Question on AGL reports for sapphires

[colorluvr]

Long post - thanks for your patience in reading this (if you do) :

I have two yellow sapphires, one unheated (I hope) and one that is heated but doesn't show signs of BE heating to a GG under her microscope (boy, did I have microscope envy ) I added the caveat of the GG looking at the stone under her microscope because I KNOW the only way I'll know for sure is with an AGL report, but it was encouraging for her to tell me there weren't any "obvious" signs of treatment beyond traditional heating and the vendor swore up and down it wasn't BE heated....

So, on to my questions for those of you who have used AGL for sapphires.

The unheated sapphire was verified unheated in writing by the GG that was the original vendor and by a third party GG that I hired for a verbal that told me that she felt comfortable that the stone was unheated.

I am going to send it to AGL anyway to get a gembrief so I have the certificate as a back that up for insurance and if I ever sell it (which I hope I don't ever have to). My question is this: What would I gain from a Prestige report over the gembrief if I plan on keeping the sapphire?

For the heated sapphire, I was thinking of just asking for the minimum necessary to verify whether or not it's had treatment beyond traditional heating. I may sell this sapphire (I bought it before I found the unheated one) so my goal is to substantiate what it is to a prospective buyer as much as for my own knowledge. What would I gain buy asking for a prestige report from the getgo, as opposed to asking for a gembrief, knowing that I may need to pay extra if necessary to verify treatment (or lack of)...

Hope these questions make sense, but my goal is to not spend more money than necessary, but I don't want to try to do it on the cheap and then discover I would have been better off spending a bit more money on the reports. They are both supposed to be Ceylon sapphires if that makes any difference, but I don't know if spending extra money on origin makes any sense.

They are both in the 4.5 to 5.5ct range.

Thanks!

 

[T L]

Since origin is not an important aspect of yellow sapphires, I would say that the gem brief would suffice. I would only send it if it's so top top top in color, that you think it could get an overall rating of Excellent, which may add a premium, but that's super rare. Usually yellow sapphire color speaks for itself. The important thing with yellow sapphires is the level of treatment as unheated or even regular heated ones, are seemingly rare to me.

Others may have opposing view points, but that's mine. Also remember, I'm talking about the top of the line prestige in my comments above. I feel the mid-range one isn't really worth it. . . might as well get a gem brief.

 

[colorluvr]

Since origin is not an important aspect of yellow sapphires, I would say that the gem brief would suffice. I would only send it if it's so top top top in color, that you think it could get an overall rating of Excellent, which may add a premium, but that's super rare. Usually yellow sapphire color speaks for itself. The important thing with yellow sapphires is the level of treatment as unheated or even regular heated ones, are seemingly rare to me.

Others may have opposing view points, but that's mine. Also remember, I'm talking about the top of the line prestige in my comments above. I feel the mid-range one isn't really worth it. . . might as well get a gem brief.

Thank TL! I was hoping you would respond. That's what I was thinking (hoping) also. I just want to verify what I have.

 

[T L]

You're welcome. Others may want to chime in as well, and correct or amend to anything I've stated, before you make a final decision. Good luck, sounds like a nice stone.

 

[slksapphire]

hello, there,

i just got an agl report for my sapphire. i generally agree w tl's advice; personally, the way i would think about the unheated stone is relative to its value/purchase price. (for the heated stone, i would just get the gembrief).

the prices for the gembrief, prestige report w origin and grading report are: $55, $300 and $420, respectively (plus $100 for each for certain types of treatment analysis).

i don't think origin matters much, so the question is whether it's worthwhile spending $420 for the grading report. for me, if the stone was more than a couple thousand dollars, i would be interested in seeing how it stacked up against all the other yellow sapphires out there so i'd get the grading report. but the decision has nothing to do with anything other than personal curiosity ...

 

[colorluvr]

hello, there,

i just got an agl report for my sapphire. i generally agree w tl's advice; personally, the way i would think about the unheated stone is relative to its value/purchase price. (for the heated stone, i would just get the gembrief).

the prices for the gembrief, prestige report w origin and grading report are: $55, $300 and $420, respectively (plus $100 for each for certain types of treatment analysis).

i don't think origin matters much, so the question is whether it's worthwhile spending $420 for the grading report. for me, if the stone was more than a couple thousand dollars, i would be interested in seeing how it stacked up against all the other yellow sapphires out there so i'd get the grading report. but the decision has nothing to do with anything other than personal curiosity ...

Thanks for chiming in slksapphire! That gives me something to think about, but right now I think I'd rather have the extra money go toward getting it reset someday.