Sapphire Engagement Ring

[chelsealoo]

Hi,

Long time reader - first time poster.

I am currently in the process of finding a blue sapphire for my engagement ring and was wondering if anyone was able to assist. I am based in Australia and have a relatively small budget (around 1000-1500 AUD) for the stone and setting. I have not been able to find any local sellers so if anyone knows any that would assist greatly. However any online sellers would be okay too.

As for what I would like I'm not too picky. Round or oval cut would probably be best. A medium blue would be desired but I would still like lighter or darker. I am also open to other colours or stones if anyone has any other recommendations. Size wise - around 7-8mm would be fantastic but I'm not sure if that is wishful thinking. Heat treated is also okay. As for setting I am hoping to look at a halo setting of some kind. I would also be open to buying a ready-made ring if that is another option?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated - thanks.

 

[GliderPoss]

Hi Chelsea, not sure where in Australia you are but I just spent this morning at Reddcliffe Gem Show in Brisbane - saw exactly what you are looking for at Coolomon Sapphires. Google them and call Jenny. They dont have an online inventory but I've seen their inventory and its vast!

 

[chrono]

There's Dough Mendou (I probably spelled it wrong) of Bespoke Gems someplace in Australia. If open to US based sites, there's GemFix. AJS is in Thailand. If you want precision cutting, Precision Gems, Jeff White, Finewater are all good options.

 

[corundum_conundrum]

I think at that budget, it would be very tough to find something 7-8 mm face-up with great saturation in the medium/medium-dark range. That would be a high one-carat, low two-carat round or oval. Maybe i'm being overly pessimistic, but personally I would recommend you think about modifying some of your criteria at that budget.

Luckily, since you mentioned lighter blues, I think they can still come at a relative bargain. You could probably pick-up a great lighter blue of around that size for 1,000-1,500 (for just the stone!).

Gemfix has some lighter blues close to your price-point. I've yet to encounter a PS vendor who wasn't willing to discuss a slightly more favorable price. http://www.spectralgems.com also has some nice lighter ones.

 

[chrono]

CC,
Good catch on the size and budget. It isn't doable even if she goes with a lighter blue and wants a halo setting. Supposing an LOGR halo, she'll have under $1000 left for a 6 mm round. There's import taxes to consider for Australia. Options will open up with she's willing to accept other modifiers like green.

 

[chelsealoo]

Hi all,

Thank you very much for all of your replies. I realise I am probably being over ambitious! I am happy to be very flexible and have not yet got my heart set on anything! I can possibly stretch my budget to $2000AUD but that would be the highest I can go. As such I am happy to look at smaller stones, different stones or different settings if you have other suggestions I have attached some sapphires that I liked the look of but my eye is not too good at picking up things like windows etc. I would love an opinion on these if you have the time.

HotPozzum - I actually live on the Gold Coast so will definitely call Jenny and see what she has available.

Thanks again,

Chelsea

 

[GregS]

I like 1079... It's silky, but I like that in Sapphires as long as there is still some life.

The screenshot isn't as big as I'd like. It's the middle stone. 6.1mm, $1545 usd.

 

[Quennoo]

Hi there I was on the sapphire hunt myself and went for a monatana sapphire in the end (i tend to favour many colours and tones within a stone...mot a uniform colour!!)

however I just saw this on

http://www.djraregems.com/finegems.html

"17181 Sapphire,
Md Blue, 1.59 cts cushion cut measuring 7.3x5.8x3.9 mm, eye clean, from Sri Lanka. A heated Sri Lankan sapphire of fine medium blue color.
Priced at $300/carat or $477.00/gem"

They have 20% off this at the moment I think? Picture is attached.

You have to scroll down their listings to find it!!

Good luck!

 

[minousbijoux]

chelsealoo: one of the things you'll come to realize pretty quickly here is that while we all know what the trade preference is for sapphires, we all have our own individual preferences for what we like best! Of the sapphires shown so far, the one I like best is the third one that you posted from Gemfix. I like it although its smaller, because of the hue (the least amount of grey) and because it appears from the photo you attached (granted I did not go to their website to pull up the handshot) to be well cut with sparkle. But as you can see from the posting of others, there is a lot of variation in preferences. The important thing and the only trick, is to figure out what you like...

ETA: Sorry - it was the second Gemfix sapphire (the last one you linked to) that I thought was the nicest!

 

[chrono]

The 0.86 ct round from GemFix caught me eye the most, out of all your listed options. Here's another one that looked interesting (to me, at least), considering the size and budget. Granted it is light but I thought the colour unique and attractive. 6 mm for $495 and unheated too. It is sapphire 1091.

 

[minousbijoux]

Just thought of something else, which is for a while, Tan, who has several ebay stores, had great deals on subcarat blue sapphires. I don't know if this is still the case as sapphires have appreciated so much in price in the last few years, but its worth a look at his stores, which are located on the list of vendors on the pinned thread on the top of front page of this Colored Stones section, if that helps