The hunt begins anew: Blue Sapphire or Spinel for e-Ring

[Justin_Cutter]

Blue spinels are typically very shifty and can gray out quite a bit but hopefully this one will be different. It has good potential so as advised, observe the behaviour of all the stone under various lights to decide which one is the keeper.

I 2nd this! I do agree that Spinel has potential.
~Justin

 

[rimshotsnap]

Wanted to provide a quick update. I received the three stones I ordered this week (Jeff Davies spinel, and sapphires from Gemfix and Spectral). I thought I would share my impressions, my girlfriend's impressions, and my jeweler's impressions.

Mine: My first impression was that I liked the Spectral sapphire the best, even though it was half the price of the others. The spectral stone is a little bigger than the Gemfix, more navy blue (Gemfix has more violet), and has a small inclusion on the edge that can be pronged. Both sapphires are a little dark for my taste, but seem to be what my girlfriend likes. I thought the gemfix stone was nice, but sort of bland. I liked the spinel-- noticeably larger than the sapphires, kind of a steely blue that changes to purple in fluorescent lights. A little grey but not much, nice cut and sparkle.

Since my girlfriend lives abroad, I could only show her the stones over Skype, which means she probably has no sense of how they look in real life. She seemed to like all three stones. She gravitated toward the sapphires more than the spinel (more inner character.. the spinel was very outward). Between the sapphires, she liked the Gemfix one more, so I went into my jeweler today expecting to go with that.

Jeweler: I trust him a lot. He really did not like the Gemfix stone at all. He thought it was too dark and had a dark patch. And to quote him, "The polish is ^%#&%#" and he showed me exactly what he meant. He was very surprised at the price, and said if we went with that stone we should have it repolished, but that would mean losing a little weight. He liked Spectral stone more, thought the cutting and polish though still on the dark side (I agree). He liked the cutting on the spinel a lot and pointed out a visible inclusion in the middle of the stone. Even for the rarity, he felt the price was a bit high. He doesn't keep much of an inventory, but he showed me a sapphire he has for about the same price as the gemfix stone. It's slightly larger and had an unquestionably better cut and a better color. He wasn't trying to sell me anything-- just telling me he thought I could do better.

So here I am. Right now, it's between the Spectral stone, my jeweler's sapphire, or something else undiscovered as of now. I feel that since my GF gravitates toward sapphire, I have to send back the spinel. And I don't see how I can keep the Gemfix stone. I like the Spectral and my jeweler's stone, but neither of them make me say, "Wow!" If I were choosing, I'd take his stone over mine, since I think Spectral is a little dark. But if my girlfriend really wants that, Spectral it is.

I'm still hoping the Wow stone falls into my lap, but given my timing I may not have that option. We have to start working on a design to have the ring ready for my proposal, so I basically committed to an oval stone. If I find a better oval sapphire in the next week or two, I can swap it out, but I haven't seen a whole lot else out there.

 

[Niel]

Hmm. I think you're smart to send those two back. Is the sapphire to from your jeweler coming with a cert?

Also, is this one out? I feel like he has taken offers before


http://www.mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=6947

 

[rimshotsnap]

Thanks Neil! I had forgotten about this one. Initially, I passed on it because I wasn't sure what he meant by "healed fracture in the crown." Is that anything I'd have to worry about? I did just email him about it, but the stone itself definitely looks nice, and Dana seems to have a fine reputation on these boards...

 

[FightGravity]

You've probably already considered this, but the stone will likely darken a bit when set. Just something to keep in mind for an end product that matches her preference in color.

 

[chrono]

Why the hangup on polish? My best stones aren't even precision cut but very well cut non-precision cut stones. For me, I go for colour first, everything else second. It seems like size is your priority? If so, no worries but I think I understand your decision better now.

Okay, so she likes it dark toned. Check.
The top blue sapphire should have a bit of violet but if she doesn't like it, that's okay. Check.
The Spectral sapphire is less expensive because the tone is darker and isn't eye clean.

I agree with your jeweller that the stone you selected is too dark but you went with that anyway because SHE likes the dark tone. I would not repolish any stone unless it has obvious nicks or scratches from normal wear and tear over time.

Please define better colour. Secondly, is he willing to send the stone to AGL or GIA to make sure the treatment is as stated? A diffused stone is extremely inexpensive. I'm not trying to diss your jeweller but am trying to find out more about the scenario to make it a fair comparison. If it is unheated or heat only, that would be a great buy if the cutting is top notch, has no extinction, fine polish, fine colour and the whole 9 yards, but it seems so unlikely that a B&M store would be so competitive.

 

[rimshotsnap]

Well, I decided to send all the stones back. I'm not so hung up on the polish, but it was clear my my jeweler's stone looked better in almost every regard for the same price. I should clarify, he's not a brink-and-mortar guy: He makes jewelry from his house. The stone was bought at the Tucson show in 2010 and recut from a poorly cut stone. No problem getting a cert if I want to pay for it (Spectral and Gemfix didn't come with certs, either).

I'm down to a few choices. My trustworthy jeweler's stone is the best I could find at $1500, even though I get the feeling I can do better. I've ordered a second stone from Spectral to look at (have loved working with Roger). It's a lighter stone, so not sure it's the perfect one, but my girlfriend indicated she likes it anyway (learning that this isn't an exact science). Lastly, there is a brink-and-mortar jewelry store nearby who I've spoken with. They seem generally respectable and ordered several sapphires for me to look at, which I did yesterday. They are beautiful but very expensive, not surprisingly. There is one stone from Simon G, 1.29 ct cushion for $2375 (plus CA sales tax), and that's their best price. Definitely the nicest stone I have seen so far: Deep dark blue, excellent saturation, well cut. But dang, it's expensive.

Even though it's not at all my style to overpay, I'm leaning slightly toward just going with the B&M stone. I've spent about $700 so far on shipping for stones I didn't buy (much of that was alexandrite), and I'm getting tired of the hassle and cost (chalk it up to investing in education?) I am QUITE sure there is a better stone for a better price out there, and I would much rather buy from the cutter instead of the last in a long chain of mark-ups. I'm just not confident I will find it in the limited time I have left.

Several lessons I've learned when hunting for an e-ring stone:

• Start REALLY early
  Check out local gem stores first and get a sense of the prices and what is available
  Utilize pricescore forums for help
  Be very aware of shipping costs. Try to obtain videos of any stone before buying
  Be aware of the lighting situations used in pictures and videos. Stones in real life almost never look the same.

There are many more; those are the big ones that are top of mind right now

Thanks again to everyone for helping a novice through this process.

 

[MollyMalone]

* * * Lastly, there is a brink-and-mortar jewelry store nearby who I've spoken with. They seem generally respectable and ordered several sapphires for me to look at, which I did yesterday. They are beautiful but very expensive, not surprisingly. There is one stone from Simon G, 1.29 ct cushion for $2375 (plus CA sales tax), and that's their best price. Definitely the nicest stone I have seen so far: Deep dark blue, excellent saturation, well cut. But dang, it's expensive.

Even though it's not at all my style to overpay, I'm leaning slightly toward just going with the B&M stone. * * *

Simon G. is not in the habit of supplying its authorized retailers with loose colored gems, so I'm wondering if the sapphire is already in a Simon G. setting?

 

[rimshotsnap]

* * * Lastly, there is a brink-and-mortar jewelry store nearby who I've spoken with. They seem generally respectable and ordered several sapphires for me to look at, which I did yesterday. They are beautiful but very expensive, not surprisingly. There is one stone from Simon G, 1.29 ct cushion for $2375 (plus CA sales tax), and that's their best price. Definitely the nicest stone I have seen so far: Deep dark blue, excellent saturation, well cut. But dang, it's expensive.

Even though it's not at all my style to overpay, I'm leaning slightly toward just going with the B&M stone. * * *

Simon G. is not in the habit of supplying its authorized retailers with loose colored gems, so I'm wondering if the sapphire is already in a Simon G. setting?

Nope! Just a loose stone. I initially saw a sapphire I liked already set, and the store said they couldn't separate it (apparently was Simon g). Then they called Simon to see if they have any loose stones (which they've never asked before), and they said of course. According to the jewelry store, the Simon g prices for loose stones were better than their other suppliers, and they are going to start doing this more often. I don't know how much of that is true, but seems plausible, at least.

 

[innerkitten]

Another one. 1700 ish? Master cut Gems.

Dreamy color.

 

[Lovinggems]

Can't really make an initial assessment without photos, good luck with your engagement stone hunting.

 

[Niel]

I completely understand wanting to be done searching. You're on a budget, your on a deadline, and you're spending a lot of money on stones you aren't keeping.

I'd you want to go with you're jeweler's stone, just make sure you know the treatment level, and feel comfortable with it