How is this white sapphire?

[jstarfireb]

I can't tell too much from the pic (video looks nice though), but I know Paraiba International has a good reputation around here.

If you are considering blue, get in touch with Michael E of gemshoppe.com. He lists his stones on a site that we're not allowed to link to here, but ask about his 1.03ct round dark blue East African unheated sapphire and his 1.79ct cushion light blue Montana sapphire.

ETA: And if you're considering non-round shapes, here's an oval from Barry:
http://acstones.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=2239

 

[Souled In]

That's great info thanks. I emailed Michael to see the round sapphire. We are sticking with round for now.

Do you know if Paraiba International haggles with price, or is it set in stone?

 

[Souled In]

Geeze, if I was going with a marquise cut sapphire bi color, which I'm not, this looks spectacular

http://www.simplysapphires.com/html/imageswhite2006/whiteo349-sm.html

PS: I did find a white spinel but I think 2.26 cts is too big for an ering.
http://www.atggems.com/Photos_Spinel.htm

It seems rare to find a white spinel, and it still doesn't look as good as this particular sapphire, but most sure, perhaps.

 

[T L]

ParaibaInternational does take offers. Check out their ebay listings. I think the prices on there are best offer.

 

[colorluvr]

I agree with the others that if you are looking for a white stone with a "diamond" sparkle, you will be disapointed in a white sapphire. I agree that a white zircon will probably come the closest to a diamond''s sparkle.

 

[T L]

I took this photo of a white zircon necklace at a museum exhibit yesterday. It was very bright in the dim lighting they had. The other gems are apatites

 

[Souled In]

Okay I will keep looking, but I haven''t been able to find a nice white zircon between 1 and 2 cts.

Good idea though, thanks.

 

[T L]

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-22ct-Extraordinary-Sized-Oval-Portuguese-White-Zircon-/370335816289?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Loose_Gemstones_1&hash=item5639bc1a61#ht_2432wt_917

It's large, but nicely cut. Very light brown though (just realized it after I posted the link).

 

[colorluvr]

Date: 5/30/2010 4:29:33 PM
Author: Souled In
That''s great info thanks. I emailed Michael to see the round sapphire. We are sticking with round for now.

Do you know if Paraiba International haggles with price, or is it set in stone?

You might want to ask Michael about cutting a white zircon to your exact specs while you are communicating with him. He cut some for another PS member a while back.

 

[Souled In]

This is beginning to be a heck of an undertaking. Everytime I find something I like, my tastes evolve overnight and I end up wanting something more unique.

I mean, I don''t want to shell out 5 grand for the quality of diamond that I would want.

If I''m going to go colorless, there really isn''t anything that looks as nice as a diamond, except maybe if I got lucky with a colorless moissanite, which don''t seem to exist, at least not when held up beside a diamond.

White spinel''s and white zircon''s look like glass in the picture. I''ll try to get a video of one.

That white sapphire I saw looks perfect in the video, but I''m sure it is cloudy and not very brilliant in real life, although, the way it lights up like a cloudy beacon IS pretty cool.. however

This all kind of leads me away from white stones, but then I''m stuck with the hardness problem as well.

The blue green stones all seem to be soft in comparison to a sapphire.

But looking for a nice blue green sapphire that looks like an aquamarine is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

I don''t want something cheap, and I don''t want ordinary either, for ex. a blue sapphire.

VERY annoying. Maybe I''ll just give her the setting by its self?

And on top of everything else, I find what looks to be the same stone in one place for 11 thousand dollars, and another one for 30 dollars.

Now, if I wait 6 weeks I can attend a jewelry expo.

Just, if anyone finds a nice bi color unique looking sapphire, blue green and kind of light but not grey, let me know.

Thanks

 

[VapidLapid]

http://www.unicorngems.com/sapphires.html

 

[zerj]

Date: 5/31/2010 6:25:03 PM
Author: Souled In
That white sapphire I saw looks perfect in the video, but I''m sure it is cloudy and not very brilliant in real life, although, the way it lights up like a cloudy beacon IS pretty cool.. however

Technically speaking I''m not sure the ''brilliance'' would be the problem with the sapphire in the video as much as the ''fire''. Brillance is a measure of the amount of light reflected back from the gem. Diamonds do have one of the highest refractive indexes so this helps, but I wouldn''t say sapphire isn''t horrible in that regard. The big difference is the dispersion. Diamonds reflect light for different colors at differently, so a white light source gets broken up into rainbows and you see blue/red/purple flashes of returned light. Sapphires don''t do this nearly as much so a white sapphire may be odd unless your expecting it.

 

[Souled In]

Nice find Vapid! I''ll be watching that site...

Zerj yea that makes sense. White sapphire might be very brilliant, but only show white light.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Spinels and sapphires are a good bet. I have seen some really cool green sapphires and you might try tsavorite as well.

You want to avoid topaz and toumoline which have great color, but tend to break.
http://cgi.ebay.com/4-86ct-Amazingly-Sized-Oval-Natural-Blue-Green-Sapphire-/370230902252?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Loose_Gemstones_1&hash=item56337b3dec

 

[packrat]

The white zircons Michael cut for me are gorgeous and I adore them! If you''re thinking of a different color now, it wouldn''t hurt to contact Michael or Barry or whomever and see what they have in your color-not everything is listed and they might have some rough to cut. Never know what you might find!

 

[Souled In]

brazen thanks, but im not sure that an oval would go in a prong setting, i''ll keep my eye out though, and that IS a very nice looking gem ty

packrat, i hear you, if we go white or colorless, that will be our first stop, ty

Now check these out! The only problem is that these next two gems are around 5 cts!

Isn''t that too big for an engagement ring???

 

[Souled In]

This one is only 4 ct. but isn't that too big!??!?!?!?!? lol

Do they not make cool multi colored sapphires smaller than 2 cts? Usually not I guess..

Maybe I'll tell someone with some rough to try to make me an engagement stone.. heh

 

[VapidLapid]

Perfect size. Very pretty too. Certificate & untreated?

 

[Liane]

Date: 6/1/2010 3:53:54 AM
Author: Souled In
Now check these out! The only problem is that these next two gems are around 5 cts!

Isn''t that too big for an engagement ring???

*cough* Spend a little time in SMTR and you will quickly come to see that no, there is really no such thing as "too big for an engagement ring" (though there may well be such a thing as "bigger than my fiance wants," which is a whole different kettle of fish and by far the more important consideration).

Neither spinel nor zircon looks like glass in person. As other posters have said, if you want dispersion (fire) and don''t want CZ or diamond, they''re your best bet in natural gemstones.

A well-cut goshenite can be a dazzler (I''ve been picking up a bunch in different cuts from Dan Stair lately, just to round out my collection of shapes in an inexpensive stone that shows them off well) and, very occasionally in just the right lighting, can put diamonds to shame... but most of the time, in 95% of lighting situations, it''s just going to return white light. So it can be very beautiful, but nobody''s going to mistake a goshenite for a diamond unless you spend all your time in bars with multicolored spot lighting.

 

[vinkalmann]

@ Souled In

Hang in there! From someone who just got engaged, I can say that this was an overwhelming process. But in the end, you''ll find that you had a lot of fun and that non-diamond gem stones are really interesting. I got my fiance a blue sapphire that she loved and we wouldn''t change a thing.

If you''re not in a big hurry, take your time in looking since colored gem stones have much more of a personality than a diamond, IMO. The people on the board are really helpful, don''t hesitate to ask people''s opinions on a stone, they will give you their opinion straight up.

 

[Souled In]

vapid, both those stones are untreated from australian gemstones, but they dont post their certificates, i can ask for one though, good idea

liane, goshenite looks nice as well, i guess my biggest problem is that I need to see stones in person to really get a basis for what im looking for.. whether white zircon, sapphire, goshenite, spinel or other colorless

also darn, I didn''t realize 9 mm could be okay for an engagement ring, I have to go see something that big in person, and I just emailed Michael that I was looking around 1.5 cts... darn! oh well hmm..

vinkal, yea you''re right, they do seem to come with a lot of personality, which is why we''re looking into them.. i guess we''ll just stick at it, and watch and look for something unique to pop up

 

[zerj]

I always thought osirisgems had the 'unique' factor, and he does currently have what looks to my untrained eye as a 1.5ct aqua colored sapphire I've never seen anything he has done in person but seems interesting with his odd tendency to cut heptagons.

 

[Souled In]

Nice... This is a great looking stone for a good price zerj, thanks a lot. I will let you know if we decide to go through with it.

Oh, orisgems has 100% feedback on ebay, does that mean I don't need to worry about some sort of certification? The stone description says that you can see something at 50X magnification taht proves it is untreated.

Do you think I should ask for a video? Well I guess I can always return it for the shipping cost... hmm... looking good though!

 

[CharmyPoo]

I will be honest with you .. I own diamonds, and I own white sapphires, white ziron, white topaz ... none of them look like diamonds. Closest to a diamond are probably CZs for me.

 

[Indylady]

I''m certain that Orisgems is a pretty respected and trusted vendor; but I can''t think of the thread that I read that in..

 

[VapidLapid]

well I know Amethyst guy has corresponded with him and TL got that freeking awesome orange opal/weapon from him and isn''t that also where someone recently got a stone that fell on kitchen floor and big pavillion crack? Oh who was that? Anyway very well regarded and lovely work.

 

[Souled In]

Sounds good to me yall, I like the stone, but she might want something deep and firey blue now, hahaha we will see. Thanks so much yall.

Charmy I hear ya, I just get so pissed off when every time I say I might not go diamond, people are like ohhh she might not like it if it isn''t the real thing, to the point that, I don''t even want a diamond anymore.

When I can afford a man made diamond I''ll do that, until then, well I don''t want to be completely cheap and go with a CZ. We probably won''t even go colorless, but I do hear what you''re saying. Makes sense.

 

[CharmyPoo]

People always think my pink garnets are pink diamonds ...

 

[T L]

Date: 6/1/2010 9:53:07 PM
Author: CharmyPoo
I will be honest with you .. I own diamonds, and I own white sapphires, white ziron, white topaz ... none of them look like diamonds. Closest to a diamond are probably CZs for me.

I couldn''t agree more.

 

[T L]

Date: 6/2/2010 8:58:11 PM
Author: CharmyPoo
People always think my pink garnets are pink diamonds ...

They must think you''re super wealthy too!!