question about sapphire grading - pictures

[alice87]

Hello everyone,
I want a "decent" sapphire. Not the most expensive, but something i would like and enjoy, and of good quality.
I had several sapphires ring in the past.
One of them was from fred Meyer. I know, I know, I sold it. I had Italian cabochon, not expensive, Tagliamonte one, I sold it too.
These two rings are of better quality.
The yellow gold one is 18 k, probably made in Italy, although I am not really sure.
The second one is either made in Thailand, or Russia. Not really sure either.
The white gold one sapphire's have this blue light in a bright sun, and you can see it on the photographs.
The 18k one the sapphire has dark, but not overly dark color, kind of like greyish blue.
Correct me if I am wrong.
I am very interested to hear what you can say about stones quality.
I will add another picture. THis is my sister ring with solitary stone, just an i-phone pics, so quality is not great, but her stone is much better.
I do like cornflower sapphire for colors. Could you give me a price range for 1 carat one. Or if I want a really sparkly blue, what should I be looking for?
Thanks a lot!

 

[chrono]

I take it you don't mind a heated sapphire? Unfortunately, sapphire pricing is ridiculously high today. I think it was 50% less about 4 years ago.

 

[alice87]

 

[alice87]

Hi Chrono,
Thank you for answering.
I read several topics here. I was ignorant in terms of treated versus non-treated.
I guess I don't mind.
I went to gem fair in Seattle, that happenned couple weeks ago, and I looked at prices and they were just so different. One guy told me 1950 per carat, and added immediately he would give it to me for 900. Another guy was telling me about 400 dollars per carat. Indian guys were more than vague. I will keep posting pictures.

 

[alice87]

 

[chrono]

With sapphires, treatment matters as it has a large difference in price. The treatments are permanent and stable but some are more intrusive (extreme) than others. The heavier the treatment, the less expensive the sapphire. How well the sapphire holds its colour under various lighting also plays a role in how it is priced. These are factors that affect price on top of the other Cs such as colour (hue, tone and saturation), carat weight and cut.

Are the pictures taken with or without flash? Flash tends to distort the true colour of gemstones so many of us turn off the flash function manually.

 

[alice87]

And the last picture is my sis ring.
Her ring has much better color and cut as far as I understand.

 

[alice87]

Yes, I used flash, this is why they look more "blue" and not dark blue when they actually are.
I guess I need to retake them?

 

[chrono]

Yes, I used flash, this is why they look more "blue" and not dark blue when they actually are.
I guess I need to retake them?

Correct. I am sorry you have to redo this but in order for CSers here to give good advise, the more accurate the pictures are to what you see in person, the more useful and relevant our advice will be.

 

[pregcurious]

50% less 4 years ago...that makes me sad. can the old timers comment on how long it will take the Kate Middleton effect to go away?

If they look more blue in teh pictures than in real life, that sounds like they are quite dark?

 

[minousbijoux]

50% less 4 years ago...that makes me sad. can the old timers comment on how long it will take the Kate Middleton effect to go away?

If they look more blue in teh pictures than in real life, that sounds like they are quite dark?

Unfortunately, IMO, it will not ever go completely away because well beyond the royal ring effect is the demand created from the hugely growing middle class in both China and India. I'd be curious to hear what people know about the potential yields from the relatively new discovery in Madagascar (as it appears the Sri Lankan one was not that productive) and how that might or might not affect prices...

 

[pregcurious]

Here is a website with several 1 carat blue sapphires, with prices listed:
http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_blue.html

Minous, good point about the growing middle class in other parts of the world. The price of all colored gemstones seems to have gone up.

 

[chrono]

Like pricing of all other things, once it goes up, it rarely comes down again. My 50% 4 years ago is just a guess, it is likely to be slightly less but it surely feels that way. I remember not too long ago, we were looking at $1K/ct for an unheated sapphire. Today it is $2K/ct for an unheated sapphire of the same quality, often higher.

 

[alice87]

i saw this site. It is kind of sad almost. Sapphires are catching up with diamonds in price. OK, I will redo the pics and post it again.

 

[alice87]

here is the pictures, no flash, made in the evening light. The brighter one made close to the light.

 

[alice87]

two more pictures, no flash

 

[chrono]

Double post.

 

[chrono]

Here is a website with several 1 carat blue sapphires, with prices listed:
http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_blue.html

The sapphires on this website run the gamut from fine quality to just above commercial quality. Those you've shown are unfortunately of typical commercial quality. They are not well cut, not well saturated (grayish) and dark in tone.

 

[alice87]

Thank you Chrono,
This is what I thought. I did notice the grey tone in my 3 stone ring.
I think they are nice, and for the price point, they were really nice, and I enjoy the design.
My sister ring (although the pic is not great), is much better. You can see the cut. It was a custom made order, although sapphire is much smaller, her cut is much better.
Could you give any advice when searching for sapphires on gem fairs?

 

[chrono]

Before going to gem fairs, it would be very helpful to do some reading first so that you understand what you are seeing and know the right questions to ask. If anything, I would not purchase on my very first trip if I am new to coloured stones but that's just me being overly cautious. I would take the time to look at as many sapphires as possible to see the variety of colour, cut, and how they behave under the lights.

LD started this very helpful thread which applies to every type of gemstone.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-to-coloured-gemstone-buying-read-this-first.174284/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-to-coloured-gemstone-buying-read-this-first.174284/[/URL]

 

[pregcurious]

+1 for Chrono's post.

See as many as you can in person. Describing stones online is about as accurate as describing any visual object without seeing it in person.

LD also had this post for sapphire buyers that compiles long threads that describe other people's searches, and common questions new buyers have for sapphires:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-a-blue-sapphire-start-here.185711/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-a-blue-sapphire-start-here.185711/[/URL]

I would start with the last search listed in LD's post:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/5-58-ct-blue-sapphire-gemsthailand.163440/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/5-58-ct-blue-sapphire-gemsthailand.163440/[/URL]

This thread illustrates trade "ideal" colored sapphires from PS users silksapphire, Arkteia, and LD. You can see from the pictures that they have a very vivid blue color that could be seen from across a room. A slight purple modifier is considered desirable::
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/two-unheated-sapphires-found-in-hong-kong.186213/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/two-unheated-sapphires-found-in-hong-kong.186213/[/URL]

 

[alice87]

Thank you much!