I've seen here on PS. I don't think you would go wrong with JW

Just my 2cents!

 

[marymm]

I've bought a number of gemstones from Gemfix, and have found the photos and the descriptions to be accurate - my experience with their customer service has been excellent - they timely respond to queries, and even hunted down a particular stone for me - a couple of stones did not work out for the specific projects I intended them for (didn't fit the existing setting or the color didn't work with the existing sidestones) and returns were handled promptly. Andrew is an award-winning gemcutter and his craftsmanship is excellent, although he has not cut all the stones on the site.

I have no experience with Jeff White (yet) but I know he has an excellent reputation as a vendor and as a gemcutter.

In my opinion, you really can't go wrong with either vendor, and I'd probably make the choice by just going with the gemstone you favor most and seems to fit the majority of your criteria. Good luck!

 

[KarenFe]

\

there was a post from a girl who was new to PS and bought an aqua from Gemfix and set it with a jeweler who may be known here but who I never heard about. I liked the finished product. Perhaps someone remembers the thread?

I fit some of these requirements but am not sure if my ring was the ring you're talking about. I had an aqua set by a jeweler/gem setter from etsy but he was the one to find my aqua for me. Just in case this is the ring you're talking about:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/first-step-of-my-jewelry-journey.158053/#post-2874552?hilit=karenfe#p2874552']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/first-step-of-my-jewelry-journey.158053/#post-2874552?hilit=karenfe#p2874552[/URL]
I had it made by Raven's Refuge on etsy.

Thank you for the opinions of the people you have dealt with. It definitely comes in handy for those of us who are desperately trying to learn all we can.

 

[chrono]

Getting an estimate on how much you might get for your old setting depends on:
1. Who you are selling to. Are you selling this on your own or to a jeweller?
2. Is it platinum or gold (14K, 18K)?
3. Plain metal, some accent diamonds or is it diamond encrusted?

Why such a specific 6.2 mm sized stone? Is it because the existing setting currently has a 6.2 mm stone? If so, you should be able to fit a stone that measures anywhere from 6 mm to 6.5 mm into it, not taking depth into account yet but should be fine if it's not pavilion heavy. $900 can get you a decent to beautiful 1 ct heated blue sapphire.

 

[athenaworth]

Thanks guys. I think I like the idea of using JW. I'm in no real rush to get the stone, and I want to make sure it's the best I can get. I think knowing that it was a stone that *I* picked made to my specifications will make it really special, and I can already tell he's a pretty good guy, so it could be fun.

Chrono - the ring is a platinum and diamond setting from Blue Nile. I have a couple of nibbles for $1,000, so if I can get that, i'll be happy. At first I didn't want to let go of it for that little but I've come to my senses.

 

[athenaworth]

Insole the setting for $1,000. I can probably out another $2-300 in. I'm working with JW now. It's exciting.

 

[Arkteia]

Not to create bad impression - this is how my stone looks in good light.

 

[tara3056]

athenaworth: I hate to be overly nosy, but I just have to ask...

I LOVE your sapphire from Jeff White. I recently contacted him about possibly getting a tsavorite from him, but I would love to get a sapphire like yours for a setting I've got just waiting for one... I was too scared to even inquire to him with the limited budget I have for that project ($1000-$1200). I'd need about 1 carat and I don't mind if it's been heated. You had mentioned that being about your budget due to what you could sell your old setting for. Would you mind telling me a simple yes or no as to whether I should inquire with him based upon my budget?