Show your Star sapphires and rubies

[Starstruck8]

An unusual star sapphire from central Queensland. Light brown translucent body with a gold star. In real life, the stone looks cleaner and the star looks clearer that in the pictures. I have no idea what causes the weird waviness.

13.0x11.8mm

The doubling in the right pic is caused by a strip of darker material (?hematite). This picture shows the strip and a similar plate at the right. Both are flat; they look curved because of refraction by the dome,

 

[LilAlex]

An unusual star sapphire from central Queensland.

Wow that's awesome! Looks almost metallic!

 

[Pumpkin Sparkles]

@Starstruck8

I love the waviness, almost looks like a galaxy within the stone! This is magnificent.. to those with a vivid imagination like myself this would keep me occupied just looking at it lol

 

[TeaGlutton]

I love it, it's like golden hour as seen from under the surface of the water!!

 

[Starstruck8]

So now I have some answers. It seems that the stone is a 'natural doublet' with the star-forming material at the back. The dome makes the star yellow, but it is not star-forming itself.

The plates in the lower picture in my earlier post are star-forming. (You can see this in the top right picture.) It seems that there is also a star-forming layer below the plates, not visible in the pictures.

In a stone like this, with the star formed at the back, the star moves more with movement of the lighting than in a normal star stone, with the star formed close to the surface. Here is a comparison with a normal star sapphire:

In the normal stone, the star centres move about 1.3 time as much as the surface reflections. (The theoretical ratio is 1/(ri-1), which is about 1.31 for corundum). In the new stone, In the new stone, the star centres move about 1.9 times as much as the surface reflections.

I love the waviness, almost looks like a galaxy within the stone!

it's like golden hour as seen from under the surface of the water!!

At least part of the waviness is caused by the 'bumpy' surface of the dome, which is not so well cut. You can see this in the lower pic in my earlier post - the reflections have wavy edges. So it really is like looking through a swimming pool! But I'm not sure that this is the whole story.

Looks almost metallic!

Yep, it's one of those bronzed Aussies you may have heard of.

 

[Starstruck8]

Yet another star sapphire. This is not really a good stone. The star is bright and sharp and there is interesting zoning. But the body is darkish greyish blue and opaque, so the star is on the surface only. One day I will get a star stone that ticks all the boxes...



The sharp star allows an interesting demo. If you have looked at star stones, you will have noticed that the star seems to float above the surface, as if the stone had a higher dome. Why so? Because the star moves in the opposite direction to the viewing position. So the star seen by your left eye is to the right of the star see by your right eye. So, with binocular vision, the star appears closer than the stone. If you close one eye, the effect disappears.

Here is a demo with the stone and lighting fixed, and the camera moved between shots. It's set up for cross-eyed stereo viewing (i.e., with the right-eye picture on the left and vice versa).

(If you are not used to cross-eyed stereo viewing: Hold up a finger between you and the screen. Move it so that with your left eye, it appears to point just below the long ray in the right picture, and vice versa). With both eyes, look at your finger. You should see a blurry merged stone behind it. Then bring the merged stone into focus without uncrossing your eyes and take your finger away.)

 

[fiona00004]

 

[fiona00004]

Next to bedside lamp. I like the glossy look of the cab

 

[lovedogs]

Next to bedside lamp. I like the glossy look of the cab

It's lovely! Can I ask where you bought it?

 

[fiona00004]

It's lovely! Can I ask where you bought it?

@lovedogs eBay find!

 

[Pumpkin Sparkles]

My cornflower blue star sapphire, this one is a slight color shifter and the Star is shy. I haven’t been able to get in pictures. I still need to get it sized.. lol one day I will get the courage to ship out, I’m quite fond of this one and I don’t trust anyone near me to size. LOL

 

[Pumpkin Sparkles]

Just acquired my first black star sapphire it appears to be a shy 12 ray.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I like the setting!

 

[Pumpkin Sparkles]

I like the setting!

Thanks! That’s what originally drew me to it! The pretty star is a plus! To me it looks comet inspired but I could be wrong.

 

[Starstruck8]

Just acquired my first black star sapphire it appears to be a shy 12 ray.

Very cool! And very handsome in its white metal setting. It shows the typical 12-ray look, with rays alternately yellower and whiter. The whiter rays are caused by rutile needles. The yellower rays are usually said to be caused by hematite.

 

[Pumpkin Sparkles]

Very cool! And very handsome in its white metal setting. It shows the typical 12-ray look, with rays alternately yellower and whiter. The whiter rays are caused by rutile needles. The yellower rays are usually said to be caused by hematite.

Thanks, nothing compared to yours!
That means a lot coming from a Star Sapphire connoisseur.
So cool, I notice that..now that you mention it!

 

[Dreamer_D]

I like black stars and I’d like to have one someday. I would buy a vintage one as you have done as I’ve seen many. My fantasy is a very very large blue one.

 

[Pumpkin Sparkles]

I like black stars and I’d like to have one someday. I would buy a vintage one as you have done as I’ve seen many. My fantasy is a very very large blue one.

Yes! There is many pretty black stars, those there are plenty I was just picky about the setting it came in .. haha.
I love the big blue idea sounds like star sapphire goals!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Yes! There is many pretty black stars, those there are plenty I was just picky about the setting it came in .. haha.
I love the big blue idea sounds like star sapphire goals!

I love the setting you chose. It looks 1950s to me which isn’t surprising as I believe star gems were very popular at that time.

 

[Pumpkin Sparkles]

I love the setting you chose. It looks 1950s to me which isn’t surprising as I believe star gems were very popular at that time.

Thank you! That means a lot considering you have exceptional taste in jewelry!
I kind of figured mid century but pin pointing to star sapphires being popular 1950s the style does seem fitting.

Edit: To be fair it reminded me of a pokemon at first glance haha

 

[fiona00004]

My cornflower blue star sapphire, this one is a slight color shifter and the Star is shy. I haven’t been able to get in pictures. I still need to get it sized.. lol one day I will get the courage to ship out, I’m quite fond of this one and I don’t trust anyone near me to size. LOL

It's really a lovely blue!!!

I TOTALLY know what you mean about not trusting a local place for adjustments. I have the same problem. It's a nail biting experience every time I get my stuff fixed, adjusted, resized etc.

 

[Pumpkin Sparkles]

It's really a lovely blue!!!

I TOTALLY know what you mean about not trusting a local place for adjustments. I have the same problem. It's a nail biting experience every time I get my stuff fixed, adjusted, resized etc.

I am so sorry you have to go through that as well. It sucks, I had a gold ring sized up 2 sizes and it ended up looking pregnant with the bulge not to mention his horrible job at retipping. When I brought up the shank he responded with it’s ok more gold it will give you time to wear it downs I plucked the stones and scrapped the setting.

 

[Starstruck8]

My Queensland star sapphire, shown here is now set (11.6ct, 13.0x11.8mm, 18K yellow gold):

(The black blob on the ring in the lower pic is a reflection of the camera.)

As mentioned before, the stone is an unusual 'natural doublet', a transparent non-starry yellowish dome over a darker starry (hematite?) back. The back produces the star; the dome makes it yellow. The gold-brown strips seen in the side view are thin plates of starry material (hematite?) that float just above the back.

These natural doublets are not as rare as one might think. I have a similar natural doublet, shown before, also from central Queensland:

But the new one is bigger and better and totally fascinating!

 

[Pumpkin Sparkles]

You have the most unusual yet most beautiful gemstones! Thank you for sharing, and congratulations it’s a stunner!

 

[Dreamer_D]

@Starstruck8 what a fascinating gem! And a great size for gazing into its mysterious depths.

 

[glitterata]

My Queensland star sapphire, shown here is now set (11.6ct, 13.0x11.8mm, 18K yellow gold):

(The black blob on the ring in the lower pic is a reflection of the camera.)

As mentioned before, the stone is an unusual 'natural doublet', a transparent non-starry yellowish dome over a darker starry (hematite?) back. The back produces the star; the dome makes it yellow. The gold-brown strips seen in the side view are thin plates of starry material (hematite?) that float just above the back.

These natural doublets are not as rare as one might think. I have a similar natural doublet, shown before, also from central Queensland:

But the new one is bigger and better and totally fascinating!

Starstruck, I want to see a family photo of all your fascinating stones!

 

[Starstruck8]

Starstruck, I want to see a family photo of all your fascinating stones!

This, shown before, is not quite complete:
It's next to impossible to make the stars align in a group photo...
Here are the others:


My favourite, and the best by conventional standards, is the purple sapphire (above, right).

The lower stone is 4-ray star garnet that I've never shown before because it's not really PS quality. The cool feature of star garnet (for nerds) is that it has six separate star axes. This high-domed stone shows them all. But not in one photo.

You will notice that not one of my star stones is top quality by conventional standards. (The purple sapphire comes closest.) Cool stones are much more budget-friendly that good ones...

You have the most unusual yet most beautiful gemstones!

Thank you! As I said, 'unusual' is budget friendly...

@Starstruck8 what a fascinating gem! And a great size for gazing into its mysterious depths.

Yes! It's not my best stone, but it is the most fascinating. I still don't understand the weird waviness.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I love the soft pink one on your ring finger.

 

[glitterata]

This, shown before, is not quite complete:
It's next to impossible to make the stars align in a group photo...
Here are the others:


My favourite, and the best by conventional standards, is the purple sapphire (above, right).

The lower stone is 4-ray star garnet that I've never shown before because it's not really PS quality. The cool feature of star garnet (for nerds) is that it has six separate star axes. This high-domed stone shows them all. But not in one photo.

You will notice that not one of my star stones is top quality by conventional standards. (The purple sapphire comes closest.) Cool stones are much more budget-friendly that good ones...


Thank you! As I said, 'unusual' is budget friendly...


Yes! It's not my best stone, but it is the most fascinating. I still don't understand the weird waviness.

What a FANTASTIC collection! How do you decide which to wear on any given day?

They are ALL PS-worthy! We're interested in beauty and...and wonderfulness, not merely perfection, and your gems have that IN SPADES. Every single one of them is magical.

I wish you would make a thread about your 4-ray star garnet! I would love to see it showing off all its axes.

 

[stracci2000]

4-ray star garnet!

I have one of those!
I made this ring a few years ago