What happens if you heat a dark blue sapphire? Should I re-cut?

[Dreamer_D]

Cat as color comparison is the best!

I kind of like dark moody stones. I look forward to seeing better pics of your new ring @newtojewels, it looks perfect for brooding on the moors among the heather.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I saw this ring and thought of you Mrs b!

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I’m definitely on the tsav melee band wagon for this stone.

 

[newtojewels]

Guys are so adorable in their oblivion sometimes. That furry photo is everything! But the ring itself is quite beautiful in all its antique-looking glory. Congrats!! Hope you love it once you actually get to lay eyes on her. lol

So adorable! It looked promising in the video call, at least. He also put it on his pinky to model it for me so he definitely tried!

Cat as color comparison is the best!

I kind of like dark moody stones. I look forward to seeing better pics of your new ring @newtojewels, it looks perfect for brooding on the moors among the heather.

Yes, I think it looked better on the video call than in the photo at least! I'll post minimally better photos when I'm back - if only we were all as talented as Yssie!

I saw this ring and thought of you Mrs b!

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I’m definitely on the tsav melee band wagon for this stone.

Yes, this is great! Something about the contrasting double halo really livens the dark stone up, I think. And then when the blue actually flashes blue, it'll be even more special!

 

[mrs-b]

I'm sorry that it's ended up this way, I've been following along and it's really such a frustrating story.

I just got a ring with kind of dark stones from IVY New York that I think leans into the darkness in an edgy-pretty way. Sadly I'm traveling so my partner had to open the box when it arrived today and I'm stuck relying on a video call and one photo he took. I asked him for a comparison next to my cat and he makes even my photography look good!

Here's the one photo I have, not amazingly helpful:

Vendor photo which is probably more useful!

And a couple more for inspiration, I think these would look lovely with a dark and moody center stone:

Oh, @newtojewels! Men - you have to love them! Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em!

Looks really pretty, tho, and I appreciate your suggestions. I have a design in mind - largish diamond halo, platinum, milgrain on the shank, blackened antiquing on the milgrain. We'll see how it goes.

I'm currently doing my 40th anniversary ring with Amy, and a pair of earrings are coming down the pipeline at some point also, so this project will be done in the second half of this year, but probably not before.

I wish I still had the sapphire in my possession so I could take some photos and just spend more time with it. I might drive to DKJ and pick it up so I can give it some more thought. That might be the safe way forward.

 

[mrs-b]

I saw this ring and thought of you Mrs b!

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I’m definitely on the tsav melee band wagon for this stone.

Yes! See, I LIKE this. I just wasn't able to get those flashes from my stone. When the light hit it *just right* - it was great. But I couldn't get anything out of it in any other light. I'm starting to think maybe that was me more than the stone, tho. So I'm going to go see Amy and get it back and spend more time with it.

But we are *definitely* going "big halo" on this one!

 

[newtojewels]

Oh, @newtojewels! Men - you have to love them! Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em!

Looks really pretty, tho, and I appreciate your suggestions. I have a design in mind - largish diamond halo, platinum, milgrain on the shank, blackened antiquing on the milgrain. We'll see how it goes.

I'm currently doing my 40th anniversary ring with Amy, and a pair of earrings are coming down the pipeline at some point also, so this project will be done in the second half of this year, but probably not before.

I wish I still had the sapphire in my possession so I could take some photos and just spend more time with it. I might drive to DKJ and pick it up so I can give it some more thought. That might be the safe way forward.

I think the blackened with white diamonds will be a perfect amount of edge to lean into the darkness! I think it makes sense to collect your stone again if it isn't a ridiculous hassle. Then you can see better how it plays in other lights, decide if you want to do a single halo or double, other colored stones, etc., etc. Whatever you decide will be lovely, though!

 

[fussykiki]

No help with the re-cut. But I want to say that I won a spinel from Alex Weber before. In the video, it looks bright and pinkish. When it arrived, it is a bit dark and brownish. But the cut is great, so I kept it and set it. However, I've told myself that I will not buy a gem based on one video again.

 

[mrs-b]

No help with the re-cut. But I want to say that I won a spinel from Alex Weber before. In the video, it looks bright and pinkish. When it arrived, it is a bit dark and brownish. But the cut is great, so I kept it and set it. However, I've told myself that I will not buy a gem based on one video again.

So right, @fussykiki. From now on, I want to see them in person, unless they're super cheap.

And here's the CAD. Changed my mind about a bunch of things at the last minute because this stone is sending me nuts.



It might be a bit large, but it's got a big head, and that can make a ring "squeezy". So we'll see.

I *was* going to do milgrain with antiquing - but took a hard right at the last moment and am doing the '3 petal' look for the sides and a tri wire band. Maybe antiquing? Unsure at this point. Again - we'll see.

Hoping for a nice clean aesthetic.

 

[Autumn in New England]

So right, @fussykiki. From now on, I want to see them in person, unless they're super cheap.

And here's the CAD. Changed my mind about a bunch of things at the last minute because this stone is sending me nuts.



It might be a bit large, but it's got a big head, and that can make a ring "squeezy". So we'll see.

I *was* going to do milgrain with antiquing - but took a hard right at the last moment and am doing the '3 petal' look for the sides and a tri wire band. Maybe antiquing? Unsure at this point. Again - we'll see.

Hoping for a nice clean aesthetic.

I love that you're not afraid to do a diamond halo with larger than "normal" diamonds. I am planning a design for an opal ring, and want a 3mm diamond halo. I kept thinking, is it too much? But damn it, no it's not! This design looks perfectly balanced. I also adore the "petal" shoulders and 2-tone look. She's going to be a looker!!

 

[Redwoods-hiker-girl]

No help with the re-cut. But I want to say that I won a spinel from Alex Weber before. In the video, it looks bright and pinkish. When it arrived, it is a bit dark and brownish. But the cut is great, so I kept it and set it. However, I've told myself that I will not buy a gem based on one video again.

I had a similar experience with an orange sapphire I won in one of his auctions; it looked orange in the video, but when it arrived, it was dark brownish yellow. I found it unappealing and asked to return it. He gave me a refund. I later bid on and won a large "seafoam" tourmaline; the video showed it as a medium-light bluish green. In reality, it's nearly colorless. But it is big and bright, and I like it, so I kept it. It will make a nice pendant one day, if I ever get around to it. No more auctions for me, though.

 

[Rfisher]

@mrs-b
( and @fussykiki and @Redwoods-hiker-girl )
I would love to see your stones in the ‘vendor pictures and your pictures’ thread that’s stickied at the top of CS forum.

Not as a vendor beware - but it’s very helpful for others to see the stones in various lightings compared to the glamour for sale shots. Whether you can replicate the glamour shots or not.
Very informative.
I wonder sometimes how often those dramatic shifts might be acceptable if one knew about them beforehand, instead of being surprised upon arrival. Obviously price dependent tho!

 

[Mreader]

@mrs-b
( and @fussykiki and @Redwoods-hiker-girl )
I would love to see your stones in the ‘vendor pictures and your pictures’ thread that’s stickied at the top of CS forum.

Not as a vendor beware - but it’s very helpful for others to see the stones in various lightings compared to the glamour for sale shots. Whether you can replicate the glamour shots or not.
Very informative.
I wonder sometimes how often those dramatic shifts might be acceptable if one knew about them beforehand, instead of being surprised upon arrival. Obviously price dependent tho!

I was coming here to say the same thing! About the vendor vs irl. I don’t have pics of my irl stone sadly. I looked and looked (I probably deleted bc I was upset about it).

 

[luckygreen317]

I don’t see the picture! I only see Alex’s picture.
@mrs-b can you ask for a return anyway? A similar thing happened to me with Alex and he did accept a return. It was one of those garnets that looked so pretty and sparkly in his vids, and when I got it it was pale and blah. It bothered me so much. At first he said site credit, but then said he would refund me. He was nice about it.

I had a similar experience with this vendor and a zircon. In the video, the stone was a pale champagne shade, with bright flashes and lively. I was disappointed when I received the stone. The color leaned brown and the carat weight was in the pavilion. The native cut stone made it impossible to set the way I wanted.

 

[musicloveranthony]

Honestly? I should have paid 3 or 4 times the amount and got something I was 100% sure about. I tried to cut corners and, as one learns with jewelry, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Given where I am now, I agree with you, and I'm going to take your advice on this and just work with what I have.

Gonna try to give her a beautiful dress. A lot of us below-par would-be beauties shine when in our best outfits. In other words, I'm going to LOVE her - and see if she loves me back.

<3

I really like your optimism - you sound like a wonderful person.

Unfortunately, I think I'm done bidding on his auctions the way he is currently running them. It seems that he's buying bulk, native-cut stones that are of varying quality to auction. I miss when his auctions were his self-sourced rough that he personally cut. Those were the days!! He went from that to outsourcing the cutting of his self-sourced rough (to a new gem cutter whose work wasn't my favorite) to the way he's doing it now.

 

[mrs-b]

I love that you're not afraid to do a diamond halo with larger than "normal" diamonds. I am planning a design for an opal ring, and want a 3mm diamond halo. I kept thinking, is it too much? But damn it, no it's not! This design looks perfectly balanced. I also adore the "petal" shoulders and 2-tone look. She's going to be a looker!!

You're so encouraging! Thank you, @Autumn in New England.

I really like halos (I love them, in fact, but I have none - why, I dont know!) - but I prefer clusters. I want to see light return and arrows and all of that. My peridot ring, "Spring", has a 3mm halo, if that's of any help, and I think she's fabulous. She's something like 8.4mm, and it's not too much at all.

I LOVE opals (I mean, I am Australian, when all's said and done!), so will really look forward to seeing your new project! My opal ring is one of those "would never sell/would never change" pieces. I really went balls-out when I bought her, and tried to get the very best opal I could. She's not big, but - my goodness! - she's glorious!

I'm hoping Miss Moody has something to say for herself once she's surrounded by all those diamonds - I think it's 1.5ctw. It's possible she'll be like most adolescent girls - one lives for their intermittent bright flashes and tolerates the long sullen periods.

 

[realru]

I really like your optimism - you sound like a wonderful person.

Unfortunately, I think I'm done bidding on his auctions the way he is currently running them. It seems that he's buying bulk, native-cut stones that are of varying quality to auction. I miss when his auctions were his self-sourced rough that he personally cut. Those were the days!! He went from that to outsourcing the cutting of his self-sourced rough (to a new gem cutter whose work wasn't my favorite) to the way he's doing it now.

This is exactly the issue I tried to highlight in my posts. Vendors like Alex or Joe (gemdragonauctions), who built a reputation and following by faceting stones themselves or selling rough, are now leveraging that base to spin these auctions where poorly cut, bulk-purchased, undesirable material is being assigned crazy valuations, as if they were top-tier material. I suppose this must be profitable and helps move their stock quickly with way less effort. I'm not opposed to auctions, but the opacity of gemstone pricing and difficulty to evaluate stones over a screen leads to inflated values being assigned to low-quality stones, causing people to overbid far too frequently. Everything looks better on Instagram! Phone cameras and screens are designed to show colors better.

Also, I am yet to see one stone sold at the assigned “estimated value” at these auctions. Usually it’s 2-5x lower and still making profits for the sellers because these auctions continue.

 

[mrs-b]

I really like your optimism - you sound like a wonderful person.

Unfortunately, I think I'm done bidding on his auctions the way he is currently running them. It seems that he's buying bulk, native-cut stones that are of varying quality to auction. I miss when his auctions were his self-sourced rough that he personally cut. Those were the days!! He went from that to outsourcing the cutting of his self-sourced rough (to a new gem cutter whose work wasn't my favorite) to the way he's doing it now.

Thanks, @musicloveranthony

I'm out too. I followed that page and was also a member of their secret VIP gem page. I unfollowed both of them.

I'll take IRL photos of the sapphire when I get her back from Amy, but she'll be set by then, so I dont know how much help that will be. I regret sending her off to DKJ/Amy the morning after she arrived. I wish I'd sat with her for longer. Honestly, I was so appalled at having spent over 3k for something I was so unhappy with, I think I wanted to get her out of the house *fast*!

@Redwoods-hiker-girl, @luckygreen317, @Mreader, @fussykiki, @realru and @Rfisher - I think we can consider me to have learned my lesson. Only gems I've seen in real life from now on!

 

[springerspaniel]

@Redwoods-hiker-girl, @luckygreen317, @Mreader, @fussykiki, @realru and @Rfisher - I think we can consider me to have learned my lesson. Only gems I've seen in real life from now on!

@mrs-b you are the best gem I have seen in real life!!!

 

[Mreader]

You're so encouraging! Thank you, @Autumn in New England.

I really like halos (I love them, in fact, but I have none - why, I dont know!) - but I prefer clusters. I want to see light return and arrows and all of that. My peridot ring, "Spring", has a 3mm halo, if that's of any help, and I think she's fabulous. She's something like 8.4mm, and it's not too much at all.

I LOVE opals (I mean, I am Australian, when all's said and done!), so will really look forward to seeing your new project! My opal ring is one of those "would never sell/would never change" pieces. I really went balls-out when I bought her, and tried to get the very best opal I could. She's not big, but - my goodness! - she's glorious!

I'm hoping Miss Moody has something to say for herself once she's surrounded by all those diamonds - I think it's 1.5ctw. It's possible she'll be like most adolescent girls - one lives for their intermittent bright flashes and tolerates the long sullen periods.

Miss Moody - perfect name!!!

 

[mrs-b]

@mrs-b you are the best gem I have seen in real life!!!

Awww - and *you* are a complete darling!

(I've embarrassed you now, haven't I?)

 

[Autumn in New England]

You're so encouraging! Thank you, @Autumn in New England.

I really like halos (I love them, in fact, but I have none - why, I dont know!) - but I prefer clusters. I want to see light return and arrows and all of that. My peridot ring, "Spring", has a 3mm halo, if that's of any help, and I think she's fabulous. She's something like 8.4mm, and it's not too much at all.

I LOVE opals (I mean, I am Australian, when all's said and done!), so will really look forward to seeing your new project! My opal ring is one of those "would never sell/would never change" pieces. I really went balls-out when I bought her, and tried to get the very best opal I could. She's not big, but - my goodness! - she's glorious!

I'm hoping Miss Moody has something to say for herself once she's surrounded by all those diamonds - I think it's 1.5ctw. It's possible she'll be like most adolescent girls - one lives for their intermittent bright flashes and tolerates the long sullen periods.

*Autumn heading over to @mrs-b's profile to find her delicious opal ring...*

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

mrs-b, I was going to say that every sapphire I've ever had is moody but you beat me to it. Looking forward to seeing your design alchemy elevate this stone!

 

[mrs-b]

@Autumn in New England - here are a few snaps - one of Spring, and a bunch of my opal ring.







These are the earrings I had made to match. I'm currently working on a matching necklace. I don't know why the top right opal came out so pale. The following photo is a better representation.





More of my ring before I had her reset into rose gold, so she'd go with my earrings and my upcoming necklace.

 

[Autumn in New England]

@Autumn in New England - here are a few snaps - one of Spring, and a bunch of my opal ring.







These are the earrings I had made to match. I'm currently working on a matching necklace. I don't know why the top right opal came out so pale. The following photo is a better representation.





More of my ring before I had her reset into rose gold, so she'd go with my earrings and my upcoming necklace.

What personality!! She looks like she glows in the dark. I love that you did something different and set her east-west as well. Love all of your goodies (especially the matching earrings), but that peridot has to be the purest I've seen... not a hint of olive tones. You have a most happy collection, my friend!!

 

[mrs-b]

What personality!! She looks like she glows in the dark. I love that you did something different and set her east-west as well. Love all of your goodies (especially the matching earrings), but that peridot has to be the purest I've seen... not a hint of olive tones. You have a most happy collection, my friend!!

<grinning>