Greenish Blue Sapphire for Engagement Jewelry
- Thread starter tankyu
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Chrono|1440614274|3919488 said:
Good to know. I'm interested to hear from others as well.
Hi wonderful, helpful people. Thank you so much for the replies so far. Emails have been sent to Precision Gem and Jeff White. The semester has started though, so things have gotten crazy! My SO is teaching FOUR classes this semester, while I've got three, so the hunt has slowed down a bit.
I'll write a much better update over the weekend, but in the mean time, is there anyone who does custom work? I've looked at a lot of the stones over on Mastercut, and they really are gorgeous, but I don't know if the cut style is really quite up my alley.
One other note, I did look into the Top Faceting, but the stones were fairly dark and I do really love that necklace setting, and he really doesn't every seem to do round, but he has an awesome sapphire (which looked very similar to the Nigeria ones, actually) from France! I had no idea there were sapphire mines there.
I'll write a much better update over the weekend, but in the mean time, is there anyone who does custom work? I've looked at a lot of the stones over on Mastercut, and they really are gorgeous, but I don't know if the cut style is really quite up my alley.
One other note, I did look into the Top Faceting, but the stones were fairly dark and I do really love that necklace setting, and he really doesn't every seem to do round, but he has an awesome sapphire (which looked very similar to the Nigeria ones, actually) from France! I had no idea there were sapphire mines there.
UPDATE: the semester got crazy, people got sick, minds were changed, A STONE WAS PURCHASED, feelings are muddled
Short story. We decided to go with one of the stones posted earlier in the thread, the 1.8ct unheated blue Montana sapphire from Jeff Hapeman of Earth's Treasury.
(the following is kind of just a chance for me to vent a bit. I'm SURE my SO is sick and tired of talking this to death)
Long story: After looking at maaaaaaany, many pictures, I thought I had my heart set on an African stone, but after reading several papers on the ecology of the "artisanal" mining operations in those locations, I felt like I wanted such a big purchase to support local tradesmen whose practices were maybe more sustainable. Plus, not sourcing from overseas does measurably reduce the carbon footprint.
I've been "visiting" the Earth's Treasury sapphire every day for the past few weeks (and I sent pictures to a couple friends and family members, but what do they know) and I finally just broke down and flat out asked my SO what he thought of it, as none of my decreasingly-subtle hints were getting any response. He agreed that the pictures showed a nice color, it made it within our size parameters, and came in under budget. So I asked Jeff for a picture under fluorescent lighting, and it's pretty gray (though he did say that the picture makes it seem grayer and flatter than what he actually sees, which is heartening. So far Jeff has been really great to communicate with). I've read pretty much every single thread that comes up if you use Google to search this forum for Montana sapphires, so I knew it wouldn't hold it's color as well as a sapphire from another location, but it did still disappoint me how gray it turned. However, on paper it still made a lot of sense and the pictures in better lighting still make my heart sing, so my SO purchased it. Hopefully, it will be on its way to us soon.
I'm just worried now that I've set myself up for disappointment. I know that for most people, their stones almost never look like the vendor photo, so I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope.
PS
I know Jeff is a member on this site, and I really hope nothing I've said is coming off as offensive. The stone is clearly cut very well, and even if it's not exactly what we're looking for, I'm sure it will make someone very happy. I'm just worried my expectations are too high at this point, seeing how nice the stone can look, but knowing that the lighting in my lab is pretty crumby.
Short story. We decided to go with one of the stones posted earlier in the thread, the 1.8ct unheated blue Montana sapphire from Jeff Hapeman of Earth's Treasury.
(the following is kind of just a chance for me to vent a bit. I'm SURE my SO is sick and tired of talking this to death)
Long story: After looking at maaaaaaany, many pictures, I thought I had my heart set on an African stone, but after reading several papers on the ecology of the "artisanal" mining operations in those locations, I felt like I wanted such a big purchase to support local tradesmen whose practices were maybe more sustainable. Plus, not sourcing from overseas does measurably reduce the carbon footprint.
I've been "visiting" the Earth's Treasury sapphire every day for the past few weeks (and I sent pictures to a couple friends and family members, but what do they know) and I finally just broke down and flat out asked my SO what he thought of it, as none of my decreasingly-subtle hints were getting any response. He agreed that the pictures showed a nice color, it made it within our size parameters, and came in under budget. So I asked Jeff for a picture under fluorescent lighting, and it's pretty gray (though he did say that the picture makes it seem grayer and flatter than what he actually sees, which is heartening. So far Jeff has been really great to communicate with). I've read pretty much every single thread that comes up if you use Google to search this forum for Montana sapphires, so I knew it wouldn't hold it's color as well as a sapphire from another location, but it did still disappoint me how gray it turned. However, on paper it still made a lot of sense and the pictures in better lighting still make my heart sing, so my SO purchased it. Hopefully, it will be on its way to us soon.
I'm just worried now that I've set myself up for disappointment. I know that for most people, their stones almost never look like the vendor photo, so I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope.
PS
I know Jeff is a member on this site, and I really hope nothing I've said is coming off as offensive. The stone is clearly cut very well, and even if it's not exactly what we're looking for, I'm sure it will make someone very happy. I'm just worried my expectations are too high at this point, seeing how nice the stone can look, but knowing that the lighting in my lab is pretty crumby.
deskjockey
Brilliant_Rock
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I think it's really beautiful
Montanas are really interesting, and it took me a couple days to realize I love mine, I find the color shifting and greyness to be interesting, and a great match for my personality Everybody has different tastes, but carry it around with you a little bit so you can see it in different light. I love browsing Jeff's site, and really love his cutting. It sounds like he's an excellent resource and great vendor too
Montanas are really interesting, and it took me a couple days to realize I love mine, I find the color shifting and greyness to be interesting, and a great match for my personality
Everybody has different tastes, but carry it around with you a little bit so you can see it in different light. I love browsing Jeff's site, and really love his cutting. It sounds like he's an excellent resource and great vendor too 
Thanks for the words of support Chrono, deskjockey, and part gypsy. The stone arrived yesterday but I wasn't "allowed" to open the box! My SO wants the actual appearance of the ring to be a surprise at this point, so I have no idea yet what it looks like!
He's only seen the stone in low light at this point, since it arrived later in the day, and he told me (through a closed door as did a little stressed dance in the hallway) that he was seeing a much more lavender color than what he expected from the pictures, but that depending from which angle he viewed it, it looked green!!! He also seemed to be quite worried about a tilt window, which I told him all sapphires will have due to a lower RI (I hope I didn't just make that up) and that it shouldn't be a problem if it doesn't show up with the slightest tilt.
He is a bit worried about how sad it looked under the bathroom and kitchen lights, which are awful CFL bulbs (for the environment), so I don't know yet if this is the one. I think he's going to take it into his office with him and maybe try to sneakily get into the lab, so I'll know Monday night if the search is over! Then it's going to the appraiser Tuesday and then we have to think about setting!
This is my first big CS purchase, and I don't know how you guys go through this regularly! It's exhausting! But I will keep you posted.
My SO wants the actual appearance of the ring to be a surprise at this point, so I have no idea yet what it looks like!He's only seen the stone in low light at this point, since it arrived later in the day, and he told me (through a closed door as did a little stressed dance in the hallway) that he was seeing a much more lavender color than what he expected from the pictures, but that depending from which angle he viewed it, it looked green!!! He also seemed to be quite worried about a tilt window, which I told him all sapphires will have due to a lower RI (I hope I didn't just make that up) and that it shouldn't be a problem if it doesn't show up with the slightest tilt.
He is a bit worried about how sad it looked under the bathroom and kitchen lights, which are awful CFL bulbs (for the environment), so I don't know yet if this is the one. I think he's going to take it into his office with him and maybe try to sneakily get into the lab, so I'll know Monday night if the search is over! Then it's going to the appraiser Tuesday and then we have to think about setting!
This is my first big CS purchase, and I don't know how you guys go through this regularly! It's exhausting! But I will keep you posted.
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