Sapphires please help

[MustangFan]

Ok so where do you go for the best sapphire quality and deals? I have been looking at thenaturalsapphiresompany.com and cherrypicked.com. I am getting engaged within the next three months and want to start ring shopping. For some reason I can''t access naturalsapphire on my b/f computer. Do you think I should make an appointment to see all these stones in person, natural and cherry are both based in NYC which is not far for me, should I make a day trip out of it? The other thing is I have no idea what he feels appropiate to spend, and I don''t want to argue about it. I found a cushion cut 1.44ct for $5,000 and the setting I want will probably cost around $1000-$1500. This is below the 2 month salary thing, but some how I feel guilty for wanting to spend that much...??? is this wrong? I want a gorgeous blue Sapphire cushion or oval with diamonds all around the center stone.

 

[bar01]

Communication, communication, communication - a good way to start a marriage. Talk with your beloved, and try to find a budget you both can live with. Discuss not only the cost of e-ring, but wedding rings, wedding event, honeymoon, new home costs - everything you might have to deal with in the next year or two.

Yes - If you can make it on a day trip to NYC - do it ! I would have loved to have sat in the offices of NSC and Cherry. Wow ! What a day looking a fine untreated sapphires.

$5000 for a 1.44ct sapphire? Or was that with diamonds too? That seems a bit on the high side, I would expect you could find something really nice for 2500 per ct these days. A basic setting in Platinum could run around 1500. Fine diamonds will add more.

 

[widget]

I agree with Bertrand....you really do need to settle on your budget first.

But then....I can't think of anything more exciting than office visits to NSC and/or CP and being able to L@@K at their baubles in real life!! What fun!

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ETA: I just thought I'd add: I'd probably not visit these vendors in person until I was in serious "buying mode", and past the "just thinking" stage...they're both mostly internet vendors, and probably don't have a lot of time or facilities to entertain 'looky loos"

.

 

[MustangFan]

We will not just be looking, we are in serious purchase mode. What are some non internet vendors in NYC????
Cherry Picked seemed high priced 1.44 cushion cut sapphire $5,000

 

[gemmy1]

In addition to setting a budget, you should decide how important it is to get an unheated sapphire. (I assume the big prices you have been quoted are for unheated). Most sapphires are routinely heated to improve their color or clarity or both. Conventional treatment is permanent and is been done on more than 90% of sapphires on the market.
You should be able to get a gorgeous 1.5 to 2ct sapphire set with high quality accent diamonds around it for under $5000.

 

[riogems]

Hi - You should really make that decision about heated versus unheated like Bryan suggests. Unheated sells for a substantial premium to heated sapphires -- even though the heat treatment is permanent. (Beware of any diffused sapphires.)

For under $5k, you can have a top quality HEATED 2.75-3ct oval blue ceylon sapphire mounted in a platinum ring with accent diamonds.

Cherry Picked price of $5k for a 1.44ct sapphire is not high - it is ridiculous. I''m sure it''s beautiful - but still ridiculous.

Just for approximation, a very beautiful heated blue ceylon sapphire weighing 1.44ct would be around $600-800 (total, not per carat). An unheated equivalent should not sell for 6-8x that price (even if you add in money for an agta cert).

 

[colorchange]

You should not write heated vs unheated : most gems of The Natural Sapphire Company are from Ceylon where customly low heat treatment is practiced at the mine and those often get unnoticed at the lab, I would guess a substancial number of their sapphire has been through heating.
I regularly buy heated sapphires from Ceylon, and when have these checked for one or another reason, a substancial number come out as "No evidence of heat enhancement".
In Burma, almost no heating is used at the mine, so you can better talk about "unheated".

I feel that no premium should be attached to "no evidence of heat enhancement" vs low heat treatment on Ceylon sapphires because it''s been used for sooooo long and it sometimes go undetected.
Unfortunately, labs don''t choose to tell between low and high temperature treatment.

To me such a price is real high ! You may expect top of the top with best origin !

 

[riogems]

Good point - forgot to mention that I noticed they typically aren''t providing a 3rd party cert either. And any cert is only going to say at best "no evidence of heating" -- not that it wasn''t heated. Go for the heated! We disclose all of our ceylon as heated for this reason you mention!

 

[colorchange]

Personnaly when, it comes to Ceylon, I say "assume low heat, but even the lab couldn't notice", when it comes to sapphires bought directly in Burma, I say "no evidence" or "unheated" depending on if I'm 100% sure or not (quality of relation with providers, typicaly if I have bough 200 stones from one and none has been mentionned as heated by lab, I will state it as "unheated").
I find it a bit "light" to highlight that some gems are untreated just because they are "no evidence etc" from AGTA, you can notice that some didn't go through AGTA as unheated so they are not sure before certification, so...

I do apply a premium to "no evidence etc" but quite limited : 10-15% for blue, 20-25% for yellow/orange, 25-30% on ruby. If it's been presented to me as heated I will mention it to the customer and check with two labs, if the gems are notorious hard to check (like pink Madagascar) I will state it.
The difference is more important because some final customer will have heard about "Be Treatment" and even heard that labs found it difficult to check and some customer beeing not specially confindent in labs they will appreciate a lot this status because they will feel completely secure that the stone isn't Be Treated.

Anyway, I recently saw a certificate from AGRL of a ruby that I would bet 10 000£ is Be Treated mentioning "No evidence of etc". So you will always need a good lab !!!!! And not all customers know which are.

 

[bar01]

You can get a very nice untreated sapphire from Cherry in that size range for 2500/ct. I did. That sapphire your looking at must be in the exceptional category rather than excellent +

Edited later (I think I found your sapphire and it is graded exceptional)

In my mind the 20% premimum for lab checked untreated is not substantial and considering the the rarity of them - I think a bargin. My Sapphire was confirmed untreated by two independent labs.

Oh - understand that cherrypicked is just the internet face for Reginald C Miller - an established and respected brick and mortor store in NYC. Many internet companies have real showrooms and/or stores behind them. Sometime this year I will be in NYC on Business and hope to see Richard Orbach at Cherry/Reginald - got future projects in mind!

 

[londonblue]

hey Bertrand,

i searched but couldn''t find a thread where you posted your ring or your sapphire imaages. i''m curious how your sapphire looks in regular photos compared to the cherry image.

the sapphire i''m checking out should be here tomorrow, i can''t wait

 

[bar01]

Actually, I was thinking of posting more.

I have posted in the past two professional photos - one from Richard Sherwood and one from Whiteflash which are quite different looking. Will post additional personal photos (hand shots) - along with the cherrypicked original photo (yuck) for learning purposes in the next day or two.

 

[colorchange]

In my mind the 20% premimum for lab checked untreated is not substantial and considering the the rarity of them - I think a bargin. My Sapphire was confirmed untreated by two independent labs.

I''m applying this premium basicaly to Ceylon/Madagascar stones because you often don''t know if it''s unheated or just if no heat is detectable. It''s just impossible because heating is done at the mine in Ceylon.
When it comes to my Burma gems, I have never bought one as untreated and it was found treated by any lab, so I mention these as unheated. But my premium isn''t much more important, except for rubies where it''s around 60% .

 

[bar01]

Date: 4/7/2006 2:24:31 AM
Author: londonblue
hey Bertrand,



i searched but couldn't find a thread where you posted your ring or your sapphire imaages. i'm curious how your sapphire looks in regular photos compared to the cherry image.



the sapphire i'm checking out should be here tomorrow, i can't wait

Londonblue

Here are some of the various photos of my gals sapphire (many never posted before) with comments

Cherrypicked Original Photo This is not one of those fancy photos like on NSC. Although the color looks nice, the photo is dull. If I was just looking at photos on web sites - this one would not have done much for me - but I bought it based on the cherry ratings and description on the site - not the photo.

Richard Sherwood Pro Photo This is an excellent photo from Richard. It shows the intense color the sapphire tends to show under natural light. More of a crisp celyon blue with some of the cornflower blue really coming through.

WhiteFlash Pro Photo This is a nice balanced photo by whiteflash, I think ment to show of the custom setting and the hearts and arrows patterns in the diamonds more than the sapphire color. Here the color is more of a subtle royal blue.

Personal Hand Shot 1 - Blury, but but you can see some of the mix of the electric cornflower blue and royal blue mixing.

Personal Hand shot 2 - Probably the best handshot showing the sapphire color at its best.

I think these sample photos go to show how 1) Sapphires can change dramatically under differrent lights 2) A single photo on a web site is not the best way to judge a gem

 

[londonblue]

cool, thanks Bertrand!

personal hand shot 2 looks like there was a flash used in the shot?


sorry if i hijacked the thread! now back to your regular schedule sapphires....