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Very quick ask - a Spinel and a Sapphire

B

Bojambles

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Aug 30, 2020
Messages
185
Sorry I know I have another 2 active threads on Sapphires & other gemstones, but wanted to ask check if the prices for these 2 stones are fair?
I'm in Asia and these are from at source / close to source sellers

1. Light pink spinel, included, 1.2ct + ~US$500
  • There is a bit of a window that I can live with, but want to know if the price is fair?
  • Seller claims it's Mahenge but I'll simply settle for it being neon-ish in colour and untreated (hearing scary stories about BE diffusion and irradiation occuring to spinels now)
  • Pretty sure that the seller amps up the exposure outdoors, but with it looking this bright, it's going to still be fairly bright in person?
  • Indoor low light colour change isn't great but again, I can live with it if the price is fair

Sunlight 2.JPG

Side 2.jpg

Side 3.jpg

Side 5.jpg

Indoor.JPG


2. Unheated blue sapphire, 3ct +, ~US$1,200
  • There is half-half extinction but doesn't look too bad
  • There is a black inclusion when it's flipped over but doesn't seem obvious face up
  • The bottom photo - is the cutlet off / weird? Asking for a side profile to check. This seems to correspond with a small oval area face up
  • Is this considered included? Will it be a sleepy one?
  • Indoor photos to follow; seller is taking

Sunlight 1.JPG

Sunlight 2.JPG

Bottom.JPG

Indoor photos to follow
 

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Indoor photos of the sapphire. There's also another photo in the same setting and the sapphire's colour looks lighter by several shades!

However the seller's fingers also look weird in that photo - I can't figure which is likely to be more true to real life colour?

Indoor 1.jpg

Indoor 3.jpg

indoor 4.jpg

Indoor Vid.JPG

^ In this last photo the sapphire looks completely washed out - not sure if this is the true lighting condition or the other set of photos is accurate
 
Have you read this thread?

Buying from CeylonSapphireGems: An expensive mistake

It all started with me buying a 4.09ct blue sapphire from CeylonSapphireGems on Instagram. I took a chance because his prices were nearly half of US vendors. Also, other PSers seemed to have good experiences buying from him. Unfortunately, the sapphire ended up being a lot darker and grayer than...
www.pricescope.com
 
icy_jade said:
Have you read this thread?

Buying from CeylonSapphireGems: An expensive mistake

It all started with me buying a 4.09ct blue sapphire from CeylonSapphireGems on Instagram. I took a chance because his prices were nearly half of US vendors. Also, other PSers seemed to have good experiences buying from him. Unfortunately, the sapphire ended up being a lot darker and grayer than...
www.pricescope.com
Click to expand...

Yup I've followed it! It's quite unfortunate so I won't hold my breath for a refund if anything goes wrong, though I will reveal the vendor if something does, as some other PSers also buy from him.

Just wanted to sense check the prices and what the expected colour might be

Thanks!
 
Are there lab reports?
 
T L said:
Are there lab reports?
Click to expand...

Hi TL, I can ask but I don't think so. I will get definitely get one from Nanyang Gem in Singapore, if I order it.

What do you think about the colours of both?

The last indoor photo of the sapphire showed a dramatic difference
 
The seller says that he will be sending these to the lab for certificates, assuming it checks out, would these be okay buys?
 
I would ask the vendor which one of the photos is more true to life color-wise for the sapphire. It appears to be a great color in the first photos, and if truly unheated (thus the need for the lab report), $1,200 for a 3 ct stone is a great price.

I am not a lover of pink, nor can I tell much about the clarity of the spinel, so I would pass on that one. But that's just me.
 
minousbijoux said:
I would ask the vendor which one of the photos is more true to life color-wise for the sapphire. It appears to be a great color in the first photos, and if truly unheated (thus the need for the lab report), $1,200 for a 3 ct stone is a great price.

I am not a lover of pink, nor can I tell much about the clarity of the spinel, so I would pass on that one. But that's just me.
Click to expand...

Ditto
 
I think the most important issue is whether you trust the vendor to represent the stones accurately. Sapphires shift indoors, often pretty dramatically, so if that's the context you'll see it in the most, you have to like the way it looks indoors too. Neon spinels hold their color better, though this one here is less neon indoors than some other Mahenges.

I think the sapphire is very pretty and seems really well-priced for what I can tell. What I sense is that you don't like the gems enough and might be ambivalent about purchasing them... I'd listen to that.
 
"...walk into a bar."

Looks like both are ridiculously saturated for few-hundred-dollars-per-ct gems. Meaning I do not trust that they are accurately represented. As others have said on this forum over the years, vendors in Sri Lanka are not in the Stone Age; I don't think that "buying from the source" will lead to your identifying bargains. In my experience, they direct-sell via IG the things they can not sell in person to experts. (People who have a more factual understanding of this process can correct me, but my overseas IG purchases have been disappointing -- with the one exception I keep pointing out and will not again for fear of looking like an ad partner.)

I have to agree with @maru8888777 above -- it comes down to trust. My trust has waned over the past decade. Like many of us, I have a very short list.
 
Thank you all for your helpful advice!

As @minousbijoux suggested, I asked him to choose which picture more accurately represented the colour indoors and still haven't received a reply. Could be for a variety of reasons so let's see if he does want to give a definitive opinion on this.

The colour fidelity is my top concern as I don't think he would be deliberately selling treated / heated sapphires but could always be wrong / may not know. I found him from a review post by another PSer and he has a mixture of heated and unheated.

I'm less sure about the spinel because it's likely to have passed through more hands before reaching him since it's supposedly from Tanzania and he's in Sri Lanka

I will hold off to wait for the lab reports at minimum and a reply from him on the colour of the sapphire in the indoors photos
 
LilAlex said:
"...walk into a bar."

Looks like both are ridiculously saturated for few-hundred-dollars-per-ct gems. Meaning I do not trust that they are accurately represented. As others have said on this forum over the years, vendors in Sri Lanka are not in the Stone Age; I don't think that "buying from the source" will lead to your identifying bargains. In my experience, they direct-sell via IG the things they can not sell in person to experts. (People who have a more factual understanding of this process can correct me, but my overseas IG purchases have been disappointing -- with the one exception I keep pointing out and will not again for fear of looking like an ad partner.)

I have to agree with @maru8888777 above -- it comes down to trust. My trust has waned over the past decade. Like many of us, I have a very short list.
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't think his stones are not the most prized by the trade and the general quality seemed better pre / beginning of Covid, guess there was more rough to go around.

ie. He had some stones in better colour than this (no idea if it's top top but assuming the same lighting environment, relatively better), but if they were more than 1ct they tended to have flaws - ie. small black inclusion at the side.

I can accept this as the top gems are going to be multiples more in pricing and they seem to fly out of other sellers' inventories.

My KPI is that looks at least mostly like the photos (except the last one). If it looks like the last photo, I definitely wouldn't be happy.

Do you mind disclosing that one IG seller whom you trust?
 
maru8888777 said:
I think the most important issue is whether you trust the vendor to represent the stones accurately. Sapphires shift indoors, often pretty dramatically, so if that's the context you'll see it in the most, you have to like the way it looks indoors too. Neon spinels hold their color better, though this one here is less neon indoors than some other Mahenges.

I think the sapphire is very pretty and seems really well-priced for what I can tell. What I sense is that you don't like the gems enough and might be ambivalent about purchasing them... I'd listen to that.
Click to expand...

I do like the gem! But the last photo (still from a video) took me off-guard and I'm glad that I saw it.

If it looked like it did in the other photos I would buy it in a heartbeat especially since the price checks out according to everyone, but that photo is quite sus and I would not want it if it really looked like that
 
So an update: the seller offered to post them to me without any payment first (I didn't ask and it might be because we are fairly close geographically; the package took only 3-4 days including the weekend to arrive).

I'd ship it back at my own cost if I don't like it or if the lab tests turn out negative.

Links with videos here:

Spinel: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVdKLxqBAy-/?utm_medium=copy_link
Sapphire: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVdKUv5BwMu/?utm_medium=copy_link

The little tinfoil wrappings are based on a tip I've seen on PS to simulate how it will look when it's set. Will post photos in proper sunlight tmr as I got this in the evening - the weak sunlight photos are from 10 minutes before it got completely dark

1. I quite like the spinel, even if it's not mahenge (seller claims it is and there is a CGL report saying so) and has a window, but is the price decent? It's 1.26ct, fairly spready, and US$454 to US$530 (depending on whether I get the sapphire)

2. I don't really like the sapphire at all, I feel like the cut seems a bit weird and the colour keeps looking uneven and cloudy. it's about US$1,050 (post a slight discount if I get both stones)

If it looked like this all the time, I would be alright. But this is really the money shot after alot of twisting and turning:

(indoors)

MS.jpg

Instead it looks like this at best most of the time

(indoors)

Indoors 1.jpg

I'm unlikely to keep it but want to know for educational purposes what's wrong with this stone and why it's not looking consistent - is it the cut? Is the crown normal sized?

Side.jpg


Might give up on sapphires altogether at this rate, or just save for 5 figure ones.

I haven't tested either at a lab yet, can only do so on Saturday

TIA!
 
Pink spinel
Nice colour and cutting is decent enough for me. It is, however, too sleepy / silky for my taste. What is the mm spread? Untreated (no oil, no resin, etc)? Spinel is typically untreated but times are changing. I saw half/half shadowing/extinction in one of your videos.

Blue sapphire
Crown is fine; high crowns can be fabulous, like in diamonds. I love high crowns in CS. This sapphire seems moodier / shiftier than the spinel. It also seems to exhibit the half/half shadowing more strongly than the spinel. This is more a function of cut and ovals tend to do this more often than other cuts. As for the dramatic change in intensity, that is more a function of the rough material.
 
Thanks @chrono and sorry for the late reply (work, ugh).

The pink spinel is 7.15 x 6.07 x 3.72cm, seems pretty spready. Seller claims there is no treatment, I will confirm with a trusted lab if I decide to purchase
Kind of spready and there is a window but it's not very obvious imho

The sapphire is 8.67 x 6.81 x 5.73cm, also supposedly unheated.

Do you have an opinion on whether the sapphire would look more consistent when set? Not in terms of colour shifting but extinction?
There is a "cloud" like hazy patch the sapphire that really bothers me, in addition to the colour shifting

I've taken some videos in strong sunlight now, and the spinel looks nice in the sun too, so no blacking out.

Sun videos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVimWmOhvCL/?utm_medium=share_sheet

Tinfoil + sapphire: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVimjYphmhY/

While I usually prefer more crystalline gems, I'm unsure of the jump in pricing and general availability of stones as well.

I don't completely love either stone (though I really like the colour of the spinel), but if the pricing is very good, I might keep them. If it's just so-so, I would rather pay postage fees and save the rest of my money for nicer gems

More photos in the sun (pretty bright):

1.jpg
^showing the hazy path on the RHS of the sapphire

5.jpg

11.jpg

12.jpg
 
I think the spinel is pretty! And the colour makes up for a sleepier texture. I have no idea if the price is a deal or not.

I wouldn’t keep the sapphire at all, the lack of clarity, inclusions and the extinction makes it not worth the asking price to me. For the money, maybe you could get a smaller but trade ideal blue sapphire?
 
I like the spinel too, but I like sleepy stones. The price seems quite good.
Sapphires are hard to buy. It might take you a bit to find the right one... and for what you want, it might wind up being more expensive or smaller.
 
The colour inconsistency will remain even when set. I think the hazy patch could be cloud inclusions. With so many misgivings from your post, I would pass on the sapphire.
 
Thank you @peacechick @maru8888777 @chrono

I will pass on the sapphire. Still deciding on the spinel as little purchases do add up. I wanted dangle earrings with a spinel each and I think I might be better off looking for a paired.
 
I agree that if you want spinels for earrings, it is best to purchase a pair for ease of matching colour, shape and dimensions.
 
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