Looking for a small natural sappihre

[chicagocubs3]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for a small sapphire (.35-.6 ct).

I can spend 400 dollars at the most. But i would prefer to spend less, around 300.

Is it worth it to get a natural sapphire, or is it better to just get a heated one? I mean, does a really nice un treated stone look better than a decent treated stone? It's hard to tell from online pictures.

I've looked through all the stones at the natural sapphire company and I've definitely seen some ones i like.

Let me know if you guys have any recommendations for where to look or what stones to buy.


thanks!!!

edit: it needs to be blue and round
thanks again!

 

[FrekeChild]

I wouldn't go to Natural Sapphire Company, but because the search function hobbles at best, I can't even link to WHY.

Suffice it to say that they often have stones that are natural, unheated, yada yada yada but they charge you a huge premium for it. HUGE. Often the cuts are bad with lots of windows, bad meets and they've even been shown to photoshop their images.

No way, no how would I ever buy anything there.

Now, lets start with what color blue are you interested in? Someone somewhere has a handy dandy chart with colors, but I'm on a new browser that doesn't have all of those fancy links...oh heck, I'll go open it anyway...

ACK!!!! Doesn't work anymore! http://crossjewelers.com/sapphire/HowToBuyAsapphire.htm

Oooo.... http://crossjewelers.com/products/how_to_buy_sapphire.asp?FolderID=53

I personally prefer Camelot Blue.

There are a lot of different vendors for sapphires, so I think nailing down color would be good for getting more suggestions.

Questions though:
Is there a certain reason you want such a small stone? Sapphires are more dense than diamonds or tourmalines for instance, so they will be smaller for the same carat size. It's best to figure out what millimeter size you want.

Do you already have a setting for it?

Someone else will go into treatment I'm sure, but especially with sapphires, people seem to accept gentle heat treatment. Diffusion, etc, not so much. Again, I'm not good at chemical composition, so I'll leave that to others.

As for recommendations: There will be many. Unfortunately you've chose a very small size for a sapphire and many precision cutters feel like bigger stones are the ones worth cutting...little ones take the same amount of time, or more and often stones are priced per carat--cutting down on any profit margins. I had a gorgeous cobalt/violet sapphire of a small size that was originally from finewatergems.com (I think, going on memory) that was probably similar to what you're looking for. Dan Stair might have something. Barry Bridgestock might have something, Peter Torraca might have something. John B at Gemrite might have something...just depends on what you're looking for!

Ok, I'm punchy and need to go to bed. Perhaps someone else will be more helpful than I am!

ETA: I sound like I'm pushing precision gems! I love them for myself, but some people want color color color and sometimes you can't find that in a precision gem. Jeff White cuts a lot of amazing sapphires, and Simply Sapphires has a lot of inventory of...you guessed it, sapphires. There are many more...

 

[chicagocubs3]

i definetly like the camelot blue and royal blue if that helps.

yes, i have a setting. it's a small white gold soltaire. it's a gift and i just need a small understated stone that shines a lot. small, but beautiful.

 

[chrono]

I do not know what Camelot and Royal blue is but if you post pictures of those particular shades of blue, it will be extremely helpful. Also, since you already have an existing setting for the stone, knowing what dimension will fit in it is more helpful than trying to purchase by carat weight. Cut for coloured gemstones can run the gamut in terms of depth which will affect the dimensions. For your budget, you are probably going to get a nicer heated only stone than an unheated blue sapphire. Due to the mm size you require, you are not likely to find a precision cut stone but there are some very well cut non precision stones to be found.

 

[Treenbean]

Hello
I have several small sapphires and I really love them. I am currently on a sapphire hunt too. Some of the places that I look are: wildfish http://www.wildfishgems.com/ . Ed is really nice and if you email him with specifics he can help, his website is vast.

Something that I've been collecting lately, and they aren't for everyone, is a parti colored sapphire. They are natural and unheated, usually they come from Australia or Africa. They usually have more than one color in the stone combinations of purple blue and green, green blue and teal. etc. Both of my stones are from Doug Menadue at bespoke he is a super nice guy and cuts a gorgeous stone. http://www.bespoke-gems.com/SacredGeometrics_Gemstones_Sapphire.php

Happy Hunting!

 

[Treenbean]

example of parti sapphire

 

[VapidLapid]

http://rough2refinedgemstones.com/?page_id=203
?

 

[movie zombie]

great stone, Treenbean!

MoZo

 

[FrekeChild]

Chrono, if you look at the second link I posted, that is what Camelot blue, etc. is referencing.

 

[chrono]

Chrono, if you look at the second link I posted, that is what Camelot blue, etc. is referencing.

Thanks. Looks like a medium to medium dark tone, slightly violetish blue with strong saturation.

 

[Michael_E]

Someone else will go into treatment I'm sure, but especially with sapphires, people seem to accept gentle heat treatment.

What the heck is "gentle heat treatment"? I just love this term, it's like the darn stone is getting a massage or something. I sure hope that you never cook a chicken at the temperatures that you're calling gentle, since that poor bird would be glowing ash in about 15 minutes.

 

[FrekeChild]

Someone else will go into treatment I'm sure, but especially with sapphires, people seem to accept gentle heat treatment.

What the heck is "gentle heat treatment"? I just love this term, it's like the darn stone is getting a massage or something. I sure hope that you never cook a chicken at the temperatures that you're calling gentle, since that poor bird would be glowing ash in about 15 minutes.

I dunno. Seems to be a popular term around those talking about sapphires who know more than I do about said sapphires. I believe they are referring to heat only, but really, it beats the poo out of me. Just regurgitating stuff I'd read right before passing out.

BTW Michael, I used to be a professional cook, so I actually know how to cook a chicken. Apparently you can cook gemstones in them and alter their color...perhaps THAT is gentle heat treatment.

And what is it, follow Freke around and pick on her night?

 

[chrono]

The term “gentle heat” used to be said/typed often in CS in the past in an attempt to differentiate it from the super high temperature heating required for mineral additions like beryllium. Not a wholly accurate description but widely understood here. I now prefer to describe it as heating without mineral additives, or in short, do not recommend the purchase of diffused corundum.

 

[iLander]

Might be a bit larger than you are looking for, but the price is right: http://www.mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=5856

 

[gsellis]

What the heck is "gentle heat treatment"? I just love this term, it's like the darn stone is getting a massage or something. I sure hope that you never cook a chicken at the temperatures that you're calling gentle, since that poor bird would be glowing ash in about 15 minutes.

Stirred, not Shaken.

 

[diva rose]

Might be a bit larger than you are looking for, but the price is right: http://www.mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=5856

What colour would you consider that? Price looks pretty good to me.

I do love the royal blue coloured sapphires.