LemonMoonLex
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2018
- Messages
- 2,069
Hello CS lovers,
It's been quite a while since I've created a thread, well one centering on a gemstone that is. I'm frozen right now and am not sure how to proceed.
To give a detailed yet brief overview of my situation & quandary:
I won this stick pin on ebay. It was advertised as completely natural, antique in nature (the entire stick pin) with a small old cut diamond in solid gold.
A very simple listing and description by a seller who had 100% and had sold a fair amount but was a seller that only listed 10-15 things at a time and they are mostly purses, clothes, with random costume jewelry scattered in. This listing was the only fine piece of jewelry listed. I love finding sellers like these as they usually are not extremely knowledgeable about jewelry or gems and sometimes you may find hidden treasures.
Once I receive it it's stunning. The color is gorgeous. I suppose it has a bit of gray to the blue as it's not electric but it can look extremely vivid or saturated in color most times. It's a beautiful very classic blue sapphire. I then realize the pin is stamped "14k" and I test for purity. It is correct. The diamond is also a gorgeous little old cut and tests true as well.
I didn't question the sapphire until I took out a loupe, eager to learn it's personality and there between the middle and a top corner is a grouping of what appears to look like bubbles. My heart sank. I then see color zoning but because of the placement of the pin on the back it's impossible to really examine and with everything I have I cannot see any curvation to the color zoning but again, it's difficult to examine.
Now normally I'd just get an agl or gia cert but this pin cost me about as much as what a cert would. I contacted the seller and told her the findings. She promptly wrote back and was extremely understanding and kind. She said that she had taken the pin to an auction house in Alabama, where she gave me the name of it, to where she was told that the sapphire is indeed natural, with a natural diamond in 14k and antique in nature.
She recommended I take my time to take it to different people to get other opinions, as she's aware of how much I adore it but knows that I do not want to keep it if the sapphire cabochon is indeed synthetic. She also said that if the majority feels it's synthetic or if I am unhappy with it, to feel free to send it back with a full refund.
I'm really not sure what to do. My gut isn't telling me, as it usually does on whether the stone is natural or synthetic. With a loupe I see other inclusions of sorts in the stone but barely, it's incredibly clean. I've also heard that bubbles dont automatically mean synthetic as there can be bubble shaped inclusions but there's a grouping of them.
What should I do? If I get a cert then I'm spending as much money as the pin I bought and if it's synthetic I'm out the money for the cert and will most definitely return it but that doesn't seem like an acceptable conclusion.
Should I just make it into the ring that I had planned to and enjoy it? Never knowing what it is? I think I might be okay with that if most feel as though it's natural but I know it's so hard to tell.
Should I take it to jewelers around my city for quick and free guesses? We all here know that they're opinions are just educated guesses at best and the majority won can be wrong.
What do you all think?
What would you all personally do if in the same scenario?
Thank you in advance for your opinions. I will try to take some micro pictures through the loupe of the bubbles later today and add them to the thread.
It's been quite a while since I've created a thread, well one centering on a gemstone that is. I'm frozen right now and am not sure how to proceed.
To give a detailed yet brief overview of my situation & quandary:
I won this stick pin on ebay. It was advertised as completely natural, antique in nature (the entire stick pin) with a small old cut diamond in solid gold.
A very simple listing and description by a seller who had 100% and had sold a fair amount but was a seller that only listed 10-15 things at a time and they are mostly purses, clothes, with random costume jewelry scattered in. This listing was the only fine piece of jewelry listed. I love finding sellers like these as they usually are not extremely knowledgeable about jewelry or gems and sometimes you may find hidden treasures.
Once I receive it it's stunning. The color is gorgeous. I suppose it has a bit of gray to the blue as it's not electric but it can look extremely vivid or saturated in color most times. It's a beautiful very classic blue sapphire. I then realize the pin is stamped "14k" and I test for purity. It is correct. The diamond is also a gorgeous little old cut and tests true as well.
I didn't question the sapphire until I took out a loupe, eager to learn it's personality and there between the middle and a top corner is a grouping of what appears to look like bubbles. My heart sank. I then see color zoning but because of the placement of the pin on the back it's impossible to really examine and with everything I have I cannot see any curvation to the color zoning but again, it's difficult to examine.
Now normally I'd just get an agl or gia cert but this pin cost me about as much as what a cert would. I contacted the seller and told her the findings. She promptly wrote back and was extremely understanding and kind. She said that she had taken the pin to an auction house in Alabama, where she gave me the name of it, to where she was told that the sapphire is indeed natural, with a natural diamond in 14k and antique in nature.
She recommended I take my time to take it to different people to get other opinions, as she's aware of how much I adore it but knows that I do not want to keep it if the sapphire cabochon is indeed synthetic. She also said that if the majority feels it's synthetic or if I am unhappy with it, to feel free to send it back with a full refund.
I'm really not sure what to do. My gut isn't telling me, as it usually does on whether the stone is natural or synthetic. With a loupe I see other inclusions of sorts in the stone but barely, it's incredibly clean. I've also heard that bubbles dont automatically mean synthetic as there can be bubble shaped inclusions but there's a grouping of them.
What should I do? If I get a cert then I'm spending as much money as the pin I bought and if it's synthetic I'm out the money for the cert and will most definitely return it but that doesn't seem like an acceptable conclusion.
Should I just make it into the ring that I had planned to and enjoy it? Never knowing what it is? I think I might be okay with that if most feel as though it's natural but I know it's so hard to tell.
Should I take it to jewelers around my city for quick and free guesses? We all here know that they're opinions are just educated guesses at best and the majority won can be wrong.
What do you all think?
What would you all personally do if in the same scenario?
Thank you in advance for your opinions. I will try to take some micro pictures through the loupe of the bubbles later today and add them to the thread.
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