Help Looking for Natural unheated eye clean BLUE SAPPHIRE ~1 carat or more below $500

[fusica]

Hi everyone,
Experts and seasoned buyers i am so grateful i found this forum. You all here are so smart and knowledgeable about gems.
I am looking for a good deal on a NATURAL BLUE SAPPHIRE (UNTREATED, EYECLEAN) around 1 carat or more below $500 for my sister Sept bday to make a RING or Pendant, she never have any real jewelry besides the plastic one so i am thinking to get her one. Poor man here, 8 to 5 guy work in the warehouse.
I myself never buy gems before all i know about gems i read it here from your opinions.
I browse some of the vendor websites on here, and the best i can find is this

Kashmir Blue Sapphire for $350
Is this a good vendor? and true real to what the website say?

I know there is better deals out there, and since i never buy a gem before i believe you all will guide me. My thanks to you who find a gem that i buy is i can send you a USPS large flat rate box of office and school supplies for free, since i work in office school supplies warehouse. Just my humble little gratitude for your guidance.

 

[SB621]

I personally have never bought through that store, but you might want to check out the Natural Sapphire Company though in my opionion they are more expensive sometimes they do have nice deals. also i wanted to mention that you should probably go off of mm size vs carat weight as gemstones weight differently.

 

[movie zombie]

not to be snarky but we're all looking for that one! and to my knowledge no one has found it.

natural unheated = $
kashir blue sapphire = $
1 carat or more = $
________________________________

total = $$$



online vendor pictures cannot be trusted.....99.9% of the time.

mz

eta: drop carat size as well unheated requirement, then look for something lighter and you might find it for $500.

 

[fusica]

Don''t have to be kashmir blue, just a nice blue color.
Not violet or grey.

 

[CaraMish]

Take a look at this unheated sapphire: http://www.mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=5670http://www.mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=5696

Here's another one: http://mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=5229

Dana has a wonderful reputation, and is great to work with.

 

[Indylady]

Definitely send Dana an email; he''s awesome to work with and has lots of inventory!

 

[Indylady]

This one is beautiful link

This one is exactly the color I think you''re going for but is smaller than you''d like link

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 9/25/2009 9:05:00 PM
Author: movie zombie
not to be snarky but we''re all looking for that one! and to my knowledge no one has found it.


natural unheated = $

kashir blue sapphire = $

1 carat or more = $

________________________________


total = $$$




online vendor pictures cannot be trusted.....99.9% of the time.


mz


eta: drop carat size as well unheated requirement, then look for something lighter and you might find it for $500.

I have to agree with mz - what you''re looking for is more than a needle in a haystack.
You need to either as mentioned, drop ct size and desire for unheated.
Or increase budget at least two fold.

Just 2c from someone who has just gone through their own sapphire search.

 

[fusica]

Wow Why in The Natural Sapphire company anything at 1 carat start from 1200.
Are they different kind of sapphire? or they just have high mark up like those mall stores, they do have alot of blue color sapphires.
But that store is out of my range, I am more outlet kind of guy

I like the pricing on Mastercut gems, the website mention alot about sleepiness in a stone.
What is sleepiness? can someone tell me.
This one does have a nice color it is blue, if only a little bit bigger.
Trillion Blue Sapphire


Since sarahbear621 told me not to use carat but mm, how many mm do i need to make a ring just look ok?
My sister is 5''8" tall and around 120lbs.

 

[Lynnie]

This is $100 over budget, but it''s 2 carats:
http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=244

1.2 ct princess, it''s a bit dark, though ($280): http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=91

Lite blue, eyecleane oval, 1.62 cts http://www.gemrite.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=188

 

[ma re]

Fusica, where are you located? I think many people here assume that everyone lives in the same country and can easily order from their local cutters/jewellers

Planetarygems seems to have nice gems, but they're a bit too nice if you ask me i.e. those deals seem too good to be true. So I'd guess that stones are really not as pretty as they seem in their photos.

I've searched one of the better known sellers for you, multicolour.com, and of almost a thousand sapphires that they have, only 5 are "around a carat, under 500$, blue and unheated". Here are the links for all of them;

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

But there are many vendors out there and I'm sure you'll get many more suggestions. There is also a vendor list somewhere here on PS, look it up.

P. S. Sleepiness is not a technical term, it's one where a person describes the level of transparency in a gemstone. Sleepy stones will look kind of hazy, foggy, for example if you've ever seen a piece of rose quarts or fire opal, that's what it's about. Brilliance of such a stone is gentle and slow-moving. The opposite of that would be the brilliance of diamonds, which is sharp, lively, distinct and scintillating - neither is really good or bad, it's a matter of personal taste, but it's important that this transparency thing has nothing to do with structural integrity of the stone and it's future durability.

 

[chrono]

You are going to pay a premium for the sapphire to be unheated so if you want to maximize your budget, I''d go for something that has undergone only heat treatment which will also open up more options.

Sleepiness in a gemstone is a personal preference. It is fine to a certain degree in a blue sapphire but it also depends on the overall look. It gives a hazy or sometimes even a slightly oily appearance, depending on the amount of silk it has.

MM size also depends on the comfort on the wearer. Generally a 1.5 ct round blue sapphire might be close to 6.5 mm give or take.

 

[Chrometsav]

Date: 9/25/2009 9:10:16 PM
Author: fusica
Don't have to be kashmir blue, just a nice blue color.

Not violet or grey.

Fusica,

Don't know how you are getting on (maybe a little late) but I can vouch 100% for the original dealer you mentioned. I purchased an unheated pink colour change sapphire from Rudy about 9 months ago and it is the finest stone I have ever bought ever. And I've bought a few believe me!

It is a subtle pastel pink; as my gf wanted a pink diamond look rather than say bubblegum or a highly toned pink. It changes to a beautiful pure highly saturated peach at night and even a pink/violet in certain artificial light.

I was down to a choice of two and asked his advice. He actually phoned me personally (and I don't live in the U.S) to tell me what he thought was best and why. I don't know many big dealers who would have done that internationally.

It's funny because people think that everyone has the same barometer on money and that just isn't true. A few dealers are happy to make a good living and charge what they consider 'fair' prices for things-old school maybe but true none the same. Some companies spouted about may sell 'some' top quality stones but they certainly aren't 'fairly' priced by any stretch of the imagination and then their well cut colourless stuff looks priced correctly at 3 times what it should be!

I would take your time and maybe phone him for a chat. Tell him what you are looking for and don't rule out a traditionally heated stone too early. I know he's just got back from a buying trip with some new stones and although heated stuff isn't really his thing he may well have something suitable.

If you go this route let me know how you get on. Otherwise I'd still be interested to know what you decided on and where you found your $500 bargain.

Good luck.

 

[AustenNut]

Thanks, Chrometsav about piping in about Planetary Gems. Always nice to find another good vendor (particular one with good prices)!

Good luck Fusica with your search. That trillion from Master Cut Gems seems to be very much what you''re looking for, but if Planetary Gems is as good as Chrometsav says and you like the sapphire you found, then maybe you should go with it.

 

[dancingflame]

The most beautiful stone in my collection also came from Rudy at Planetary Gems. It also appraised much higher than I expected it to based on what we paid for it.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Just curious, for those of you that got stones from Planetary Gems appraised, was it sent to AGTA for testing?

 

[Chrometsav]

Why AGTA in particular Making the grade any reason?

 

[Novel]

If your setting is bezel, would you consider this sapphire?

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 10/5/2009 3:33:00 AM
Author: Chrometsav
Why AGTA in particular Making the grade any reason?

Oh, just because popular consensus seems to name them as the definitive authority of colored gems, and their lab is well equipped with the latest technology to detect things like Be-treatment and the like which local appraisers may not have the technology to do. I guess its like how people wonder if a diamond got sent for a GIA cert.

 

[Jeffrey Hunt]

Hi, I'm a little late chiming in here, and did you mention a September Birthday?

David Dawson's Custom Cut stone seems to fit within your guidelines. Unless you needed a round, I think this shape might work quite well in a pendant.

Jeff

 

[Jeffrey Hunt]

Having problems figuring out how to add the link info to that sapphire:

Here it is hopefully: http://www.oneworldgemstone.com/march2009/David_Dawson_Australian_Sapphire.html


Jeff

 

[D&T]

Date: 10/5/2009 7:27:12 PM
Author: Jeffrey Hunt
Having problems figuring out how to add the link info to that sapphire:

Here it is hopefully: http://www.oneworldgemstone.com/march2009/David_Dawson_Australian_Sapphire.html


Jeff

http://www.oneworldgemstone.com/march2009/David_Dawson_Australian_Sapphire.html

nice stone! love the shape.

 

[movie zombie]

one can live with the silk and and slight zoning for that price if the color is that good! in my limited experience, all australian sapphires have color zoning but this one appears to be minimal....

mz