Need Advice / Help - Blue Sapphire for Engagement Ring

[crauch18]

Hi everyone!

I'm a first time poster, recent stalker of the forum. I have been looking for a 3-4ct medium blue sapphire for an engagement ring. My budget is between $5,000 and $8,000. My girlfriend prefers rectangular radiant cut stones, but also liked some cushion cut stones we've seen. As I've seen others on this board lament, we have not been satisfied with cost/quality of the stones from local jewelers and therefore are looking online. So far I've found a couple of preliminary stones that look interested, and was wondering if anyone could comment on.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321455841997?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
This stone looks nice and price seems reasonable.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141140896482?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
The listed price is very high on this stone, and it appears to have at least one bubble (shown in third picture). The cut doesn't seem that great. Based on these factors, would that drop the stone into my price range?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-49-Carat-Blue-Sapphire-Radiant-Cut-Gemstone-2995-2188-/400777629741?pt=Loose_Gemstones_1&hash=item5d5035502d
Not many views of this stone, but maybe I could offer something within my cost range and take advantage of the return period?

http://www.ajsgem.com/sapphire/blue-sapphire/blue-sapphire-2.97-carats.html
Another stone with not a lot of views, and not our preferred cut. However, price/size is within my parameters.

Additionally, if you can point me in the direction of where you would recommend looking (or of specific stones that meet my criteria), I would greatly appreciate it!!!!

Thanks in advance!

 

[RudiYansur]

Honestly, if I have that much budget, I'll get the first sapphire
http://www.finewatergems.com/sapphire.html

it's more beautiful than most of the sapphire u posted, but u have to snatch it as fast as possible. the seller just about to depart for his second adventure

 

[Marlow]

What about this one...

http://www.thegemtrader.com/Jun13BSapphirePage.htm

 

[LoversKites]

What about this one...

http://www.thegemtrader.com/Jun13BSapphirePage.htm

That one's gorgeous and under budget. And the face up size is nice.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

I know it's not the preferred cut, but it looks lovely. Roger is a great guy, and has a wonderful policy, so if you're interested I wouldn't hesitate to reach out.

http://www.spectralgems.net/sapphire/sapphirebluecush3_02ct_8795/#main

 

[T L]

This is from a trusted ebay seller, well cut, clean, twice as large as the ones you're looking at and the same price, or lower than some of the ones you're looking at. I would send it to AGL in NYC for a lab report. He is good with returns if it doesn't come out as advertised (heat only).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-52ct-Enormous-Sized-Oval-Portuguese-Blue-Sapphire-/331342635922?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d258f6392

 

[T L]

What about this one...

http://www.thegemtrader.com/Jun13BSapphirePage.htm

This is nice too if one insists on a radiant cut.

 

[chrono]

Because the mm size can vary greatly even for 2 stone with the same carat weight, what mm size is the minimum?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321455841997?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
His stones tend to be darker and grayer in hand than pictured. A little bit deep but not overly so.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141140896482?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Crazily expensive for what it is, not to mention no lab paperwork considering their asking price!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-49-Carat-Blue-Sapphire-Radiant-Cut-Gemstone-2995-2188-/400777629741?pt=Loose_Gemstones_1&hash=item5d5035502d
I am unfamiliar with this vendor. Picture looks nice but I would follow up with a video or picture of the sapphire on the back of the hand for a better colour reference. Again, it is very expensive for a heated stone but it looks well cut.

http://www.ajsgem.com/sapphire/blue-sapphire/blue-sapphire-2.97-carats.html
Looks nice and priced reasonably. I would keep this in the running if there is nothing else.

http://www.finewatergems.com/sapphire.html
I second this recommendation - great colour, great cutting and well priced. It also come with an AGL brief showing heat only.

http://www.thegemtrader.com/Jun13BSapphirePage.htm
I agree that this one looks great and is priced well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-52ct-Enormous-Sized-Oval-Portuguese-Blue-Sapphire-/331342635922?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d258f6392
What a honker! Love the cut and the video shows potential.

 

[Vidalia]

Folks have posted several nice options, but out of them, I'd recommend the Finewater sapphire. It looks stunning!

As you're likely learning, radiant-cut sapphires are rather rare. I'm glad you're also considering cushion-cut gems because you're more likely to find a cushion-cut gem that meets your criteria.

 

[minousbijoux]

I like sapphires with a violet modifier and not so much a green one. Since the Finewater sapphire appears on my monitor to have more of a green modifier than a violet one, I personally would tend to pass on this. I would keep the JD and the AJS stones in the running, eliminate the Natural Sapphire Company and the one from the other ebay vendor (because it doesn't come with a reputable lab report and I don't know anything about that ebay seller). I would nix the Finewater, but seriously consider the Gem Trader stone. I would also get in touch with Roger Dery as his favorite stone is blue sapphire, he has a large inventory, and recently recut a bunch he got in Sri Lanka, so he may have what you're looking for.

 

[alexah]

First a disclaimer: I am not a sapphire expert by any means... but I found a few sapphire's on Dana's site that caught my eye... I've been snooping there a bit since they're having a big sale this week FWIW, his hand shots are usually the most accurate to real life.

Anyway, I'll post a few so some of the experts can chime in on them... no radiants, sorry:

3.24 ct for $4930: http://mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=6948

2.75 ct for $3463 (same face up size as the above one): http://mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=7824

4.12 ct for $9140 (over budget but Dana can sometimes give some on price if you ask): http://mastercutgems.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=7708

 

[chrono]

Alexah,
The oval is perfection - great colour and cut. The other two have issues, which depending on an individual's tolerance can be considered minor to no way.

 

[crauch18]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!! You guys have been really really helpful. I do like the Finewater--however it is above my price range. Maybe they can accommodate a lower asking price.

The 6.52 "Honker" is intriguing. While you can tell the cut is not perfect, it still looks like a nice stone. Any idea why it is listed for such a reasonable price?

 

[T L]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!! You guys have been really really helpful. I do like the Finewater--however it is above my price range. Maybe they can accommodate a lower asking price.

The 6.52 "Honker" is intriguing. While you can tell the cut is not perfect, it still looks like a nice stone. Any idea why it is listed for such a reasonable price?

I think because he has less middlemen. He's out of Asia. Lots of people buy from him and charge way more. It's rare to find a nice sapphire with a perfect cut, most of the rough is not allowed out of the country unless it is cut first, and there's lots of wonky native cuts, or recuts that you see above from some of the lapidaries selling them. These are not all full precision cuts just because they're from a lapidary. Sometimes they fix the crown, the pavillion, cutlet, in order to reduce a window.

 

[crauch18]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!! You guys have been really really helpful. I do like the Finewater--however it is above my price range. Maybe they can accommodate a lower asking price.

The 6.52 "Honker" is intriguing. While you can tell the cut is not perfect, it still looks like a nice stone. Any idea why it is listed for such a reasonable price?

I think because he has less middlemen. He's out of Asia. Lots of people buy from him and charge way more. It's rare to find a nice sapphire with a perfect cut, most of the rough is not allowed out of the country unless it is cut first, and there's lots of wonky native cuts, or recuts that you see above from some of the lapidaries selling them. These are not all full precision cuts just because they're from a lapidary. Sometimes they fix the crown, the pavillion, cutlet, in order to reduce a window.

Understood. But I guess my question was whether there is something that wrong with the stone that people notice. The cut looks pretty nice, the oval might be slightly lopsided? I don't see any blatant inclusions.

 

[Marlow]

I know it's not the preferred cut, but it looks lovely. Roger is a great guy, and has a wonderful policy, so if you're interested I wouldn't hesitate to reach out.

http://www.spectralgems.net/sapphire/sapphirebluecush3_02ct_8795/#main

Awesome

 

[T L]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!! You guys have been really really helpful. I do like the Finewater--however it is above my price range. Maybe they can accommodate a lower asking price.

The 6.52 "Honker" is intriguing. While you can tell the cut is not perfect, it still looks like a nice stone. Any idea why it is listed for such a reasonable price?

I think because he has less middlemen. He's out of Asia. Lots of people buy from him and charge way more. It's rare to find a nice sapphire with a perfect cut, most of the rough is not allowed out of the country unless it is cut first, and there's lots of wonky native cuts, or recuts that you see above from some of the lapidaries selling them. These are not all full precision cuts just because they're from a lapidary. Sometimes they fix the crown, the pavillion, cutlet, in order to reduce a window.

Understood. But I guess my question was whether there is something that wrong with the stone that people notice. The cut looks pretty nice, the oval might be slightly lopsided? I don't see any blatant inclusions.

I also love the high crown, which equates to more sparkle, brilliance ----> something you don't often see with sapphires. I love the medium tone as well, so it's not a black hole sapphire like the Kate/Diana ring, and it's only about a carat smaller than theirs as well. I wouldn't worry about it being lopsided, I don't see that at all, and so many sapphires are cut so poorly, that this one is rather fantastic for a cut sapphire. At least you have a video with this gem as well, so you can see all points of view, not just a single photo of the top. I also don't see any major zoning with this sapphire and I see some with the others. Sapphires are notorious for bands of color (zones) running through, and that can be distracting.

I bought two sapphires from him, I sent both to AGL, and I paid great prices, and they were as advertised (heated only, no diffusion or other treatment).

 

[crauch18]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!! You guys have been really really helpful. I do like the Finewater--however it is above my price range. Maybe they can accommodate a lower asking price.

The 6.52 "Honker" is intriguing. While you can tell the cut is not perfect, it still looks like a nice stone. Any idea why it is listed for such a reasonable price?

I think because he has less middlemen. He's out of Asia. Lots of people buy from him and charge way more. It's rare to find a nice sapphire with a perfect cut, most of the rough is not allowed out of the country unless it is cut first, and there's lots of wonky native cuts, or recuts that you see above from some of the lapidaries selling them. These are not all full precision cuts just because they're from a lapidary. Sometimes they fix the crown, the pavillion, cutlet, in order to reduce a window.

Understood. But I guess my question was whether there is something that wrong with the stone that people notice. The cut looks pretty nice, the oval might be slightly lopsided? I don't see any blatant inclusions.

I also love the high crown, which equates to more sparkle, brilliance ----> something you don't often see with sapphires. I love the medium tone as well, so it's not a black hole sapphire like the Kate/Diana ring, and it's only about a carat smaller than theirs as well. I wouldn't worry about it being lopsided, I don't see that at all, and so many sapphires are cut so poorly, that this one is rather fantastic for a cut sapphire. At least you have a video with this gem as well, so you can see all points of view, not just a single photo of the top. I also don't see any major zoning with this sapphire and I see some with the others. Sapphires are notorious for bands of color (zones) running through, and that can be distracting.

I bought two sapphires from him, I sent both to AGL, and I paid great prices, and they were as advertised (heated only, no diffusion or other treatment).

Thanks for that insight. I was hoping to send you a private message, but that does not seem possible on this forum. Could you elaborate on how the certificate process works? Would the seller send the stone to AGL directly? How would the 7 day return policy work while AGL does its examination?

 

[T L]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!! You guys have been really really helpful. I do like the Finewater--however it is above my price range. Maybe they can accommodate a lower asking price.

The 6.52 "Honker" is intriguing. While you can tell the cut is not perfect, it still looks like a nice stone. Any idea why it is listed for such a reasonable price?

I think because he has less middlemen. He's out of Asia. Lots of people buy from him and charge way more. It's rare to find a nice sapphire with a perfect cut, most of the rough is not allowed out of the country unless it is cut first, and there's lots of wonky native cuts, or recuts that you see above from some of the lapidaries selling them. These are not all full precision cuts just because they're from a lapidary. Sometimes they fix the crown, the pavillion, cutlet, in order to reduce a window.

Understood. But I guess my question was whether there is something that wrong with the stone that people notice. The cut looks pretty nice, the oval might be slightly lopsided? I don't see any blatant inclusions.

I also love the high crown, which equates to more sparkle, brilliance ----> something you don't often see with sapphires. I love the medium tone as well, so it's not a black hole sapphire like the Kate/Diana ring, and it's only about a carat smaller than theirs as well. I wouldn't worry about it being lopsided, I don't see that at all, and so many sapphires are cut so poorly, that this one is rather fantastic for a cut sapphire. At least you have a video with this gem as well, so you can see all points of view, not just a single photo of the top. I also don't see any major zoning with this sapphire and I see some with the others. Sapphires are notorious for bands of color (zones) running through, and that can be distracting.

I bought two sapphires from him, I sent both to AGL, and I paid great prices, and they were as advertised (heated only, no diffusion or other treatment).

Thanks for that insight. I was hoping to send you a private message, but that does not seem possible on this forum. Could you elaborate on how the certificate process works? Would the seller send the stone to AGL directly? How would the 7 day return policy work while AGL does its examination?

Ask Tan (the owner of Odysseygem) if the stone comes back as unadvertised from AGL, can you return it after the 7 day period.

I thought his return policy was 30 days, but maybe he changed that.

As for AGL, here's an informative post I wrote on AGL and sapphires. You can also contact AGL yourself in NYC by telephone and ask them questions. There is no PM feature on Pricescope.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/i-contacted-agl-about-testing-for-diffused-sapphires.159575/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/i-contacted-agl-about-testing-for-diffused-sapphires.159575/[/URL]

ETA: It's a 14 day return period, but if it doesn't come back as advertised and you can prove that to ebay, they should back you up.

 

[crauch18]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!! You guys have been really really helpful. I do like the Finewater--however it is above my price range. Maybe they can accommodate a lower asking price.

The 6.52 "Honker" is intriguing. While you can tell the cut is not perfect, it still looks like a nice stone. Any idea why it is listed for such a reasonable price?

I think because he has less middlemen. He's out of Asia. Lots of people buy from him and charge way more. It's rare to find a nice sapphire with a perfect cut, most of the rough is not allowed out of the country unless it is cut first, and there's lots of wonky native cuts, or recuts that you see above from some of the lapidaries selling them. These are not all full precision cuts just because they're from a lapidary. Sometimes they fix the crown, the pavillion, cutlet, in order to reduce a window.

Understood. But I guess my question was whether there is something that wrong with the stone that people notice. The cut looks pretty nice, the oval might be slightly lopsided? I don't see any blatant inclusions.

I also love the high crown, which equates to more sparkle, brilliance ----> something you don't often see with sapphires. I love the medium tone as well, so it's not a black hole sapphire like the Kate/Diana ring, and it's only about a carat smaller than theirs as well. I wouldn't worry about it being lopsided, I don't see that at all, and so many sapphires are cut so poorly, that this one is rather fantastic for a cut sapphire. At least you have a video with this gem as well, so you can see all points of view, not just a single photo of the top. I also don't see any major zoning with this sapphire and I see some with the others. Sapphires are notorious for bands of color (zones) running through, and that can be distracting.

I bought two sapphires from him, I sent both to AGL, and I paid great prices, and they were as advertised (heated only, no diffusion or other treatment).

Thanks for that insight. I was hoping to send you a private message, but that does not seem possible on this forum. Could you elaborate on how the certificate process works? Would the seller send the stone to AGL directly? How would the 7 day return policy work while AGL does its examination?

It looks like Tan will send it to GIA, AIGS, GRS, and GIT. Should I insist on AGL?

PS - I bought the Honker!! I think I had to with that nickname, alone. Really excited!

 

[T L]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!! You guys have been really really helpful. I do like the Finewater--however it is above my price range. Maybe they can accommodate a lower asking price.

The 6.52 "Honker" is intriguing. While you can tell the cut is not perfect, it still looks like a nice stone. Any idea why it is listed for such a reasonable price?

I think because he has less middlemen. He's out of Asia. Lots of people buy from him and charge way more. It's rare to find a nice sapphire with a perfect cut, most of the rough is not allowed out of the country unless it is cut first, and there's lots of wonky native cuts, or recuts that you see above from some of the lapidaries selling them. These are not all full precision cuts just because they're from a lapidary. Sometimes they fix the crown, the pavillion, cutlet, in order to reduce a window.

Understood. But I guess my question was whether there is something that wrong with the stone that people notice. The cut looks pretty nice, the oval might be slightly lopsided? I don't see any blatant inclusions.

I also love the high crown, which equates to more sparkle, brilliance ----> something you don't often see with sapphires. I love the medium tone as well, so it's not a black hole sapphire like the Kate/Diana ring, and it's only about a carat smaller than theirs as well. I wouldn't worry about it being lopsided, I don't see that at all, and so many sapphires are cut so poorly, that this one is rather fantastic for a cut sapphire. At least you have a video with this gem as well, so you can see all points of view, not just a single photo of the top. I also don't see any major zoning with this sapphire and I see some with the others. Sapphires are notorious for bands of color (zones) running through, and that can be distracting.

I bought two sapphires from him, I sent both to AGL, and I paid great prices, and they were as advertised (heated only, no diffusion or other treatment).

Thanks for that insight. I was hoping to send you a private message, but that does not seem possible on this forum. Could you elaborate on how the certificate process works? Would the seller send the stone to AGL directly? How would the 7 day return policy work while AGL does its examination?

It looks like Tan will send it to GIA, AIGS, GRS, and GIT. Should I insist on AGL?

PS - I bought the Honker!! I think I had to with that nickname, alone. Really excited!

GRS is good, but it will be expensive. I would avoid AIGS, GIT, and as for GIA, maybe, not sure. They have to be able to test for diffusion if necessary. Maybe someone can comment better on GIA out of Thailand. He won't send it himself to AGL, you would have to do that, but GRS is good.

Now you HAVE to post pictures when you get it.

 

[crauch18]

Will definitely post pictures. Thanks again for everyone's help!!!

 

[T L]

Will definitely post pictures. Thanks again for everyone's help!!!

Please do, I'm really looking forward to what you think. Good luck with the stone.

 

[Starzin]

The 6.52 "Honker" is intriguing. While you can tell the cut is not perfect, it still looks like a nice stone. Any idea why it is listed for such a reasonable price?

So pleased you jumped on this, it's a stunning find for the price - good find TL!

My eyes pick up what appears to be a tiny "natural" (usually a bit of the host rock) on the girdle just as the stone turns from the back to the front again. The picture below might help. IF I am correct, this is immaterial and can be disguised by the setting. Naturals are often left by the cutter because to take it out would lose face up size.

Looking forward to seeing pictures of "the honker" in hand!

 

[Jereni]

Woohoo, I am excited to see this stone when you get it!

 

[LoversKites]

Oh wow, I'm really excited for the OP!

 

[crauch18]

Good eye, Starzin. I hope it is immaterial and/or can be disguised by the setting. Glad you agree that this was a good find!

 

[Starzin]

We didn't get any in hand photos