Sapphire experts needed - opinion on eBay sapphire find

[CaseyLouLou]

I seem to have a new hobby of purchasing vintage sapphire rings on eBay hoping to find a bargain. One is at GIA now. I have returned a couple but here is an interesting one that I’m not sure about. I paid $475 for the ring and the setting isn’t anything special - looks much better in photos than in reality.

The sapphire in vendor pics had an interesting color that looked silky and saturated. It’s raining today so I haven’t been able to see it for more than a few seconds in direct sun but using a flashlight it has a nice glowy blue. In indirect light it is a dark velvety blue and in dim indoor light it’s very dark but not black unless there is very little light.

Under a loupe I don’t see any major inclusions but just some minor stripey zoning that you can see in some of my photos. It’s in excellent condition. It’s about 1ct.

I’m guessing this may be a case of too much silk. I really would love to have a silky sapphire like some I have seen here but I know there’s a fine line. This stone doesn’t sparkle a lot but it’s not dead either.

I’m very torn so I’m curious what you all think of the stone. How dark is too dark? How silky is too silky? How does one affect the other?

Here are photos indoors in natural light



Here are a couple with the flashlight.

 

[whitewave]

It is a little glowy but it is very dark, which is ok if you like darker sapphires.

 

[Autumn in New England]

Hey listen, you paid $475! This is a really nice ring!! Yes, it's on the deeper side of royal and has more of a soft glow than glittering brilliance, but you were anticipating that. And a little zoning is to be expected in this price range. Now you'd just need to confirm composition and treatments and all that, if you decide to keep it. Is the band stamped?

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Hey listen, you paid $475! This is a really nice ring!! Yes, it's on the deeper side of royal and has more of a soft glow than glittering brilliance, but you were anticipating that. And a little zoning is to be expected in this price range. Now you'd just need to confirm composition and treatments and all that, if you decide to keep it. Is the band stamped?

The diamonds are not great and don’t sparkle much unless there is bright light. The ring is stamped but it has a strange tarnish like it encountered some chemical or something. It shined up with a clean. I don’t love the setting so I would probably be buying it for the sapphire.

One ring I have saved is @Rfisher and I’m wondering how it compares. Hers looks dark in some light and glows in bright light so I’m curious just how dark that one gets.

I really need the sun to come out!

 

[Autumn in New England]

The diamonds are not great and don’t sparkle much unless there is bright light. The ring is stamped but it has a strange tarnish like it encountered some chemical or something. It shined up with a clean. I don’t love the setting so I would probably be buying it for the sapphire.

One ring I have saved is @Rfisher and I’m wondering how it compares. Hers looks dark in some light and glows in bright light so I’m curious just how dark that one gets.

I really need the sun to come out!

She just showed that beauty over in our rainbow thread! Maybe ask @Rfisher where she found it and what it cost her (if she's comfortable sharing), so you can see if this grade is something you'd be interested in purchasing. It doesn't sound like you're too happy with that ring. Personally, I wouldn't keep it just for the stone. If it's a natural sapphire with natural diamond and genuine gold, it was a bargain at $475. But to keep the stone and toss the setting, and then have to ship the gem back and forth to have it tested, I'm just not sure it's worth it. I think you can find something you love more. I know it's tempting to bargain shop gems and jewelry hoping you'll hit the jackpot with a steal, but that happens with extreme rarity, in my experience. I always suggest collectors save up and buy one really awesome splurge.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

The diamonds are not great and don’t sparkle much unless there is bright light. The ring is stamped but it has a strange tarnish like it encountered some chemical or something. It shined up with a clean. I don’t love the setting so I would probably be buying it for the sapphire.

One ring I have saved is @Rfisher and I’m wondering how it compares. Hers looks dark in some light and glows in bright light so I’m curious just how dark that one gets.

I really need the sun to come out!

You too, huh? This little round is one of my grail stones(as @Rfisher knows ) I don't know how one would go about getting that perfect edge that this stone straddles, but I'm excited to see if you can.

Sapphires can be maddening when looking for just the right hue/silk but, we're all mad here!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

She just showed that beauty over in our rainbow thread! Maybe ask @Rfisher where she found it and what it cost her (if she's comfortable sharing), so you can see if this grade is something you'd be interested in purchasing. It doesn't sound like you're too happy with that ring. Personally, I wouldn't keep it just for the stone. If it's a natural sapphire with natural diamond and genuine gold, it was a bargain at $475. But to keep the stone and toss the setting, and then have to ship the gem back and forth to have it tested, I'm just not sure it's worth it. I think you can find something you love more. I know it's tempting to bargain shop gems and jewelry hoping you'll hit the jackpot with a steal, but that happens with extreme rarity, in my experience. I always suggest collectors save up and buy one really awesome splurge.

I have seen that advice and it’s excellent advice!

I have been looking for the perfect sapphire and I can’t stomach the $3000+ price range, not because I can’t “afford” it but because I just can’t justify paying that for one stone. At least not yet! And bargain hunting is kinda fun.

I have found a couple in the $800-1500 range but they wouldn’t be returnable coming from Sri Lanka. There’s one on Gemfix that I like for $2500 but that’s a lot of money!

I’m not doubting that this one is natural because it looks obvious to me so unless I really wanted to know if it’s heated I wouldn’t bother sending it to a lab.

I will post photos of the ones I have been eyeing recently but I just don’t think I can pull the trigger. Maybe you all can convince me. You are good at that!

 

[Autumn in New England]

And bargain hunting is kinda fun.

Some folks find the hunt to be the best part of collecting! I'm so neurotic that I suck the fun right out of it. I just want it over with and the perfect gem sitting pretty in my gem box. Great attitude to have with any hobby, right?!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Some folks find the hunt to be the best part of collecting! I'm so neurotic that I suck the fun right out of it. I just want it over with and the perfect gem sitting pretty in my gem box. Great attitude to have with any hobby, right?!

But then aren’t you on to the next gem that you ‘need’?

 

[Rfisher]

thank you for the kind words about my sapphire :blush:

the 503 photos that I took of the sapphire in that thread do run the whole gamut of how it looks to my eye. Pretty accurate to what I see vs what’s on my monitor. I included the not so good with the good pics of the color, so it’s all in there for you to see. It‘s very multi personality.
It does get a ‘better’ blue color if I travel nearer to the equator, compared to the greysky area where I live . I should take pics the next time I travel to compare - you know for science and all.

I do feel you can easily find sapphires from PS’ers that hold their blue in lower lighting much better than mine. And I know exactly who they are. LOL!

I bought mine 2ndhand on LT, so I’m not quite sure the price I paid is relevant, much. I paid the asking price of $1100. It does not have a lab cert. I can reliably trace it from the previous (also a tradesperson) owner to the vendor/cutter, and do trust the vendor/cutters assessment of Madagascar unheated, enough to not feel the need to send to a lab. And im not sure I care that much to know for certain.

how do you feel about this new one compared to the one you have out at a lab, @CaseyLouLou ?
please do post the gemfix one you are looking at. a few more opinions can’t hurt anything

 

[CaseyLouLou]

thank you for the kind words about my sapphire :blush:

the 503 photos that I took of the sapphire in that thread do run the whole gamut of how it looks to my eye. Pretty accurate to what I see vs what’s on my monitor. I included the not so good with the good pics of the color, so it’s all in there for you to see. It‘s very multi personality.
It does get a ‘better’ blue color if I travel nearer to the equator, compared to the greysky area where I live . I should take pics the next time I travel to compare - you know for science and all.

I do feel you can easily find sapphires from PS’ers that hold their blue in lower lighting much better than mine. And I know exactly who they are. LOL!

I bought mine 2ndhand on LT, so I’m not quite sure the price I paid is relevant, much. I paid the asking price of $1100. It does not have a lab cert. I can reliably trace it from the previous owner to the cutter, and do trust the cutters assessment of Madagascar unheated, enough to not feel the need to send to a lab. And im not sure I care that much to know for certain.

how do you feel about this new one compared to the one you have out at a lab, @CaseyLouLou ?
please do post the gemfix one you are looking at. a few more opinions can’t hurt anything

The one at GIA is more sparkly and not glowy. The color is very nice and if it’s natural then it’s a really nice stone. But I have been coveting a silky glowy one like yours and @Acinom so I’m still hunting.

How dark is yours in evening low light indoors? Does it go almost black? Is it more of a daylight bright light stone?

Here’s the Gemfix one but the price is high and I don’t even know if it has enough silk. Silk is confusing!

 

[Rfisher]

One thing I do want to add-
mine doesn’t need direct concentrated lighting to look bright. It goes bright in very indirect lighting too.

I went thru a few that only went bright in very direct strong concentrated light.

this was what was important to me.
no. It never blacks out.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

haha Jinx!
I know that this is smaller and not cheap but this gemfix sapphire just makes me squiggy when I see it.

Natural Royal Blue Sapphire Round "Roulette" Cut | 1.27cts | #11-1347 - Gemfix

Round Natural Blue Sapphire Modified Brilliant Cut

gemfix.com

My whole philosophy is finding the best deals for color that I can, it's what I love about the hunt. Now, that does mean that my small 'collection' looks like chips compared to some of the museum quality specimens that we get to drool over here but I love them because of it.
* I was still writing when you posted the one I wanted to show you! If I had the money man, I would love one just like this!

 

[Rfisher]

@MainSequence (and a few other people too) did a great comparison of a few gemfix sapphires in the vendor pictures/owner pictures thread. There’s quite a few variables to take to heart in vendor vs owner photos, - but I feel looking at those comparison photos helps in “reading” their vendor photos /videos.

 

[Rfisher]

have you seen this one?

Sri Lanka Natural Blue Sapphire 1.62 carat ** VIDEO ** in Sapphires Direct From Sri Lanka- Crescent Gems

I wonder how low is low what he means by call for way below listed price?

 

[Autumn in New England]

But then aren’t you on to the next gem that you ‘need’?

Oh yeah, and that's the damnable misery of it. lol I'm trying to concentrate on just setting them now!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

One thing I do want to add-
mine doesn’t need direct concentrated lighting to look bright. It goes bright in very indirect lighting too.

I went thru a few that only went bright in very direct strong concentrated light.

this was what was important to me.
no. It never blacks out.

This is helpful. I will return this one. It’s definitely a learning experience

I contacted Adamant gems recently and sent some photos of silky blue glowy sapphires from PS and he said those all had too much silk and he wouldn’t carry anything that silky. He said there’s an ideal balance. One of the ones he had looked nice and said it had some silk but I think it’s probably more sparkly than glowy. I was a little surprised that he said those photos weren’t ideal and too silky because to me they are amazing!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Oh yeah, and that's the damnable misery of it. lol I'm trying to concentrate on just setting them now!

Me too….except for the sudden need for that elusive silky sapphire.

 

[Rfisher]

I contacted Adamant gems recently and sent some photos of silky blue glowy sapphires from PS and he said those all had too much silk and he wouldn’t carry anything that silky. He said there’s an ideal balance. One of the ones he had looked nice and said it had some silk but I think it’s probably more sparkly than glowy. I was a little surprised that he said those photos weren’t ideal and too silky because to me they are amazing!

This doesn’t surprise me at all. He does have lovely gems.
I am sure many people here feel the same as him. ‘Touch of silk‘ in a top tier sapphire is not a silky sapphire.
Mine is definitely overly silky by sapphire connoisseur standards. Mine also varies greatly depending on lighting type and directional source on how much silky vs scintillation is apparent. I don’t know how common that is.

people vary :shrug:
and that’s a good thing!

hunt on, hunt on. yours is out there.

 

[Autumn in New England]

Me too….except for the sudden need for that elusive silky sapphire.

Your perfect stone will come along! Hang in there... there isn't a better bunch of folks than these ladies and gents to help guide your journey.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

have you seen this one?

Sri Lanka Natural Blue Sapphire 1.62 carat ** VIDEO ** in Sapphires Direct From Sri Lanka- Crescent Gems

I wonder how low is low what he means by call for way below listed price?

I have seen that one and it’s not wowing me. It looks more included than silky but I could be wrong.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Your perfect stone will come along! Hang in there... there isn't a better bunch of folks than these ladies and gents to help guide your journey.

Yes please do keep posting options here. Thanks so much!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

This doesn’t surprise me at all. He does have lovely gems.
I am sure many people here feel the same as him. ‘Touch of silk‘ in a top tier sapphire is not a silky sapphire.
Mine is definitely overly silky by sapphire connoisseur standards. Mine also varies greatly depending on lighting type and directional source on how much silky vs scintillation is apparent. I don’t know how common that is.

people vary :shrug:
and that’s a good thing!

hunt on, hunt on. yours is out there.

He was super nice and helpful.

I do have a couple of nice, inexpensive and decent sapphires that are unset but neither is silky so that’s what I have decided I ‘need’. I love yours and @Acinom and a couple of others on PS. The price you paid is about my limit really. I would splurge at that amount or maybe even $1,500.

 

[Rfisher]

Roger Dery

Roger Dery

rogerderygemdesign.com

This one is interesting.
I don’t know how small diameter you are willing to entertain? Chunky cluster?

You could maybe contact EarthsTreasury to see if he has any more like material from where mine came from, to cut?

And if you haven’t seen it, acinom also posted her vendor photo in the vendor/owner thread I mentioned above. It’s got enough lightsource to cast a shadow, but proves not all lighting scenarios are favorable for immediate !wow! perception.
I am also in the leagues of folk of thinking her blue sapphire ring is my holy grail.
I know it’s repeating to say, but not needing a direct focused sunbeam/torch beam/spotlight to have a bright blue stone at times is the very hard to tell factor from vendor photos in searching for the ‘right’ stone that doesn’t black out whether to desaturation or extinction or whatever. The intense saturated medium/ medium dark ones that !wow! us all, that don’t darken/desaturate at all in low lighting/weird lighting (if they even exist) are not in the cards for us mere mortals who don’t want to pay >$3000/ct
IMO, as I’m not an ‘expert’

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Roger Dery

Roger Dery

rogerderygemdesign.com

This one is interesting.
I don’t know how small diameter you are willing to entertain? Chunky cluster?

You could maybe contact EarthsTreasury to see if he has any more like material from where mine came from, to cut?

And if you haven’t seen it, acinom also posted her vendor photo in the vendor/owner thread I mentioned above. It’s got enough lightsource to cast a shadow, but proves not all lighting scenarios are favorable for immediate !wow! perception.
I am also in the leagues of folk of thinking her blue sapphire ring is my holy grail.
I know it’s repeating to say, but not needing a direct focused sunbeam/torch beam/spotlight to have a bright blue stone at times is the very hard to tell factor from vendor photos in searching for the ‘right’ stone that doesn’t black out whether to desaturation or extinction or whatever. The intense saturated medium/ medium dark ones that !wow! us all, that don’t darken/desaturate at all in low lighting/weird lighting (if they even exist) are not in the cards for us mere mortals who don’t want to pay <$3000/ct
IMO, as I’m not an ‘expert’

Thank you! There is another one I am looking at that is a small size but I’m told it’s not glowy. The minor silk makes it have less extinction but doesn’t cause it to glow so that’s why I passed on it.

I wonder if this one is glowy.

 

[Bron357]

It’s tricky.
You need an excellent sapphire to look good in “all” light environments.
Its “vivid” that you need together with silk to get “glow”.
Vivid often comes hand in hand with darker tone.
The darker tone tends to look “dead” in low light.
You will get sparkle with clean stone but not glow (you can’t have both). You can get vivid and sparkle.
Vivid and sparkle will be most expensive and is the combination that looks best in all lights.
the exception of course is true Kashmir sapphires. Their silk is unique so they still manage to look vivid and glowy even in low light. And their price reflects their qualities.
So unless you have very deep pockets or get really lucky before someone else, you’ll have to make decisions about what matters most to you and buy accordingly.
And ebay is a good hunting ground.
I got lucky.
Im always looking for bargain ring settings that I can use to set some of my gem haul.
the setting I bought for my white sapphire actually turned out to have a very nice natural blue sapphire. I think the listing description was “blue stone ring with white stones”. Yep.
the diamond setting I bought for one of the blue pair from the gem haul, have stayed as a pair and I put the blue sapphire into the fancy setting.

 

[Autumn in New England]

So beautiful, @Bron357! Did you ever send the sapphire off for testing? I'd be immensely curious.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

It’s tricky.
You need an excellent sapphire to look good in “all” light environments.
Its “vivid” that you need together with silk to get “glow”.
Vivid often comes hand in hand with darker tone.
The darker tone tends to look “dead” in low light.
You will get sparkle with clean stone but not glow (you can’t have both). You can get vivid and sparkle.
Vivid and sparkle will be most expensive and is the combination that looks best in all lights.
the exception of course is true Kashmir sapphires. Their silk is unique so they still manage to look vivid and glowy even in low light. And their price reflects their qualities.
So unless you have very deep pockets or get really lucky before someone else, you’ll have to make decisions about what matters most to you and buy accordingly.
And ebay is a good hunting ground.
I got lucky.
Im always looking for bargain ring settings that I can use to set some of my gem haul.
the setting I bought for my white sapphire actually turned out to have a very nice natural blue sapphire. I think the listing description was “blue stone ring with white stones”. Yep.
the diamond setting I bought for one of the blue pair from the gem haul, have stayed as a pair and I put the blue sapphire into the fancy setting.

Thanks for all the info! I think it was you that inspired me to find some used settings to fit my loose stones and I have had some success. It takes time to find them but it’s fun to look. That’s how I accidentally found the sapphire that is at GIA. Even if it’s not real the diamonds in the setting are gorgeous.

Only ‘problem’ is I also found another setting that I love for $300 with a too dark but pretty, probably lab grown sapphire, but I don’t have a stone to fit so now I need yet another stone. Ha! Problems.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Roger Dery

Roger Dery

rogerderygemdesign.com

This one is interesting.
I don’t know how small diameter you are willing to entertain? Chunky cluster?

You could maybe contact EarthsTreasury to see if he has any more like material from where mine came from, to cut?

And if you haven’t seen it, acinom also posted her vendor photo in the vendor/owner thread I mentioned above. It’s got enough lightsource to cast a shadow, but proves not all lighting scenarios are favorable for immediate !wow! perception.
I am also in the leagues of folk of thinking her blue sapphire ring is my holy grail.
I know it’s repeating to say, but not needing a direct focused sunbeam/torch beam/spotlight to have a bright blue stone at times is the very hard to tell factor from vendor photos in searching for the ‘right’ stone that doesn’t black out whether to desaturation or extinction or whatever. The intense saturated medium/ medium dark ones that !wow! us all, that don’t darken/desaturate at all in low lighting/weird lighting (if they even exist) are not in the cards for us mere mortals who don’t want to pay >$3000/ct
IMO, as I’m not an ‘expert’

Hi again. I did get a price on that one and it was $1,535 and the stone is on a tour so I can’t get more photos but it’s also over budget and kind of small.

I did find this one from someone in Sri Lanka. It looks really nice in all the videos. It’s $1200 plus $125 for FedEx. I’m very very tempted but it’s a lot to spend and not have a return option. It is $1.79ct and heated.

These are snapshots from several videos. I’m curious what you and @Acinom and @Bron357 and @Autumn in New England think of the color.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Hi again. I did get a price on that one and it was $1,535 and the stone is on a tour so I can’t get more photos but it’s also over budget and kind of small.

I did find this one from someone in Sri Lanka. It looks really nice in all the videos. It’s $1200 plus $125 for FedEx. I’m very very tempted but it’s a lot to spend and not have a return option. It is $1.79ct and heated.

These are snapshots from several videos. I’m curious what you and @Acinom and @Bron357 and @Autumn in New England think of the color.

Apparently I can return it to an office in the US so that’s awesome. I would just be out the shipping. What do you all think?!