Thoughts on this sapphire?

[eesmom]

hello CS lovers, I was wondering if I could have your thoughts on this stone?
Would this be considering “glowy”? Do you think this kind of stone would be pretty in low light? And how might it look in direct light?
I am trying to get an idea of how a different cut of sapphire would be? I was previously looking at precision cut, sparkly sapphires, but wanted to look into other “types” of sapphires that are more glowy and muted,
but still luscious in their color!

 

[Adam95]

I would ask for a video; it looks on the darker side. The clarity and cutting look beautiful, but the price seems high for a heated stone.

 

[eesmom]

I would ask for a video; it looks on the darker side. The clarity and cutting look beautiful, but the price seems high for a heated stone.

I thought the price was high as well for the size but since I am new in understanding sapphires, I thought maybe there is a reason for such a steep price?
Hopefully the video will help me more to see if indeed it is “super bright and lovely” as they describe it to be.

 

[LilAlex]

He's a good vendor, imo, and a good guy but his photos and descriptions are from the Gems2000 wholesaler site (I think) and they can be "generous."

If you are looking for a low-light sapphire, I would go cornflower or even pastel. I have been down this route before. Imo, not much looks good in low light except white diamonds and I don't really like diamonds.

I love that cut and have been coveting an emerald-cut or octagonal vivid blue Ceylon for a long time. You will pay a premium for a stone with a precision cut and an emerald cut. Is this Madagascar?

 

[arkieb1]

That stone will not glow it will probably be quite dark in most lighting situations unless out in strong direct sunlight or inside under lighting similar to strong shop lighting where you might get flashes of the colour pictured.

 

[elizat]

I'm with @arkieb1 on this. She has a very good eye for sapphires.

 

[eesmom]

That stone will not glow it will probably be quite dark in most lighting situations unless out in strong direct sunlight or inside under lighting similar to strong shop lighting where you might get flashes of the colour pictured.

Do you think it is the cut of the stone or just the deepness of the color that prevents it from showing more blue color in lower light conditions?

 

[voce]

Do you think it is the cut of the stone or just the deepness of the color that prevents it from showing more blue color in lower light conditions?

You cannot tell unless you ask for more information. It looks like a typo saying "0 mm" for the depth. Generally, a deeper cut stone has more/darker color. If the depth is standard and not overly deep, then it'll be the depth of color.

 

[chrono]

Does seem very expensive for a heated stone. It seems dark-ish but very rich in the picture. However, without any background reference and only a white background, I don't know how to assess the colour accuracy of the sapphire.

 

[Acinom]

My guess it could be rather dark in real life. @arkieb1 has a good eye for gemstones, so I would follow her advice

 

[eesmom]

Thanks everyone! I do appreciate the thoughts. I am continuing my education and search simultaneously for a cushion or emerald shaped sapphire. I was wondering if the "glow" that I am looking for in a stone is caused by silks found in unheated stones only?
Does heating destroy the naturally occurring silks that lend the stone their glow? I have been open to heated stones but I was recently told that unheated sapphires would be more likely to have the inner glow more than heated stones would.

I was looking especially at @mpc 's sapphire beauty as my guide (dream stone for sure!!!)

 

[Bron357]

To get a “glow” you need medium saturation and vivid tone. Hard and expensive to find. Most vivid tone sapphires are also dark saturation. So yes, when the light hits the gem just right the colour is wow, but in low light, inside night lighting, it can be meh. For a better all round performer you probably want cornflower blue rather than velvet or royal blue tone.

 

[Bron357]

This sapphire is heated but has good glow.
Inside low light, led light, daylight filtered.

 

[LilAlex]

To get a “glow” you need medium saturation and vivid tone. Hard and expensive to find. Most vivid tone sapphires are also dark saturation. So yes, when the light hits the gem just right the colour is wow, but in low light, inside night lighting,

Agree completely. Also, OP, know that these are almost unobtainable from an online vendor.

This is my analogy. Coins are professionally graded into many, many grading buckets, sealed in plastic cases, and sold online as "commoditized." (Grade x commands y dollars, within a pretty narrow window) But even then, there are those who say that every single professionally graded coin for sale online is in the bottom half of its grading tier -- since the better ones are all sold face-to-face by the true experts who are willing to pay a premium. So there are actually third parties that will re-certify your already-meticulously-graded coin just to say it's in the top half of its grade. And I guess you can keep slicing and dicing forever...

I think the same is true for sapphires. Even if you have your GRS "cornflower" or "royal," or your Kashmir or Burma or Ceylon origin, it is not a proxy for beauty. At a similar quality level, it supports rarity but the finest stones are not where we on this forum are likely to go looking. And I think you will pay a premium of several multiples to get something that a connoisseur would appreciate. Most of us here (myself included) have sophisticated tastes that far, far exceed our budgets.

 

[eesmom]

This sapphire is heated but has good glow.
Inside low light, led light, daylight filtered.

The blue on this sapphire is stunning @Bron357! How large is the stone? What an amazing piece to have in your collection!

 

[eesmom]

Agree completely. Also, OP, know that these are almost unobtainable from an online vendor.

This is my analogy. Coins are professionally graded into many, many grading buckets, sealed in plastic cases, and sold online as "commoditized." (Grade x commands y dollars, within a pretty narrow window) But even then, there are those who say that every single professionally graded coin for sale online is in the bottom half of its grading tier -- since the better ones are all sold face-to-face by the true experts who are willing to pay a premium. So there are actually third parties that will re-certify your already-meticulously-graded coin just to say it's in the top half of its grade. And I guess you can keep slicing and dicing forever...

I think the same is true for sapphires. Even if you have your GRS "cornflower" or "royal," or your Kashmir or Burma or Ceylon origin, it is not a proxy for beauty. At a similar quality level, it supports rarity but the finest stones are not where we on this forum are likely to go looking. And I think you will pay a premium of several multiples to get something that a connoisseur would appreciate. Most of us here (myself included) have sophisticated tastes that far, far exceed our budgets.

The last part you said is exactly my conundrum! I guess I still hold out some hope that I can find something beautiful and enjoyable within reason and not have to cause my DH to want to throttle me during the process.

 

[eesmom]

What do you guys think of the sapphire here?

 

[voce]

It's nice! Looks like it could be a tad velvety, but its tone is darker than Acinom's.

 

[eesmom]

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This is the video- yea or nay?

 

[voce]

Nay because no glow from the video. It's a very nice sapphire, just not the magical amount of silk to make it glow.

 

[qubitasaurus]

I love it . Such a pretty blue and love the design.

A few things to note: sapphire doesn't exactly look like it fits the setting. So I am not sure it is an antique. Looks a bit like it got plonked in there afterwards.

This could be a good thing as the setting is on 9 k gold. So this is unlikely to be an expensive sapphire if it is original.

Should be ready for there to turn out to be issues with the sapphire -- I.e. synthetic, or treated in some way. But honestly for the price -- for a sapphire that is cheap -- I'd probably buy it anyway as it is quite charming. After looking carefully through the photos for any abrasion etc.

Please get someone to check the sapphire is secure in that setting if you do buy it. Finally maybe I should note that a lot of the items on that site had a couple of issues -- screaming synthetic spinel or looking like type B or C jadite -- I'm going with the feeling that they were appropriately priced so seems reasonable to me (as long as that seems like a fair trade to you as well).

 

[eesmom]

I love it . Such a pretty blue and love the design.

A few things to note: sapphire doesn't exactly look like it fits the setting. So I am not sure it is an antique. Looks a bit like it got plonked in there afterwards.

This could be a good thing as the setting is on 9 k gold. So this is unlikely to be an expensive sapphire if it is original.

Should be ready for there to turn out to be issues with the sapphire -- I.e. synthetic, or treated in some way. But honestly for the price -- for a sapphire that is cheap -- I'd probably buy it anyway as it is quite charming. After looking carefully through the photos for any abrasion etc.

Please get someone to check the sapphire is secure in that setting if you do buy it. Finally maybe I should note that a lot of the items on that site had a couple of issues -- screaming synthetic spinel or looking like type B or C jadite -- I'm going with the feeling that they were appropriately priced so seems reasonable to me (as long as that seems like a fair trade to you as well).

Thank you for your thoughts! I was taken by the color and the price but I probably should just save my money for the stone that I really want.

 

[qubitasaurus]

Thank you for your thoughts! I was taken by the color and the price but I probably should just save my money for the stone that I really want.

I think maybe then it might make sense to write a list of what you actually do want in a stone. Find pictures of what your ideal colour is and decide what size, budget and level of treatment you'll accept and also whether it needs to be set already. Also decide the extent to which you are happy with it shifting colour and saturation across different lighting environments (note they almost all shift. So 'not at all' is not a realistic criterion ). Accept some give and take on these desiderata -- you wont get everything you want. And then open a thread for others to help you look.


I have been super caught up in stuff at home so I cant remember what you've previously looked seriously at -- sorry I feel like stuff is crazy at the moment and am losing track of things, I am sure we all feel the same.

But I have a vague impression you're last couple of posts were about stones which were at very different price points and quite different quality levels to this one. If this is the case you may not be learning that much through this process. As theyve been pretty incomparable items -- it's a slower way to learn to vet options without really being able to cleanly delinieate what makes option A better than B. Cause they're mostly incomparable -- sapphire B might be synthetic but it's a 10th of the price of A, and settings are similarly at opposite ends of the spectrum on quality and price.

In a related but more minor issue: I actually cant draw much from that comparison either. I cant even really ascertain your preferences, and this is a small community so people will generally learn to help you best based on your track record of posts (they'll get a feeling for how you are disposed towards certain things like synthetic based on your previous threads and carry that knowledge forward changing their future suggestions accordingly).

Itll help you more to sit back for a week work out what you really want and then see if someone can help -- remember we are bling fanatics locked up in our houses with lots of time for online shopping so you are at a complete advantage here. I am sure there are some people busting to help shop.

Edit seriously how many typos can I make in one post .

 

[chrono]

I think maybe then it might make sense to write a list of what you actually do want in a stone. Find pictures of what your ideal colour is and decide what size, budget and level of treatment you'll accept and also whether it needs to be set already. Also decide the extent to which you are happy with it shifting colour and saturation across different lighting environments (note they almost all shift. So 'not at all' is not a realistic criterion ). Accept some give and take on these desiderata -- you wont get everything you want. And then open a thread for others to help you look.

This!

 

[eesmom]

I think maybe then it might make sense to write a list of what you actually do want in a stone. Find pictures of what your ideal colour is and decide what size, budget and level of treatment you'll accept and also whether it needs to be set already. Also decide the extent to which you are happy with it shifting colour and saturation across different lighting environments (note they almost all shift. So 'not at all' is not a realistic criterion ). Accept some give and take on these desiderata -- you wont get everything you want. And then open a thread for others to help you look.


I have been super caught up in stuff at home so I cant remember what you've previously looked seriously at -- sorry I feel like stuff is crazy at the moment and am losing track of things, I am sure we all feel the same.

But I have a vague impression you're last couple of posts were about stones which were at very different price points and quite different quality levels to this one. If this is the case you may not be learning that much through this process. As theyve been pretty incomparable items -- it's a slower way to learn to vet options without really being able to cleanly delinieate what makes option A better than B. Cause they're mostly incomparable -- sapphire B might be synthetic but it's a 10th of the price of A, and settings are similarly at opposite ends of the spectrum on quality and price.

In a related but more minor issue: I actually cant draw much from that comparison either. I cant even really ascertain your preferences, and this is a small community so people will generally learn to help you best based on your track record of posts (they'll get a feeling for how you are disposed towards certain things like synthetic based on your previous threads and carry that knowledge forward changing their future suggestions accordingly).

Itll help you more to sit back for a week work out what you really want and then see if someone can help -- remember we are bling fanatics locked up in our houses with lots of time for online shopping so you are at a complete advantage here. I am sure there are some people busting to help shop.

Edit seriously how many typos can I make in one post .

So grateful for your kind advice @qubitasaurus - I appreciate the simple and thoughtful next steps that I should take to clarify my "wish list"! I will take some time and think through my desires and see what I really want and can and can't live without for this. I do tend to be all over the place in the beginning of a search and take some time before I figure stuff out! I get super excited about the search and looking for something pretty and well priced, but at the same time realizing that I should wait and patiently wait for the right one (the one that I really want in the first place). LOL.

 

[qubitasaurus]

So grateful for your kind advice @qubitasaurus - I appreciate the simple and thoughtful next steps that I should take to clarify my "wish list"! I will take some time and think through my desires and see what I really want and can and can't live without for this. I do tend to be all over the place in the beginning of a search and take some time before I figure stuff out! I get super excited about the search and looking for something pretty and well priced, but at the same time realizing that I should wait and patiently wait for the right one (the one that I really want in the first place). LOL.

It is good to have a look arround first, but maybe a directed search led by some solid written down criterion. That way you can also critically cross examine your criteria -- by loosening one off and seeing if you get better options. It might help structure the information you get, and the questions uou ask. Most important thing is knowing what is the right question to ask, the rest can be offloaded to some combination of google and us .

Lol we call this a high level programing language -- we ask the question someone else does the hard work to answer it.

 

[arkieb1]

I totally agree with writing a list. I dispute the fact that only that mid cornflower coloured sapphires "glow" because I have a darker but still intense velvety blue stone that glows as well when you have decent lighting sources like sunlight or full strong indoor lighting on it.

It's O.K to like Royal coloured sapphires or darker coloured sapphires you just have to know what you want and what to look for... True lighter to mid cornflowered coloured stones are much harder to find and command a premium price.

So with anything it's about finding a stone you like colourwise at a price you are happy to pay.