Replacing my diamond with a Sapphire

[Bravissimo]

Hey everyone. Many many years ago you helped me make my E-ring, a trellis three stone with round brilliants in platinum with a 1.5ct center stone from Washington diamond. Quest in Merrifield VA made the actual ring and sourced the side stones which are each .4 cts. Unfortunately the ring is now too small (I have lymphedema from cancer).

I am thinking of trading the center stone for something bigger and doing a whole new e-ring and putting a sapphire into my old ring as the center stone.

Am looking for an under $6,000 sapphire 7.3mm in diameter. Either light pink or blue.

Spent time last night looking but the whole thing got overwhelming.

Should I just ask Quest or Washington diamond to source the sapphire?

Or should I just trade everything in? Will I get remotely close to what the side stones and platinum are worth if I do?

I really loved my original ring but it never fit over my right knuckle and lymphedema makes wearing anything on the left impossible.

Any thoughts on what to do or where to go. This 7.3mm seems hard to find.

So many thanks in advance!

 

[dk168]

I am not an expert, however, aside from finding a stone with the right diameter, you would also need to consider the depth of the stone, as Sapphires (and other CSs such as Zircons and Spinels) tend to be cut quite deep compared with diamonds.

Hence the general advice for CS is to find the stone first, then the setting, and not the other way round, except for calibrated stones to fit into pre-made settings.

IMHO, the budget mentioned is sufficiently realistic for the size and colour of Sapphire you are after.

You may wish to contact some of the lapidary artists to enquire about custom cut stone to fit your ring setting. They would definitely want to know the depth of the setting in order to be able to establish if it is doable.

I know Jeff White had been requested by a PSer to cut a stone to size to fit into an existing ring setting not long ago, however, I cannot remember the name of the PSer, sorry! I vaguely remember the stone being a blue Zircon, however, I could be wrong.

Good luck with this project.

Throwing ideas into the ring, how about re-purposing all the stones into something more wearable, like a pendant or bangle bracelet etc?

DK

 

[seaurchin]

I'm a bit confused because there are several different issues going on at once in the original post.

I think you nearly always lose money when trading things in or buying and selling as an individual so it might make sense to keep and use what you already have, as a possible starting point.

I try to think of what would be the simplest, least expensive fix that will make me happy and go with that. But I'm not sure what that would be for you at this point.

As far as the current ring no longer fitting, you could just have it re-sized. I don't think you could go wrong with that beauty as a right hand ring.

Or did you mean that your fingers swell then go back to usual size, or that no ring will fit right because the knuckles are swollen? If that's the case then it may not make sense to have any rings. You could instead have the stones and future stones made into bracelets, pendants or earrings, as has been mentioned. (Maybe even have a wedding band tattooed on, if you like that idea). Or, in the case of enlarged knuckles, get special ring bands made that have a hinge to bypass enlarged knuckles.

If you do still want to trade in your center stone, first you'd have to be sure you bought it somewhere that takes trade-ins. Otherwise, you'd have to sell it, which of course would probably bring in a lot less than you paid for it.

Then, as has also been mentioned, it might be hard to find a sapphire you like in a size that fits the current setting. One way around that is to have a lab sapphire cut to the exact dimensions you need. Lab sapphires are of the same makeup as mined sapphires, top quality and much less expensive. (A few places to check out for that are Finewater Gems, PrecisionGems, Jeff White, Stag & Finch).

Or you could just get a larger sapphire ring instead of a larger diamond ring. That would probably cost less than a diamond of equal size and could be worn as either an engagement ring or a right hand ring.

For cost savings, lab diamonds as well as lab sapphires are also possibilities.

I upgraded my engagement ring and planned to sell the smaller original, but decided to keep both rings. I'm waiting to see if my kid wants the original when they get married. If not, I plan to have it set in a bangle bracelet. My new diamond is nearly twice as large so it's got the wow factor I wanted. But I knocked the cost down considerably by going with a lower color and clarity grade than the original (no downgrade on the cut quality, though). Keep us posted and good luck with it!

 

[Bravissimo]

So I am getting a different e-ring totally separate from the original because the original marriage and man ended 5 years ago.

The new man is going to trade in my original diamond for something more wow and add some $$$$ like an upgrade. Washington diamond does take trades.

Getting the old setting sized up to my middle right finger and the sapphire cut to fit the old setting seems like the direction to go in. I had not thought about depth. I will hunt the PS posts for custom sapphire cutting projects and check my very for the depth of the original center. I may just end up with a lab grown diamond in there. I have heard they don’t have good resale value but the colors are so pretty. At the end of the day it’s about what will hold up and what looks prettiest, right? I don’t have any children. Whomever I leave this ring to will need to just wear it, not try to extract value from it, right?

 

[seaurchin]

So I am getting a different e-ring totally separate from the original because the original marriage and man ended 5 years ago.

The new man is going to trade in my original diamond for something more wow and add some $$$$ like an upgrade. Washington diamond does take trades.

Getting the old setting sized up to my middle right finger and the sapphire cut to fit the old setting seems like the direction to go in. I had not thought about depth. I will hunt the PS posts for custom sapphire cutting projects and check my very for the depth of the original center. I may just end up with a lab grown diamond in there. I have heard they don’t have good resale value but the colors are so pretty. At the end of the day it’s about what will hold up and what looks prettiest, right? I don’t have any children. Whomever I leave this ring to will need to just wear it, not try to extract value from it, right?

Ooh, a new engagement. How exciting. Can't wait to see the new ring!

I agree about that whole value thing. In most cases, I'd definitely go for the lower cost upfront.

 

[2Neesers]

A sapphire would look beautiful in the center of your ring.
Here are a couple from Gemfix that are 7.2mm, which I think is close enough to work.
The first stone is not very deep at 4mm. Do you know the depth mm of your center diamond to compare?

Unheated Natural Blue Sapphire Round "Portuguese" Cut | 1.60cts | #11-1160 - Gemfix

Untreated Unheated Natural Blue Sapphire Round with Gemological Report

gemfix.com

This one is a little deeper cut at 4.5mm.

Natural Blue Sapphire Round "Roulette" Cut | 1.77cts | #11-1189 - Gemfix

Round Natural Certified Blue Sapphire with gemmological report

gemfix.com

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

So I am getting a different e-ring totally separate from the original because the original marriage and man ended 5 years ago.

The new man is going to trade in my original diamond for something more wow and add some $$$$ like an upgrade. Washington diamond does take trades.

Getting the old setting sized up to my middle right finger and the sapphire cut to fit the old setting seems like the direction to go in. I had not thought about depth. I will hunt the PS posts for custom sapphire cutting projects and check my very for the depth of the original center. I may just end up with a lab grown diamond in there. I have heard they don’t have good resale value but the colors are so pretty. At the end of the day it’s about what will hold up and what looks prettiest, right? I don’t have any children. Whomever I leave this ring to will need to just wear it, not try to extract value from it, right?

I think this is a wonderful idea
congratulations on the new improved man
a saphire will look fantastic in that setting and i love RH rings
good luck ! its going to be wonderful !

 

[NicoleNeedsHelp]

I just did this. I took out the diamond and had a sapphire placed. It is not a great sapphire because I had a much smaller budget than $6000- my stone was approx. $1500.. But, it came out really nice. David Klass did it and sourced the stone.

 

[Bravissimo]

I just did this. I took out the diamond and had a sapphire placed. It is not a great sapphire because I had a much smaller budget than $6000- my stone was approx. $1500.. But, it came out really nice. David Klass did it and sourced the stone.

I actually like the sapphire much better! How long did it all take? Stunning sapphire!!!

 

[Bravissimo]

A sapphire would look beautiful in the center of your ring.
Here are a couple from Gemfix that are 7.2mm, which I think is close enough to work.
The first stone is not very deep at 4mm. Do you know the depth mm of your center diamond to compare?

Unheated Natural Blue Sapphire Round "Portuguese" Cut | 1.60cts | #11-1160 - Gemfix

Untreated Unheated Natural Blue Sapphire Round with Gemological Report

gemfix.com

This one is a little deeper cut at 4.5mm.

Natural Blue Sapphire Round "Roulette" Cut | 1.77cts | #11-1189 - Gemfix

Round Natural Certified Blue Sapphire with gemmological report

gemfix.com

I had a typo up above. I am going to look at my cert and seethe depth. Thanks for showing me these two stones!

 

[chroman]

Another 7.2 at gemfix, but in pink.

Round Natural Pink Sapphire Portuguese Cut | 2.22cts | #13-556 - Gemfix

Natural Pink Sapphire Round Portuguese Cut

gemfix.com

But, depth.. if you’re trying to fix an existing setting..

 

[2Neesers]

I found a few more at Pearlman’s that I don’t think would be overly deep, based on their carat weight. You would have to call to find out the depth on the ones that don’t have it listed.
I‘m not sure how to link these, but you can enter the item number in this link to view them on their site.

Gemstone Search- Pearlman's Jewelers

 

[NicoleNeedsHelp]

I actually like the sapphire much better! How long did it all take? Stunning sapphire!!!

It didn’t take long at all. I, too, like the sapphire much better.

 

[NicoleNeedsHelp]

It didn’t take long at all. I, too, like the sapphire much better.

The sapphire in mine is 3.24 carats. With your budget, you could get a beautiful sapphire.