Thoughts on this stone

[kirkpatrickel]

After inquiring about a setting on etsy, the seller mentioned that he had loose sapphires. The photo below is of a 1.8 carat (8x6mm)ceylon blue sapphire that is being offered for $1,100.

Would this a be a stone worth purchasing for a three stone ring?

 

[T L]

I think its overpriced for the color, and no lab report. I also dislike the cutting.

 

[Aoife]

What TL said.

Taking into consideration the fact that it's photographed at an angle, I still don't like the half and half extinction that's going on, and if you look carefully, it seems to me that there is a window. For $1100, you can do a lot better than this.

 

[chrono]

The smallish window doesn't bother me but it looks like the picture has been overexposed? The white is so bright it hurts my eyes to look at it for long, meaning the stone is probably darker IRL and the half/half extinction is more prominent IRL as well. No idea if it has been heated or not, but if it comes with an American lab memo, that should take care of it (to find out if it has been diffused or not). In any case, the poor cutting turns me off enough to not bother finding out more about the sapphire and I'm not even a cut junkie.

 

[kirkpatrickel]

Thanks, the feedback is appreciated and not surprising.

 

[iLander]

I would just worry about treatments and fillings these days. A lot of suppliers don't even know if their stuff is treated.

A beryllium treated stone that size is about $6 on ebay. Seriously, try searching ebay, you'll be surprised at how cheap sapphires are. A 100% natural sapphire without heat or treatments can be well over a $1000. But how will you know without the report?

See if the seller will get a gem brief done for you, it's about $55, and it'll tell you everything you need to know.

http://www.aglgemlab.com/services/FastTrack.aspx
http://www.aglgemlab.com/services/rates.aspx

 

[T L]

I would just worry about treatments and fillings these days. A lot of suppliers don't even know if their stuff is treated.

A beryllium treated stone that size is about $6 on ebay. Seriously, try searching ebay, you'll be surprised at how cheap sapphires are. A 100% natural sapphire without heat or treatments can be well over a $1000. But how will you know without the report?

See if the seller will get a gem brief done for you, it's about $55, and it'll tell you everything you need to know.

http://www.aglgemlab.com/services/FastTrack.aspx
http://www.aglgemlab.com/services/rates.aspx

Just note that it can sometimes cost $100 extra to test for diffusion, and if you add in S&H both ways, that $55 can turn into almost $200.