What to look for when buying Pink Sapphire

[Sakuramickey]

Dear PS-ers,

I am looking for a pink sapphire, however a little confused with what’s best to look for? The color? There are so many shades of pink, purplish pink, to magenta pink to purple magenta, deep and warm and so on. What’s the most desired color? Is there a color range that one should consider?

 

[Bron357]

It entirely depends upon what colour YOU like.
Any pink sapphire that a vendor can pass off as a “ruby” will be priced more like a ruby than a pink sapphire.
Any pink sapphire that has a hint of orange many vendors will try and pass off as a Pad sapphire and again the price will be inflated.
Generally the more vivid the colour, the more expensive.
Heat treatment is fairly common with the pinks and diffusion treatment to improve colour is also an issue. If you don’t have a reputable lab report you might be taking a risk. That said, in smaller sizes, pink sapphire is cheaper than blue sapphire and many won’t bother with the extra expense of a lab report. If you’re spending $1,000 or more, I’d be wanting a lab report.

 

[Sakuramickey]

It entirely depends upon what colour YOU like.
Any pink sapphire that a vendor can pass off as a “ruby” will be priced more like a ruby than a pink sapphire.
Any pink sapphire that has a hint of orange many vendors will try and pass off as a Pad sapphire and again the price will be inflated.
Generally the more vivid the colour, the more expensive.
Heat treatment is fairly common with the pinks and diffusion treatment to improve colour is also an issue. If you don’t have a reputable lab report you might be taking a risk. That said, in smaller sizes, pink sapphire is cheaper than blue sapphire and many won’t bother with the extra expense of a lab report. If you’re spending $1,000 or more, I’d be wanting a lab report.

Thank you for the reply. I am looking at a 2-3ct stone. From your reply I understand that I should avoid treated stones and look for a stone with lab report. What about the color? More vivid is better? Vivid towards pink or purple? There are also a lot of plummy purple stones. Should I look for deep/warm pink?

 

[Bron357]

Me, personally I love vivid, hot pink, magenta. I have a nice wee one. Other people love the soft pastel colours, soft and dreamy, often set in rose gold and very beautiful.
It’s really a personal choice, if you have very pale skin like me you’re probably more suited to a more vivid colour (pastels just disappear on me) whereas if you have an olive or darker complexion, pastels look spectacular.
In terms of carat weight, for size, sapphire is a dense gem so you get less “size” than say diamond for the equivalent carat weight.

 

[dk168]

IMHO, the 4Cs can apply to CSs (not the likes of pearls and opals etc. obviously).

For me, colour is king, then cut. I can accept certain inclusions like uniform silkiness to get a larger stone.

Don't mind heat, however not other treatments.

There is a very nice unheated precision cut neon pink round Sapphire at Finewater Gems that I lust after, if I had the pennies to spare, I would have snapped it up!



DK

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Buy whatever pink you love but I think the plummy purple pinks tend to be a bit cheaper.

This is mine and it's about 3 carats.

 

[T L]

Almost all shades of pink sapphire are quite lovely, I would just avoid ones that go brownish in various light settings. I have pale skin, and light pink stones kind of disappear on me, but I still love pastel gems. Hot pinks look better on me though.

Since this color is often chemically enhanced (diffused), a lab report is important. Only choose labs that can properly test for this treatment. Heated sapphires can also be diffused. The lab report should say “heated but no other treatment.” Untreated stones are much more expensive.

If choosing a hot pink stone, strong fluorescence is nice as it makes the gem look more vivid in sunlight.

 

[Miguel con Gems]

This is one I recently had set. Unheated medium light pink in platinum w diamonds. Shade of pink is personal preference, I like many different shades!

 

[arkieb1]

I like light pink sapphires all the way through to neon hot pink almost red ones, there is a huge range of shades/colours pink sapphires can come it so it's not about what is best it is what you like the look of best!!!

 

[Sakuramickey]

thank you all for your reply. For colored stones, is there one institute better than the other for certificate? GIA and AGL?

 

[voce]

thank you all for your reply. For colored stones, is there one institute better than the other for certificate? GIA and AGL?

AGL is better than GIA because of more experience with grading colored stones.

If it's ruby and sapphire, I would trust Lotus Gemology as much as AGL and AIGS as much as GIA. A foremost expert on ruby and sapphire used to be director of AIGS and more recently started Lotus Gemology as his own lab.

 

[T L]

I don’t trust AIGS for corundum, been there, done that.

Does Lotus have access to a mass spectrometer?

 

[voce]

I don’t trust AIGS for corundum, been there, done that.

Does Lotus have access to a mass spectrometer?

Could you elaborate on what your experience was for AIGS?

My understanding is that Richard W. Hughes, who wrote the book Ruby & Sapphire that is treated by gemologists and the trade alike as the BIBLE on the subject, was the director of AIGS up until when he published his book (first edition), and then established Lotus labs at some point between the first and second editions of his book. He still publishes cutting edge articles on identifying corundum origin by new methods.

Why, then, would you not expect Lotus to have access to something as basic as a mass spectrometer? Even universities have those, and even if Lotus doesn't have one on site, I see no reason to assume that one of the top experts on corundum has no access to the right equipment from SOMEWHERE.

I suspect part of your dissatisfaction with Lotus may have to do with them adopting the trade descriptors such as "cornflower", "royal", and "pigeon blood", instead of something more scientific like AGL's color scan, but really I don't think Christopher Smith, AGL's President, has more experience than Richard W. Hughes when it comes to identifying origin and treatments.

 

[T L]

I wrote up a whole thread on why I was dissatisfied with AIGS, but i can not find it. The basic gist of it is that they were unable to properly test one of my sapphires for diffusion, and avoided my questioning of this. They refused to confirm what they could test for. I eventually had to send it to AGL, and they were able to test it with a mass spectrometer. An LIBS doesn’t seem as accurate at catching smaller particles but f beryllium.

As for Lotus, if they have access to a mass spectrometer, than more power to them. I am not dissatisfied with them as I know nothing about them, hence the reasons for my questions. It would be nice if someone can confirm if they have access. Now all labs do.

 

[T L]

Not all labs have access to a mass spectrometer I meant. My typing fingers, ugh!