worth?

[Jude]

Hi there,

Is a 3.22ct cushion cut blue sapphire, untreated- unheated certified by the AGTA with papers worth $7700.00? The sapphire is beautiful and I have read, read, and read a lot about sapphires thanks to this forum. So, with that said what are your thoughts?

Also, I have put in a call to Walter Arnstein and have yet to hear their prices? Any thoughts on this company?

Thank you,

Jude

 

[mike04456]

It's impossible to know without seeing it in person. The most important value factor by far is the quality of the color.

 

[valeria101]

I could not agree more with LawGem.

This should be quite a sight though. I would expect a stone without pedigree (some strange pricing factor which sometimes values origin besides quality), little if any zoning face-up (perhaps some color inconsistency otherwise) and slight inclusions at most, aside silk (which, if present and subte may not be a detraction). But all this does not mater, color does... and for that I would not dare use the computer monitor for reference.

One thing though: while color is certainly the one crucial pricing factor for a blue sapphire, visible color variations do not necesarily throw the price from Haven to Hell, as they do in diamonds. There is a wide range for what desirable sapphire color is suposed to be, and all have in common a medium to strong saturation: siply, no "gray" areas in the stone, even under "normal" lighting conditions dark facets should appear dark blue, not gray or black (no idea how to better describe this).

Are you familar with the "look" of syntetic sapphires? That is pretty much Nirvana: the closer the "real" thing gets to such strong color, the better - not that it ever happens... and this is why the fakes look fake. I don't think the respective piece would be that intensly colored, but whatever dark & dull stuff is sold as " natural blue sapphires " in most jewelry stores cannot be used as reference, either.

I don't expect these comments to make alot of sense, but rather to stand for how little can be done about color sight unseen...