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Questions on Blue Sapphire

pwsg07

Brilliant_Rock
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Nov 21, 2016
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I am interested in a 2 carat untreated blue sapphire from Sri Lanka. It comes with a GIC Certificate. The asking price is $1400 per carat. I have not seen this stone yet but will see the stone soon. Is the GIC certificate reliable? The purpose of having the certificate is only for me to buy what I want since there are so many treatment and synthetic stone. Is the asking price too high or fair? Since I have no idea how much an untreated blue sapphire should cost per carat, I need some help here. Thank you.
 
It seems we could make a sub-forum on blue sapphire?
 
It does seem like every other new thread is on the blue sapphire. Do you think it's because the blue sapphire is a popular engagement ring stone?
 
It does seem like every other new thread is on the blue sapphire. Do you think it's because the blue sapphire is a popular engagement ring stone?
Blue sapphire is more affordable than ruby and it is very durable.
 
I noticed the same thing last spring and summer.. It must be proposal time lf the year ;)

Someone with more time on their hands than I could probaby come up with some categories that cover most of the queries and start a thread for each? Like "someone has to buy this stone!", but for blue sapphires < 2k?
 
I noticed the same thing last spring and summer.. It must be proposal time lf the year ;)

Someone with more time on their hands than I could probaby come up with some categories that cover most of the queries and start a thread for each? Like "someone has to buy this stone!", but for blue sapphires < 2k?
That sounds like a good idea.
 
Its a good idea, and we've done it for other things, but what I've noticed happens is that these informative threads often get buried and unless its obvious, newcomers don't find them, and instead start threads of their own anyway.

But go for it! A "Someone Should Buy this Blue Sapphire" thread might be a real hit! Keep in mind, it might immediately be hijacked by a newcomer asking a bunch of questions about the stones posted or asking where else they can look for sapphires...:wall::wink2:
 
Now that you mention it, I can definitely see the thread becoming hijacked.
 
What, like we hijacked this thread? ;)
 
OP -

I don't think anyone can give you an answer on whether the price is reasonable without pictures and more details color, clarity, cut etc..Be sure to get pictures in different lighting because some can shift.

fwiw here is an older link asking about GIC:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...is-gic-certificate-unheated-statement.181670/

(And as others have mentioned, there are quite a few blue sapphire threads that you might find helpful. )
 
For a high-quality unheated sapphire 1400 seems on the low side.
 
For me, GIC isn't enough to be mind clean since it takes highly specialized equipment and skill to detect diffusion. Pricing will be dependent on the treatment and colour quality, so it is impossible to say whether the asking price is too high or fair. Let's first start with getting a stone that comes with a reputable lab report.
 
I talked to Richard Hughes ages ago and he said they rarely diffuse blue sapphires in general anyway, so when they are decent looking to a critical eye they probably are not diffused, which I confess I didn't know either, until that discussion. The price per carat depends on the colour, saturation and cut of the stone. Post a pic and people will give you their opinions.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I will see the sapphire tomorrow. Since this is a new vendor and my first time buying sapphire, I need more information on the certificate and price.
 
I have seen the sapphires today. The colour is very nice medium/medium dark violetish blue. They are not dark; they still look blue indoor. They are eye clean, but with the loupe, they have some growth structure, feather inclusions, silk inclusions. I think it is more included than slightly included. Is it normal for untreated sapphire to have lots of inclusions? I have not seen lots of untreated sapphires so I cannot tell how much inclusions should be inside an untreated sapphire. I didn't take photos since I don't think I will buy the sapphires. But it is a good learning experience for me.
 
My understanding is that intact silk needles, which can be seen with a 10x loupe or microscope, is an indication that a sapphire has probably NOT been heat treated. My unheated blue has similar coloring - blue indoors but more violet-blue outdoors..it seems to me that unheated sapphires with this color shift are less expensive per carat but again, hard to tell seeing the stone.
 
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Totally agreed that without pictures of gemstones and details of cut, clarity, Exact price can not be determined though I bought few stones with GIC certificate from https://ceylon-gemstones.com/ and got it checked from some Independent lab. Interestingly found the the same result.
 
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