Rookie searching for purple sapphire

[minousbijoux]

Some stones at Planetary gems have reports from SGL. Is this a reputable lab?

I know its in Sri Lanka and thats about it, but I remember a while ago Pandora (who unfortunately doesn't post any more, Wahh ) saying that Sri Lanka has pretty high standards and all the labs she knew of were on the up and up. That's a great question for that other website that I saw one of your postings on recently

Minous, isn't it great that the vendor exchanged my opal? I will ask about SGL over there. I miss pandora and her lovely tsav. I wish I could see what jewelry she was making as she had great taste.

Thread jack over.

Yes, it was excellent! I would love it if you "outed" the vendor, because I love to buy from vendors with high ethical (or is it moral? ) standards.

Chrono: Do you think it could be the photo and not the stone? Jim Rentfrow is such a good cutter that I can't believe it would be off...? OP: you might want to at least contact him as he is the nicest of guys - one of those people who is genuinely happy when he makes others happy with his stones.

 

[LD]

Purple is one of the most difficult colours to find because the range of "purple" is vast. I have to say that the one at Flawless Facets is unusual. You don't see many that colour and it's very attractive but I agree with you that I think it's dark and as you say, will possibly darken even more once set. If you don't like the shape as well then it's probably not the stone for you.

I would also agree with Freke that concave faceting seems to be a love/hate thing with very little in between! I don't like them because to my eye they don't look like gemstones should! That's a very personal opinion but I just wanted to mention it because we don't know what camp your g/f is in!

If you can't post photos can you link to some of the stones that you like. That'll give a really good idea of the colour you like.

Oh, one other thing ............. many purple sapphires are multi-personality! They can look quite blue in some lighting and then have quite a lot of pink in others. So if you do find one you like, please spend some time evaluating it in all lighting conditions. Not all are chameleons but a good proportion are!

 

[minousbijoux]

Cheese: contact Jason Brim of Select gems. He has a purple one - maybe too pink though. I would say more, but I don't want it to be sniped.

 

[corundum_conundrum]

Cheesewhiz,

Is the gem trader stone too small?

Did you ask Jim about the purple sapphire?

Just keep in mind that rounds are hard to find and command a premium.

If the Flawless Facets stone is the color you want, I would order it and see for yourself whether it goes too dark. Do yourself a favor and choose a perfect color over the perfect shape. You won't regret it. Its really a nice, well-proportioned cushion (I think a 1.2:1 LxW ratio not only has a pleasing symmetry, but it stays under the 1.25:1 ratio at which point some unpleasant optical properties become more of an issue in cushions and ovals, as a reputable cutter has told me. This is not a law of gemstones, just some advice I was given that I am passing along). Ask about about the off-centered culet too (I personally think there is something funky happening in the photo, and the culet is actually centered).

 

[minousbijoux]

Whoops, didn't realize they were looking for a round. Sorry, OP, false alarm.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Cheesewhiz,

Is the gem trader stone too small?

Did you ask Jim about the purple sapphire?

Yes, I really like the Gem Trader stone but i feel like its slightly too small. Love the colour on it. Price seems OK too.

I have checked with Jim about the cushion sapphire that we like and he is getting more photos for me - it is not one of his own stones that he cut and he needs to order it in first apparently. It is this stone that I saw on two different websites for different prices incidentally.

The problem is I am in Australia, so ordering something and sending it back is a bit time consuming/costly for both parties, and complicated by the taxes I need to pay when it enters the country.

I've found one I like but I'm a bit hesitant to post up for opinions as its on sale and I dont want it snatched

By the way, this thread has been extremely helpful for me thus far, thank you for your opinions and links to stones I probably wouldn't have otherwise found!

 

[corundum_conundrum]

Cheesewiz,

I'm really glad that you are still investigating the flawless facets stones. The color really caught your eye, so that's exactly the right reason to follow-up on it. There's no sense in rejecting it in advance because we are speculating that it might go too dark in indoor lighting. I know that Jim posts stones from a "network" of gem vendors, so sometimes the same stones are posted to others who also show the same stones.

I forgot about the difficulties of returning from Australia, so numerous pictures and Jim's opinion of it in person will be indispensable. Ask him how it looks in dimmer, indoor lighting.

In regards to the new stone that you like...ask to reserve it after some investigating, and then go ahead and post some pics here.