Please help me find my gorgeous "OMG" blue sapphire

[Bron357]

I’m liking the round better, it seems to handle low light better. No gem looks fabulous in every lighting condition. And you do need to see coloured gems in person, studio type photos are invariably done in ideal lighting conditions and that’s not real life.
Even I can get my sapphires to look like different gems!

 

[SparkleC]

I’m liking the round better, it seems to handle low light better.

I did too. I sent them both back. I'm excited to see what the vendor sends next!

Even I can get my sapphires to look like different gems!

First, your sapphires are gorgeous. And yes, if you didn't tell me, I would not have realized they were the same stones. I'm learning so much!!

 

[Bron357]

And these two sapphires, they look completely different depending on the light!

 

[SparkleC]

And these two sapphires, they look completely different depending on the light!

OMG!! That's incredible! The color change is dramatic!

 

[SparkleC]

I decided to send both of the stones back that I shared with you. Of course they were beautiful...I think that's been the hardest part for me. Gems are beautiful...so on some level I like them all. The deciding factor for me was that in the lighting conditions I would spend the most time, I felt the stones were too dark. Then I took a good look at the jewelry in my own collection to help me evaluate what I like best. And it came down to sparkly stones are my zing over glowy stones. With this insight, the vendor found me three more stones to look at in person.

Here's the descriptions and videos from the vendor:

1.05 ct 6.01 x 4.00mm :

This one is heated, and its strength is the cutting style and the resulting brilliance. It is a true round brilliant cut, just like you would cut a diamond, perfectly executed, no window, no heavy belly. Perfectly clean as well. AGL/GIA will be done

2.05 ct 6.40 x 5.50mm:

This one is unheated, a traditional cut, quite belly heavy and deep. However, this gives the color a great depth and radiance, without being dark. It is a very lively stone. I am pricing it for its face-up size and color, not for its weight, so you do not pay for belly. Perfectly possible to use this in Yvonne’s Turbillion design, we are able to handle the depth. AGL Gem Brief

1.71 ct 6.60 x 4.14mm:

Here you are entering territory of what I sometimes informally call “Cartier” quality. The color is superb, vivid saturation, medium tone (= not dark). Perfectly clean, and the cutting is excellent…neither deep, nor shallow. Great compromise between color and sparkle. This one was recut in New York from a larger gem, so the polish is very fine, too. AGL Gem Brief


I was away all weekend and did not have a lot of time to spend with these lovelies as I would have liked. I got a few indoor pictures but none outside. I'll take some outside pix tomorrow but wanted to share what I have now and see what your thoughts are.

My Mister has no idea about gems. He has tried to be supportive and interested throughout the process but just basically says, I want you to be happy. When pressed to give his opinion, he ranked the three in the exact opposite order I did!

My least favorite is the 1.05 round. I think it's the cut. I just don't connect with this stone at all. She's under budget.

I do like the 2.05 round. I call her the little fatty. She is very sparkly and has a lovely color. She does have an open culet (autocorrect keeps trying to default to cult! . ) But when she's in between my fingers you can't see it. I think it would not be noticeable once set so that's not a deal breaker for me. She's a little hard to photograph as her girth makes her difficult to hold without falling over. If I had only seen the two rounds, she's be top choice. She's on budget.

But then there's the cushion. I really saw myself wanting a round cut, but from the moment I saw her in her little case, she was a wow! She's the most difficult of the three to photograph. Her color is gorgeous and she looks the most blue of the three in all the lighting I've put her in. She really is the best combination of the glowy color and the sparkle I wanted. She's above budget. (I got the green light to get whatever makes me happy)

Here are some of my videos of the three together.

In my Mister's kitchen: (slight moment of panic when the cushion rolls!)

In bathroom lighting:

Low light in the kitchen:

https://youtu.be/ZFnLu_39j2E

In very bright light in the pantry hallway:

https://youtu.be/llAifHoplW8

In another poorly light bathroom: (you can hear the dog prancing in this one! )

https://youtu.be/qLZXh1_rb7s


I'll post a few pictures but wanted to get these up now. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Lilith112]

I decided to send both of the stones back that I shared with you. Of course they were beautiful...I think that's been the hardest part for me. Gems are beautiful...so on some level I like them all. The deciding factor for me was that in the lighting conditions I would spend the most time, I felt the stones were too dark. Then I took a good look at the jewelry in my own collection to help me evaluate what I like best. And it came down to sparkly stones are my zing over glowy stones. With this insight, the vendor found me three more stones to look at in person.

Here's the descriptions and videos from the vendor:

1.05 ct 6.01 x 4.00mm :

This one is heated, and its strength is the cutting style and the resulting brilliance. It is a true round brilliant cut, just like you would cut a diamond, perfectly executed, no window, no heavy belly. Perfectly clean as well. AGL/GIA will be done

2.05 ct 6.40 x 5.50mm:

This one is unheated, a traditional cut, quite belly heavy and deep. However, this gives the color a great depth and radiance, without being dark. It is a very lively stone. I am pricing it for its face-up size and color, not for its weight, so you do not pay for belly. Perfectly possible to use this in Yvonne’s Turbillion design, we are able to handle the depth. AGL Gem Brief

1.71 ct 6.60 x 4.14mm:

Here you are entering territory of what I sometimes informally call “Cartier” quality. The color is superb, vivid saturation, medium tone (= not dark). Perfectly clean, and the cutting is excellent…neither deep, nor shallow. Great compromise between color and sparkle. This one was recut in New York from a larger gem, so the polish is very fine, too. AGL Gem Brief


I was away all weekend and did not have a lot of time to spend with these lovelies as I would have liked. I got a few indoor pictures but none outside. I'll take some outside pix tomorrow but wanted to share what I have now and see what your thoughts are.

My Mister has no idea about gems. He has tried to be supportive and interested throughout the process but just basically says, I want you to be happy. When pressed to give his opinion, he ranked the three in the exact opposite order I did!

My least favorite is the 1.05 round. I think it's the cut. I just don't connect with this stone at all. She's under budget.

I do like the 2.05 round. I call her the little fatty. She is very sparkly and has a lovely color. She does have an open culet (autocorrect keeps trying to default to cult! . ) But when she's in between my fingers you can't see it. I think it would not be noticeable once set so that's not a deal breaker for me. She's a little hard to photograph as her girth makes her difficult to hold without falling over. If I had only seen the two rounds, she's be top choice. She's on budget.

But then there's the cushion. I really saw myself wanting a round cut, but from the moment I saw her in her little case, she was a wow! She's the most difficult of the three to photograph. Her color is gorgeous and she looks the most blue of the three in all the lighting I've put her in. She really is the best combination of the glowy color and the sparkle I wanted. She's above budget. (I got the green light to get whatever makes me happy)

Here are some of my videos of the three together.

In my Mister's kitchen: (slight moment of panic when the cushion rolls!)

In bathroom lighting:

Low light in the kitchen:

https://youtu.be/ZFnLu_39j2E

In very bright light in the pantry hallway:

https://youtu.be/llAifHoplW8

In another poorly light bathroom: (you can hear the dog prancing in this one! )

https://youtu.be/qLZXh1_rb7s


I'll post a few pictures but wanted to get these up now. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Video is set on private, can't really see

 

[SparkleC]

Here are some pix and videos of each one. Here's the 1.05 round.

 

[SparkleC]

@Lilith112 thank you for letting me know. I've changed it to public. I have never worked with YouTube before. I set up an an account tonight to share these videos. Please let me know if you can see them now.

 

[SparkleC]

Here's the 2.05 ct:

Second photo shows her fat little belly!

 

[Rad_Fan]

Low light in the kitchen video, all three look violetish, is that what you see? Maybe just my setting?

The "Cartier" looks fab.

 

[SparkleC]

Here's the cushion:

https://youtu.be/T5C8-Mukcy4

 

[SparkleC]

Low light in the kitchen video, all three look violetish, is that what you see? Maybe just my setting?

The "Cartier" looks fab.

Hmmm, I didn't really notice a violet but I confess my ability to see the nuances within the stones is not very well developed.

yes! the cushion is scrumptious!!

 

[Rad_Fan]

How much more (%) is the Cartier over your original budget? But you got the "green light" but so it's all good?

I don't see the purple from your last few posts, maybe just the video.

 

[voce]

I do see the violet. I think it could just be how the camera photographed it and how your screen displayed it, especially if you don't see the violet in person.

The cushion definitely is the best out of the three options right here.

 

[SparkleC]

@Rad_Fan It's quite bit over budget...like $1K. The vendor was very up front. She had just gone to see her sapphire supplier the day before and showed it to me because it was her favorite of all the ones she saw the day before. She's sent me pix of high 5 figure stones to help me understand more about the properties of sapphires.(Obvi well out of my range.) I don't want in any way to suggest the vendor was anything less than up front with me. She's been outstanding to work with. But of course, it was such a stunner I just had to see it!

And yes, I got the green light to move forward with anything I like. I wouldn't want to push my luck much further though! I'm the one who set the budget truth be told. He just said get what makes you happy from the beginning.

I really don't see violet but as I said earlier, I'm still not good at seeing the nuances in the colors.

 

[SparkleC]

@voce IRL I don't see it.

Yes, the cushion is making my little heart go pitty pat!

 

[Rad_Fan]

I've checked out Cartier's hand shots again and started seeing a bit of violet, but blue sapphire is such a chameleon on pictures, so you trust your own eyes since you are seeing the gem in person.

I've had vendors showing me better options which came with higher than original budgets, so I kind of think that it's common. I do wonder what kind of light(s) the vendor was using to get that glowy yellowish look on the videos. I really have no clue how to read them but glad to hear that you are liking what you're viewing.

 

[MainSequence]

Oh those are nice! (and I like the vendor, I worked with her and was happy with my experience) Of these I think I like the big-belly round and the cushion the best. I wouldn't be concerned by the open culet - mine has it too and at first I was worried it would look like a black hole, but seeing it in motion in person, that facet actually reflects back some blue light and keeps the center lively.

 

[Lilith112]

Hmm...the cushion's probably the best. Could you also take pics in shaded sunlight and bright sunlight?

 

[SparkleC]

@Lilith112 sorry it's taken me a while to post some outdoor shots.

In my part of the the world, it's been very cold and not to sunny! I didn't get too many shots because I was FREEZING outside. It was a balmy 30 with a "feels like" of 20. It was getting windy and I was terrified the stones were going to roll out of my hand.

Here's the cushion and the little fatty. Did you feel my heart skip a beat when little fatty started to tumble?

Here's the cushion safely in her box.




and one more hand shot



and one last shot of little fatty



The cushion is hard for me to photograph accurately. I do feel like the color is more accurate in these photos. I don't see violet. I don't see the dark areas IRL that show up in the photos.

I didn't take any outdoors pix of the third stone. I know she's not the one. And I was too darn cold!!

I'd love to hear your comments.

 

[MainSequence]

I like them both - they both have a nice presence on your hand and the color is pretty on both. What do you think - is this the color you were going for, or are you thinking something lighter? And do you have any settings in mind, or at least an idea of what you like? That may affect your choice too, for example that round isn't going to sit close to the hand if you were thinking about a ring.

 

[voce]

Little fatty looks amazing outdoors! I think this for me would come down to the extinction pattern and which shape I prefer. What shape do you like better/best in the gems you own?

 

[Rad_Fan]

...The cushion... I don't see the dark areas IRL that show up in the photos...
[/QUOTE]

I was just going to mention that "cross" and "window" under the table, but you've already answered that. Very interesting..I am glad that you're happy with them.

 

[Rad_Fan]

Did you see the dept of both of them? Fatty's pavilion is too cute!

 

[SparkleC]

I like them both - they both have a nice presence on your hand and the color is pretty on both. What do you think - is this the color you were going for, or are you thinking something lighter? And do you have any settings in mind, or at least an idea of what you like? That may affect your choice too, for example that round isn't going to sit close to the hand if you were thinking about a ring.

Thank you, MainSequence. In the beginning of my search I was actually thinking about a bright blue like @Acinom's ring. But the first stones I saw in the color went very dark indoors which is where I spend most of my time. I decided I'd try a little lighter to see how they looked indoors and I'm happy with these two in those environments.

This is my desired setting. So I've been drawn to rounds. But I've had a conversation with the designer and she said she could adopt the setting to accommodate a cushion if that's where I end up.



I read somewhere that sapphire crystals are elongated so they are more often cut into cushions as opposed to rounds.

 

[SparkleC]

Little fatty looks amazing outdoors! I think this for me would come down to the extinction pattern and which shape I prefer. What shape do you like better/best in the gems you own?

She's a cutie. And I'm a little fatty too so we are soulmates in that regard.

I'm really drawn to rounds as that's what I think would look best in the setting I want. I just posted the setting in my response just before this one. But the overall quality of the cushion is better when comparing the two stones. Of course, the cushion is $1k over budget so that's no surprise. So I sort of feel bad comparing the two. My Mister told me he wants me to be happy with the stone and he told me to get the cushion if I wanted it. He's definitely a keeper.

 

[SparkleC]

Did you see the dept of both of them? Fatty's pavilion is too cute!

I know, she is a little cutie. Her specs are
2.05 ct
6.40 mm
5.50 mm depth

The vendor said she priced her at face-up size and color, not for her weight, so I don't pay for her belly.

The vendor also talked to the designer and she could fit into the setting I want.

The cushion's specs are
1.71 ct
6.60 mm
4.15 mm depth