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Stuck between two sapphires

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Shijitake

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 1, 2018
Messages
498
My logic and wallet says to get the pear, because it has good color and almost the same size, the cut is very nice. Cost-wise it's the better choice. Also better clarity. The second one my heart wants. The shape I want, the orange-pink percentage I like. Costs a bit more (and that's a sale price!) but the cost is less per carat. Clarity is only VSI and has a large inclusion. the cut above the "neck" (I can't remember what it's called) is a bit off center. Is it worth buying both and returning one, at the cost of some insane shipping price?

upload_2018-9-3_19-27-45.png
1.68cts
8×6.1mm, depth 4.3mm
VVS-VS
$3,995.00
This pic doesnt make it look as nice as it is
upload_2018-9-3_19-30-51.png

2.09 cts
8.24L x 5.38W x 5.58H
VSI
$4,441.25
 
Shijitake:

You are new here, so welcome. Others on the forum have already politely asked you to consolidate your multiple threads into one - it is the customary, and courteous thing to do, as otherwise, it is seen as a bit selfish, taking up more space than you need. Please stop starting new threads - it is not the customary way of doing things here, and is inefficient and considered rude, especially as you have been so kindly told.

I suggest you stop responding to all but one thread. Choose whichever one you want, and direct all questions, comments and suggestions to that one. =)2
 
Ah, sorry. I was hoping to catch the attention of others who haven't seen my posts. This is basically my last thread on this subject. I'm zoning in on these two sapphires and will make a purchase soon. I never had any problems with multiple threads on other sites.
 
Oh sorry I didnt see this thread, but honestly I wouldnt jump into buying those. Of the 2 I think the oval is better, but not great.
 
If possible, I would order both stones and return the one you don’t like as much once you see them and compare them in person. Nothing replaces seeing a stone in person, especially if you are judging your purchase off of one photo each. Do you have videos or hand shots in various lighting of the stones? Try to get them first before ordering either stone. It could make your choice clearer. I would guess return shipping would be under $100 if you were to order both. I would let both sellers know what you are planning to do and find out what there return shipping procedures are first.
 
I would buy from gemfix over NSC due to trust issues and the history of NSC selling poorly cut stones for high prices.

If you look at the gia cert on the NSC stone, look at how wildly different the stone color is on the cert vs their pics. Obviously some variation is expected, but it looks like an entirely different color. I suspect the NSC stone is flooded with light in the pics, and won't look that nice 99% of the time in real life.
 
I consider $50 insane shipping, but I understand why.

I do see NSC has a lot of badly cut stones.

Sabrina, I would get better ones but the prices on these are already killing my budget. I can't go any further than these two choices.

Thanks for the input so far. It helps a lot.
 

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I like the oval one better, I think the pear has more silk inclusions as it looks slightly milky.
You really do need to be able to see the gems in person. Often times vendors really “amp up” their photos so they look fabulous - special lighting, post production adjustment etc because great photos sell gems!
You need to see it in person, in normal natural light to make sure how it looks in “real life” still appeals.
So make sure you buy from a vendor that offer a “viewing period” so if you don’t like it as much in person, you can return it for a full refund.
 
Sooo Shijitake............it checks all the boxes for what you wanted--yet still sits at NSC?
 
Chill, I'm trying not to make a hasty mistake. I have to work out some way of them shipping to me. I was thinking of going to NYC and seeing the oval one, but it may be easier to have them ship it.
 
Shijitake said:
Chill, I'm trying not to make a hasty mistake. I have to work out some way of them shipping to me. I was thinking of going to NYC and seeing the oval one, but it may be easier to have them ship it.
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Chill?

Really?

You’re not going to find many people want to help you with replies like that.

Perhaps consider rewording I to something more polite, such as “I’m having a hard time deciding”
 
Ok, sorry. It didn't seem like such a bad term to me and it's how regular conversations go around me. I don't feel like I need to be rushed to purchase it either, even if it feels like I'm in a rush. The sale and everything doesn't end until tonight. Just the shipping is holding me back.
 
If the $50 shipping is the deciding factor - I'd pass if I were you.
 
Rfisher said:
If the $50 shipping is the deciding factor - I'd pass if I were you.
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No, it's a nosy co-resident who I'd like to keep from seeing it. I usually ship my packages to another location because of her and the company only allows shipping to the billing address. I'll keep you updated.
 
I bought the two sapphires since I absolutely must 100% see them in real life :) I will be receiving them both on Thursday and will keep you updated :) Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it!
 
Now that I've bought the stone, here is a better look at it (I was trying to prevent lurkers from getting their hands on it, as advised). From the picture I posted it doesn't look great, but in the video it looks nice.
https://gemfix.com/gems/sapphire-pink-13-533

There's a similar stone that's more expensive, but I don't see why. Same cut, similar color, smaller measurements, very slightly better clarity, and smaller carat weight. So why is it more expensive?
https://gemfix.com/gems/sapphire-pink-13-531
 
Thank you for directing to the thread, it is great you found something you love :D.

I would stop shopping at this stage, but if youre wondering what makes one stone better than the other, then the top stone is quite silky. Whereas the bottom looks quite clean and has a lot of brilliance/sparkle. Also colour in the bottom one appears better. With coloured stones, there is a saying that colour is king. Improve the colour, then you often improve the value drastically. It is all a sliding scale though, easy to increase the budget and therefore improve the pool of options -- eventually you just pick the one that is perfect for you, and I think you found it :D.
 
qubitasaurus said:
Thank you for directing to the thread, it is great you found something you love :D.

I would stop shopping at this stage, but if youre wondering what makes one stone better than the other, then the top stone is quite silky. Whereas the bottom looks quite clean and has a lot of brilliance/sparkle. Also colour in the bottom one appears better. With coloured stones, there is a saying that colour is king. Improve the colour, then you often improve the value drastically. It is all a sliding scale though, easy to increase the budget and therefore improve the pool of options -- eventually you just pick the one that is perfect for you, and I think you found it :D.
Click to expand...
I'm done shopping :) just curious why that cost more. I should've asked earlier, really. Thanks!!
 
Now that I’ve seen the video I think the pear is absolutely beautiful. Good luck and I hope it will be an easy decision.
 
The choice becomes harder! I was surprised at how strong the oval's color is! At first I was underwhelmed, then as I looked at it, it is very beautiful. Conversely, when I first saw the pear I thought it was gorgeous. But then side by side the oval seems to have better saturation. The inclusions aren't as bad as they looked as they did on the website. The asymmetrical culet isn't so terrible (to my newb eyes anyway). They both have terrible windows at certain angles, but I guess that's to be expected. It's a hard decision. Part of me wants to order the other pear from gemfix and compare that too. I've taken several photos. It's hard to get their true color to show. I am in an orangey-lit room. I tried to make it as white as I can and posted as many angles, distances, etc as I can. I can take more photos tomorrow.

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I would suggest you look at the stones the way you want them set. For example, will you set the oval in the NS or EW orientation? If NS, make sure you look at it on your hand to see if there is half/half extinction or bowtie as is very common for ovals. Same thing for pear but i believe extinction tends to be at the tip.
 
Also try taking some handshots (over your bed in case you drop them accidentally), look on PS for examples, where you put the stone between two fingers. It allows you to check how the stone looks against your skin tone and not just against a white background. Peachy tones are tough, some people feel it washes out against their skin.
 
Great comparison shots!!
 
I would put both on the back of your fiances hand and compare them to her skin tone. You probably want to avoid an option that blends seemlessly with her skin colour, as you want it to stand out.
 
Can you compare them in the type of lighting you will typically see the stone in? Eg that will be office lighting, followed by indoor natural shaded light for me. Colored stones can have different personalities in different lighting so that’s how I would compare/assess which one. Or maybe one that grows on you the most after a few days?

From your pics the pear looks washed out.
 
I somehow forgot to put my sd card back in my camera and wasn't able to take pictures today :/

No fiance, it's allll for me. Not sure yet how I want it set. That's not for a while since this already overkilled my budget. The pear is lovely, but I'm leaning towards the oval. Especially since the pretty orange seems to disappear in a lot of different lightings in the pear. The oval has some bad windows but outside of it, the color is true beauty. I might just hold on to it and sell it and get one with a better cut and clarity. For the time being I'm going to keep it in its case and admire it.

While I'm on the subject, I'd like to ask about GemFix (should I start a new thread?) Why is it so liked by everyone (just curious)? How do they have such a good stock of very good pads? They don't give out enough specs imo, they take a long time to answer their e-mails (what the heck are their hours??), won't take requested pictures and videos of the items (why not??). I've called and the man with a thick accent is courteous, but I called again and no answer. Getting kind of frustrated.

On the other hand, for NSC, their saleswomen seem confused about shipping. They told me I can ship to a carrier, and Arnstein himself called me to tell me this can't be done. He's not as courteous as the man from GF but he was ok. Worked well with me on the shipping issue. Answered his calls and emails fairly quickly. I didn't ask for more photos, but maybe they would? Very good sales practice so far.

For the record Brilliant Earth and GemsNY answers their emails very quickly. BE were happy to give me more photos and GemsNY accommodated me with 10 minutes of view time when they were full up.

Sorry about the rant.
 
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