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Sapphire advice for engagement ring

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AL2231

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Messages
5
Hi all. While searching for a blue sapphire for an engagement ring, I've stumbled upon this forum and all of the great resources here. My gf and I have discussed her preferences, so I have a pretty good idea of what I'm looking for, but could really some feedback and opinions from those much more knowledgable.

In general, here's what I'm looking for:
Round, blue sapphire in the 1-1.5 carat range (or 6-7 mm). For color, she seems to prefer a pure to lighter blue that will be sparkly and bright. She's most worried about the stone being too dark, like most stones we've seen in stores. I will most likely set the stone in something pretty simple.

For budget I am looking at up to $3000 or so for the sapphire, and up to $4500 for the total ring, depending on the setting. Looking through the list of recommended vendors here, I've found a stone at gemfix.com that looks promising:

sapphire_blue_1121 (row 7, on the right).


I'm most concerned about color, since I find it really difficult to distinguish blue/purple colors. I've ordered it to get a hands-on look and can post photos once it arrives. Does anyone have any thoughts on this sapphire based on the website photos?

I'd appreciate any other thoughts or advice on the quality: clarity, reasonable price, any obvious imperfections I'm missing as a complete newbie gemstones.

Thanks!
 
It is very hard to make any judgments based on digital images.
Since you already ordered it, I think most of us prefer to wait and see what you think of it when it comes, and you can see it with your own eyes live and in person.
 
AL2231|1430342283|3869830 said:
I'm most concerned about color, since I find it really difficult to distinguish blue/purple colors. I've ordered it to get a hands-on look and can post photos once it arrives. Does anyone have any thoughts on this sapphire based on the website photos?
Click to expand...

Let's wait for the sapphire to arrive. Please handle it carefully as you view it under various light sources, observing the changes and deciding whether you love them or not. Even the most experienced of us have dropped stones!
 
It's cut by Andrew so that part will be great. You said she's looking for a pure blue, so does that mean she doesn't want a hint of purple? Are you aiming for completely untreated? If it were me, I'd also be interested in seeing 1227 IRL. The color on that one looks spectacular, so I'd want to know if I could see the inclusions or not.

Can't wait to see your pictures! :appl:

ETA: Does she mind some gray? If not, you might also want to check out their Montana sapphire page. 510 stood out. :)
 
SparkliesLuver|1430394175|3870011 said:
It's cut by Andrew so that part will be great. You said she's looking for a pure blue, so does that mean she doesn't want a hint of purple? Are you aiming for completely untreated? If it were me, I'd also be interested in seeing 1227 IRL. The color on that one looks spectacular, so I'd want to know if I could see the inclusions or not.

Can't wait to see your pictures! :appl:

ETA: Does she mind some gray? If not, you might also want to check out their Montana sapphire page. 510 stood out. :)
Click to expand...


1227 was another favorite of mine, but I was a little scared off by the possible inclusions. I really do like the color of that one though. I don't think she would mind some hints or flashes of purple, as long as the predominant color is blue. And an untreated sapphire would be nice, but not a priority.

Thanks for your thoughts! I'll upload some photos tomorrow when it comes in (while being as careful as possible).
 
If it doesn't pan out for you, I feel like finewatergems has a nice selection of sapphires lately
 
It came in today, so here are a few photos I was able to take. I'm not really sure what I think about it yet. Sometimes, it looks so bright and sparkly and lovely. Other times it seems muted and unsaturated in color. Maybe this is typical for most sapphires?

Sorry for the quality of the photos but it was the best I could do at the time.

Indoor lighting:



In more natural lighting:

img_7779.jpg

img_7780.jpg

img_7781.jpg

img_7782.jpg
 
From the orange-ness of your hand, I am guessing the 2nd picture is under incandescent light? Other than warm color (yellow/orange/red) stones, most deep cool-color (blue/green/violet) stones will not look good under incandescent. So, I wouldn't dwell on that one too much.

The last 2 pictures in "more natural lighting" (is that sunlight?) look like her preference of a 'pure blue' that is sparkly.

Keep in mind that color is all about the light, so try:

Morning daylight, by a north facing window, then again around noon
Late afternoon daylight by the same window (you will be surprised -it looks different!)
Fluorescent light -which is kind of cheating because it will probably look great. This is useful though if she works in an office!... which brings up the most important factor:
Where does she spend most of her time? What is the light like there? This is where you/she needs to love it.
 
PieAreSquared|1430514773|3870813 said:
From the orange-ness of your hand, I am guessing the 2nd picture is under incandescent light? Other than warm color (yellow/orange/red) stones, most deep cool-color (blue/green/violet) stones will not look good under incandescent. So, I wouldn't dwell on that one too much.

The last 2 pictures in "more natural lighting" (is that sunlight?) look like her preference of a 'pure blue' that is sparkly.

Keep in mind that color is all about the light, so try:

Morning daylight, by a north facing window, then again around noon
Late afternoon daylight by the same window (you will be surprised -it looks different!)
Fluorescent light -which is kind of cheating because it will probably look great. This is useful though if she works in an office!... which brings up the most important factor:
Where does she spend most of her time? What is the light like there? This is where you/she needs to love it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great thoughts—I hadn't even considered the lighting in her office (mostly fluorescent).

Yes, the first 2 photos were under the same incandescent lighting and away from windows. The last 2 were by windows, indirect sunlight.

I'll keep checking it out under different lighting conditions. Also, I think I'm seeing a faint ring around the outside when looking at it from directly above. I assume this is just the nature of the cut and light reflection, but is it common to see this in most stones?
 
It reminds me of a violet blue spinel, which although they can be nice, most are very desaturated and dark. If looking for a sapphire, I would try to look for a better saturated and lighter stone, unless you like a lot of grey in your gems.
 
It's a decent enough blue sapphire, but if it doesn't wow your socks off, I would keep looking.
 
Chrono said:
It's a decent enough blue sapphire, but if it doesn't wow your socks off, I would keep looking.
Click to expand...

+1
 
Looks like I will keep hunting. Thanks to all for the advice—I'm glad I checked in with folks with experience. Hopefully, I'll have time to narrow down a few other options in the next day or two.
 
Just keep in mind, no matter how experienced we are here, we base our comments on your pictures, not the actual stone, only you can see that.
As always, our opinions are only as accurate as the photos we see.
 
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