Will pink sapphire melee sparkle as much as the diamond center stone?

[Kim N]

I am planning on getting a custom setting with a row of small pink sapphire melee and a row of diamond melee, both 1 pointers. The setting will also have a diamond center stone. Do pink sapphires sparkle as much as diamonds? Will they look any duller than the diamonds? Will I notice the difference in sparkle?

Thanks for the help.

 

[belle]

the short answer is no, pink sapphires will not sparkle as much as diamonds. they are different gemstones and have different properties. that said, i think pink sapphires are beautiful in their own right and if you want some pink in your ring you should definetly consider pink sapphires!

 

[Kaleigh]

Belle's right they don't sparkle as a diamond would but no reason why you shouldn't use them. Just know they won't act like diamonds. I love pink and think pink sapphires added to an ering for color is a great idea. When you're talking melee it's so small anyway and have seen many designers using pink sapphire melee. I say go for it!!!

 

[Kim N]

Thanks, Belle and Kaleigh! That's what I'd figured. I would use pink diamond melee, but I don't think I can afford them since they cost about ten times as much!

 

[DiamondExpert]

You might consider color-enhanced pink melee - it''s not inexpensive, but not nearly as expensive as natural, AND the color can be quite saturated! Quite pretty in my opinion.

 

[Mara]

actually i didnt think that natural pink melee was that expensive...because they were so tiny. i remember seeing a RHR that was white and pink diamond melee and it was not as expensive as you''d imagine. i would at least look into it!

 

[Kaleigh]

Mara''s right, get a quote. You have nothing to loose and if you''re not using many of them you may be surprised at the cost. Worth a shot, anyway. Plus I''m curious as to what the quote will be. May have future projects in the works.

 

[strmrdr]

my 2c
i like the look of pink sapphire better than pink diamond for sides.
You might want to hunt down both and look in person.

No the sapphire isnt as flashy as diamond but it has more pressence and better looks in my opinion.
its hard to discribe in words....

 

[belle]

Date: 11/21/2005 10:43:49 PM
Author: strmrdr
my 2c
i like the look of pink sapphire better than pink diamond for sides.
You might want to hunt down both and look in person.

No the sapphire isnt as flashy as diamond but it has more pressence and better looks in my opinion.
its hard to discribe in words....

i agree strm. they are two different looks. i think the pink sapphires would anchor the piece more. it just depends on the look you want.

 

[Mara]

from what i have seen, the pink melee can be pretty light in color, so if you want a very dainty pale look then i would check into the diamonds, but the sapphires have more body color to them...so it will probably depend on your 'look' as belle said. there is gal in the SMTR who started a post something like 'its pink' and it shows her ring which has pink sapphire sides. very visible color. (ETA: that is a different ring i am thinking of....this is the one i was thinking of which has kite shaped pink sapphires: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/thanks-to-pearlmans-i-now-have-a-beautiful-e-ring.36170/)

i love pink diamond melee with rose gold, but it's a definite 'look'...which may not be what you are going for.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/22/2005 2:35:03 AM
Author: Mara

from what i have seen, the pink melee can be pretty light in color, so if you want a very dainty pale look then i would check into the diamonds, but the sapphires have more body color to them...

One more vote for that!

It may be cute to know ''those are diamonds'', but you will need to believe pretty hard those are pink, not white. And most of the color will come from the pink gold around them (if this is used). Intense pink melee exists, but... pink sapphires will still have more color. And there will be quite some price difference at that point.

 

[Kim N]

Thank you all for your input. I have gotten a quote, actually. It was $60 for the pink sapphires, and $600 for the pink diamonds. Quite a significant difference! (Another place quoted $75 and $750.) I love the look of pink diamond melee in rose gold, so if I go for pink sapphires, I will still want that lighter pink look (I prefer slightly darker than pink diamonds, but not as bright and robust as pink sapphires--just something in between). For the cost of pink diamonds, I should probably go with sapphires instead.

Gary, by "color-enhanced," do you mean irradiated? I had heard that the color on irradiated pink diamonds would be very bright, like almost hot pink. Is that true? I was looking for a lighter pink. Also, do color-enhanced diamonds have the same "sparkle" properties as natural diamonds?

Thanks!

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/22/2005 2:59:37 AM
Author: Kim N

Gary, by ''color-enhanced,'' do you mean irradiated?

That is the only option for now...



I had heard that the color on irradiated pink diamonds would be very bright, like almost hot pink.

True



Also, do color-enhanced diamonds have the same ''sparkle'' properties as natural diamonds?

Yes.

The stones will be very small for sapphires.... It is sometimes hard to find such small sapphires well cut, but it is done, of course. If your jeweler has them, why not.

Sure you wnat them that light? By comparison, this is a slightly optimistic picture of intense pink melee in white metal (LINK).

These really need to be seen, IMO. It may be the difference of looks is worth the price for you after all - is there any chance to see the things before deciding?

 

[Kim N]

Ana, thank you for your answers to my questions! What you said about finding such small sapphires well cut... the first few places I went to for a quote actually said they wouldn''t be able to find sapphires that small, so they wouldn''t be able to do the job.

That picture definitely has a very intense pink color! I have seen both pink diamonds and pink sapphires in person. The different jewelry pieces I saw with pink sapphires all had different variations of pink. Some were more magenta, some close to lavender. I found that I preferred the lighter variations of pink in the sapphires in the stores. Like these pink sapphires I''m attaching.

I think I will look at more pink sapphires and pink diamonds before I make a final decision.

 

[Kim N]

...

 

[valeria101]

Hm....

this doesn''t quite apply to the ring project, but if you ever wanted a line bracelet with small pink stones, who knows.

Take a look

I have not seen any of these, but 2-3mm very nicely cut sapphires are absolute charmers. At least in pictures these come close to what I have in mind.

Just for fun, of course. There isn''t much about such sets of stones on Pricescope and this thread appered to be one chance to fill the gap.

 

[Lorelei]

Ana you are a wonder! What lovely stones, got me drooling - I am in a very pink mood at the moment

I think I need a little pink sparkly something

 

[Kim N]

Ana, those stones you posted the link to are beautiful! I''ll keep those in mind if I have another pink project.

Do you know if it''s possible to get irradiated pink diamonds that are lighter in color, almost the color of natural pink?

 

[RockDoc]

As an additional suggestion, you might want to consider NATURAL pink spinel.

Spinel crystallizes in the cubic crystal system i.e singly refractive( as diamond does) so they do have a lot of light return.

Sapphires are doubly refractive so if the stones are cut well spinels may look a tad brighter.

I sort of also suggest you opt for larger "companion" stones, as 1 pointers can become loose a lot easier, and matching them later could be a "problem" if you loose any later on. However if you are stuck on having this size stone, probably wise to have your jeweler order some extra ones that match in the event you do loose any in wearing it.

Hope this helps,

Rockdoc

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/22/2005 12:15:18 PM
Author: Kim N


Do you know if it's possible to get irradiated pink diamonds that are lighter in color, almost the color of natural pink?

Not that I know of...

For the microscopic size and light color, it sounds like you will not be happy with anything but diamonds.

I can't know what you will find, but in a few instances I found parcels of brownish pinkish melee one jeweler here works with. The stuff is definitely cheaper than the 'usual' pink. Given the light color, the difference is rather theoretical. Some of these are not too well cut because the material is not terribly expensive, but some are. Just a matter of luck, I suppose.

If you insisted to have the small diamonds very pink, than pink sapphire would come as the obvious, option. If they must be light and brilliant in such small size, perhaps the 'pink' requirement can be relaxed. If you will have pink gold used, all more so.

Just a thought