What would you buy INSTEAD of this $112,000 padparadschas?

[lambskin]

I’d halo it.

 

[T L]

Maybe I could afford a down payment on one of the side stones of this lucioud ring. That center stone though, omg!!!

 

[IcePhoenix]

I would not but now I'm worrying massively cause I sent a sapphire to GIA and it came back as a pad. Damn, the stone and cert were over 1000 dollars. I was hoping to either resell or keep as a possible mini investment... is GIA notoriously easy going with premium labels?

 

[toomuchB]

I would not but now I'm worrying massively cause I sent a sapphire to GIA and it came back as a pad. Damn, the stone and cert were over 1000 dollars. I was hoping to either resell or keep as a possible mini investment... is GIA notoriously easy going with premium labels?

No, they are not, this and the 'paraiba' posted here are not the norm for GIA.
But I don't think their color gradings hold more weight than what my eyes see.
Did the stone come back as treated and if yes what kind?

I would trust a GIA color grading over GRS, AIGS and a handful of other labs, but I would prefer AGL or SSEF. I find AGL and SSEF have the strictest color/designation system - just from casual observing, I'm not an expert.

Its not an exact science... Sometimes labs disagree with each other, not just color/designation but also origin and treatment. I believe there was a case GIA graded a synthetic alexandrite as natural, which was later found out to be synthetic by AGL.

People can disagree with labs too...Some think the padparadscha label can only apply to Sri Lanka origin stones. I once saw a fancy sapphire with an AGL report that I think deserved a padparadscha designation, but AGL detected a brownish modifier.

If you have photos of the stone that are mostly color accurate I'm sure people would provide opinions. If you start a new thread more people might take notice.

This is an excellent writeup on the padparadscha color designation - there are disagreements even between dealers based on an informal/mini experiment (figure 11):

Padparadscha Sapphire & the Ownership of Words

An examination of what defines padparadscha sapphire, from early times to that developed by the Laboratory Manual Harmonisation Committee (LMHC) in 2005.

lotusgemology.com

 

[Autumn in New England]

I would not but now I'm worrying massively cause I sent a sapphire to GIA and it came back as a pad. Damn, the stone and cert were over 1000 dollars. I was hoping to either resell or keep as a possible mini investment... is GIA notoriously easy going with premium labels?

Oh I wouldn't worry in the least. If you had a report that did not certify the stone as a pad, then you would have a harder time reselling (although, in that case, I'd personally just omit the report and let the customer decide). No lab gets it right 100% of the time (even Gubelin). Hue is extremely subjective, and in this particular instance, pad color is infamously difficult to delineate.

 

[Autumn in New England]

No, they are not, this and the 'paraiba' posted here are not the norm for GIA.
But I don't think their color gradings hold more weight than what my eyes see.
Did the stone come back as treated and if yes what kind?

I would trust a GIA color grading over GRS, AIGS and a handful of other labs, but I would prefer AGL or SSEF. I find AGL and SSEF have the strictest color/designation system - just from casual observing, I'm not an expert.

Its not an exact science... Sometimes labs disagree with each other, not just color/designation but also origin and treatment. I believe there was a case GIA graded a synthetic alexandrite as natural, which was later found out to be synthetic by AGL.

People can disagree with labs too...Some think the padaradscha label can only apply to Sri Lanka origin stones. I once saw a fancy sapphire with an AGL report that I think deserved a padparadscha designation, but AGL detected a brownish modifier.

If you have photos of the stone that are mostly color accurate I'm sure people would provide opinions. If you start a new thread more people might take notice.

This is an excellent writeup on the padparadscha color designation - there are disagreements even between dealers based on an informal/mini experiment (figure 11):

Padparadscha Sapphire & the Ownership of Words

An examination of what defines padparadscha sapphire, from early times to that developed by the Laboratory Manual Harmonisation Committee (LMHC) in 2005.

lotusgemology.com

 

[toomuchB]

Its not an exact science... Sometimes labs disagree with each other, not just color/designation but also origin and treatment. I believe there was a case GIA graded a synthetic alexandrite as natural, which was later found out to be synthetic by AGL.

Examples-

This 900k Paraiba tourmaline - if you don't know, Brazilian origin carries a significant premium for Paraiba tourmaline. SSEF says Mozambique, AGL says Brazil. Both agree on evidence of heat. Sorry for the low rez, but you can make it out if open the link to see the larger images.

https://imgur.com/a/Jrde6rx

And, here is the GIA vs AGL synthetic alexandrite story I brought up.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/SB50001424052970203511504576329081143859922#articleTabs_panel_article%3D1