Should I buy this sapphire for e-ring?

[girlsbestfriend2]

Hi everyone! I’m thinking of purchasing this Sri Lankan sapphire from an Instagram seller for an engagement ring. I’ve been trying to educate myself on what to look for when picking sapphires, but am still a beginner and would love the wisdom of more experienced people. Pictures are attached — it’s almost 3 carats, seller mentioned it has a small inclusion, and I love the different colors but can’t tell what it might look like when it’s set in a ring and presumably darker. Any thoughts, advice, or things to take note of would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[Avondale]

Hello and welcome! And... I imagine congratulations are in order as well!

There are fellow PSers here with entire encyclopedias worth of knowledge on sapphires and I believe they'll chime in soon enough as well, but just to get you started on a couple of points...

One of the first things I would ask is if the stone is accompanied by a lab report from a reputable lab. Sapphires are desirable and expensive, and you, as a buyer, have the right to know what you're buying and to pay a fair price for it. Obviously you want to be sure it's a natural sapphire, but you also want to know the level of treatment. Is it untreated? Is it heated? Is it more heavily treated? Do you know what any of these mean and can you decide what you consider to be acceptable and what - not?

The second thing I would ask for is more pictures and videos in different light. Sapphires are fickle. They can look their best in one light and positively abysmal in another. Some close up in sunlight, some glow. Dim, incandescent light is universally their enemy. When you're buying online you want to see pictures in as many different lights as possible so that you know what you'll be getting and you don't end up disappointed. Remember - the photos vendors post are their best photos, in which their gems look most attractive. This is not how the stone will look 100% of the time.

Something very important that's worth mentioning, elongated shapes such as oval can sometimes suffer what is called shadowing or half-half extinction, in which one half of the stone is significantly darker than the other or sometimes even blacks out entirely. It's usually visible in north-south orientation, while shooting the stone in east-west or tilted diagonally can hide it.

Regarding the stone being dark and darkening further after being set, this is more or less a personal preference. This particular sapphire has areas that seem almost black even in well lit tweezers photos. The areas where the stone has these really saturated ultramarine blues will also be pretty dark in real life and you'll see them only when there's plenty of light. If the stone has shadowing (which, you should know, it most probably will have) you'll find that a big chunk of it is dark for a lot of the time. If this is something that will bother you, I would advise you to continue your search.

 

[CBianco]

Avondale has wrote great points above and I just want to add the stone looks to have major color zoning going on atleast from the pictures. If you're not comfortable with sharing the price of it (totally understandable), make sure it is priced fairly to you as it can be interesting and unique but isn't top color


Does the seller have a good return policy?

 

[Rfisher]

Is the person you are buying the engagement ring for included in the choosing?

My advice hinges on that.

Plus are you also budgeting for a custom ring mounting? Most likely this will not fit into a stock setting that’s intended for a calibrated stone.

Sri Lankan sapphire on Instagram or a IG seller located in Sri Lanka? If seller is in Sri Lanka - please be well versed on the logistics of the return/refund from where you are located. Not so little roadblocks for many.

And congrats on your engagement!

 

[icy_jade]

The color zoning and extinction really bothers me. I would summarise as “skip and continue looking” if I’m being very honest (and direct)

 

[Cerulean]

Is the person you are buying the engagement ring for included in the choosing?

My advice hinges on that.

Plus are you also budgeting for a custom ring mounting? Most likely this will not fit into a stock setting that’s intended for a calibrated stone.

Sri Lankan sapphire on Instagram or a IG seller located in Sri Lanka? If seller is in Sri Lanka - please be well versed on the logistics of the return/refund from where you are located. Not so little roadblocks for many.

And congrats on your engagement!

Agree!

Although I am going to be blunt now. I personally wouldn’t choose this sapphire because of the color zoning of other issues with cut. Have you seen many sapphires in person? Color zoning and patches of color look cool in close ups, but I have found look not so great IRL. There are rare exceptions where stones are nicely cut and the zoning creates a distinct pattern which would actually translate from a distance (like a pharaohs eye) but otherwise they can just look messy or muddy.

Would also be helpful to know your budget.

 

[girlsbestfriend2]

Thanks everyone, this has been really helpful and educational! The person I’m buying for is involved in the search and likes how the sapphire looks in pictures, but neither of us are too knowledgeable about gems, so this forum has been invaluable.

The sapphire is priced around $1100 and it seemed like a good price to me after looking at other sapphires of similar weight and given that it’s not too included, but I didn’t take color zoning and extinction into account. I’m going to continue searching to have other options at least. Does anyone have recommendations for good online sapphire vendors? Much appreciated!

 

[LilAlex]

Lots of good thoughts above.

It has some appearance issues that were noted but it is still attractive. If your budget is $1100 and if it is heat-only and the "inclusion" is of no structural significance (i.e., not a fracture or right at the girdle) and it is not over-deep (height/shortest dimension =/> 80%), then I do not think you will find a better-looking blue sapphire.

It will be less attractive in person; that's how IG/phone-photo gem sales tend to work now.

As I just posted on another thread, I (somewhat newly) think diamond is the only way to go for an e-ring; corundum will accumulate a lot of wear and abrasions over even the first decade of daily wear. But with 3-ct, you have some latitude for a polish or two down the road.

 

[Cerulean]

@girlsbestfriend2 what is your total budget?

Sapphires have gotten very expensive and finding a better one in that price range and size combo is going to be impossible. Totally agree with @LilAlex , but also don’t think this is a great sapphire either.

I’d also be suspicious that something else is wrong with the stone given the size and price but even seeing what I already see, I’d pass. Buying overseas is very risky if you don’t know what you are doing and I wouldn’t recommend it for a first time purchase or engagement ring. Whatever you buy, you’re stuck with.

Most of us would prefer a much smaller, higher quality stone. If you tell us other traits you do or don’t like, we can help suss out what “high quality” means to you! We all have different tastes

 

[Cerulean]

For example, the first is richly saturated sapphire is MUCH smaller, but a much more desirable color and beautiful cut. I’m not even suggesting these specific stones because you haven’t shared much about what your criteria is outside of the specific stone you shared

I also have heard good things about this vendor although I haven’t bought from them personally. They are in Asia, but have been kind when I’ve inquired…I’d look at their stones, they have multiple blue ones in stock. This is just to help you understand the difference in what your money can get you

There are plenty of other vendors out there, so don’t give into the first stone that may check some but not all boxes

Adamant Gems: High quality sapphires and other natural gems

Fine quality gemstones from Sri Lanka and East Africa. Ceylon blue sapphires, pink sapphires, yellow sapphires, fancy sapphires, chrysoberyls, spinels, tourmalines, zircons, garnets and other natural gems.

www.adamantgems.com

Bigger but lighter tone

Adamant Gems: High quality sapphires and other natural gems

Fine quality gemstones from Sri Lanka and East Africa. Ceylon blue sapphires, pink sapphires, yellow sapphires, fancy sapphires, chrysoberyls, spinels, tourmalines, zircons, garnets and other natural gems.

www.adamantgems.com

If you like color zoning I think this is far more attractive

Adamant Gems: High quality sapphires and other natural gems

Fine quality gemstones from Sri Lanka and East Africa. Ceylon blue sapphires, pink sapphires, yellow sapphires, fancy sapphires, chrysoberyls, spinels, tourmalines, zircons, garnets and other natural gems.

www.adamantgems.com

 

[Crochet_Sparkles]

I'll post from a different aesthetic perspective--I really like wonky stones. So I love weird inclusions (so long as they don't compromise the ability to set) and color zoning. For me, personally, the dark zones in that sapphire would likely be too dark for my preference. But if you want to get a sense of how stones with zoning look set, precious ghost jewelry and anueva jewelry both set a lot of similar sapphires; might be worth a look.

 

[seaurchin]

No idea if you and your fiancee are interested but just to toss it out there, there's also the option of a lab sapphire. If you don't know, they not "fakes" but are the exact same material as mined sapphires.

But of course they are manmade and therefore far less expensive (ballpark figure $100-200 per carat). You could get any size, shape and color you wanted. Finewater Gems and Precision Gems are a couple that I've worked with before who do precision cutting, so the stone would look absolute top of the line.

Or you could get a lab diamond.

 

[girlsbestfriend2]

Thank you to everyone for all their advice and suggestions! I looked at some gems on the precious ghost website and my fiancée fell in love with the ring designs and gems there, so we’re probably going to build our own through precious ghost. Really appreciate this new find!

 

[Cerulean]

Thank you to everyone for all their advice and suggestions! I looked at some gems on the precious ghost website and my fiancée fell in love with the ring designs and gems there, so we’re probably going to build our own through precious ghost. Really appreciate this new find!

She will have multiple stones to share. You can always get feedback if you want! My sister almost bought her ering from her

 

[Autumn in New England]

Everyone else had great input, so I just wanted to say welcome to the forum and congrats on your engagement!!

 

[voce]

Congrats on your engagement too, and I'm so glad your SO involved you in the decision. I think the price of such a large sapphire can't be beat, and apart from the zoning the color looks nice. I would caution that all the gems I have bought from Sri Lanka have been slightly less saturated looking in America and Canada. I think this is because of latitude rather than anything wrong with the vendor photos. On the other hand, if your worry is that the sapphire might look too dark when set, if you live not near the equator or near the poles (UK, Scandinavia) my guess is that it'll look fine in a ring.