Whence this cornflower blue?

[raddygast]

Just out of curiosity: what series of events gave rise to this "cornflower blue" becoming the #1 color of blue sapphire in terms of demand and price? I have had several jewellers tell me this, and it seems to be fairly true. I am of course ignoring the extreme rarity of Kashmir sapphires, and maybe even the "midnight blue" of Burmese stones. Other than those, it really seems as if "cornflower" is the way to go, and that usually means Ceylon, right?

The only problem with that (in my opinion) is that cornflower blue is just really washed out, almost ugly. It''s as if the saturation is quite poor. I have seen several light blue sapphires that were gorgeous, and have seen pictures of the famed Kashmir and Burmese stones that are totally breathtaking in the deepness and oozing saturation of their blues. But the ceylon variety seems extremely ho-hum to me.

Are they really in such demand? And perhaps I''ve never seen a good picture of one.

Photos attached (one from Richard Hughes'' ruby-sapphire page (c) Adisorn Studio, Bangkok, the other, set in a ring, from Linda Penwarden Jewellery)

 

[raddygast]

light blue

 

[raddygast]

midnight burmese

 

[PaulaW]

I agree with you. While a pretty stone, that looks more like a swiss blue topaz to me rather than a sapphire. Give me royal to navy blue instead please!

 

[raddygast]

Hmm. The first picture I posted was of the "light blue" type that, I think, is quite beautiful, though clearly in another category than most blue sapphires due to the light tone. I didn''t yet post a "cornflower blue" because I''m not sure there is much agreement on what that is. But most of what I''ve seen that was called cornflower was downright ugly.

Is it an elusive term to define, like pigeon''s blood?

 

[chantal990]

It is an elusive term definately. it''s like pigeon blood read for rubies (still have horrid visual for how they came up with that one) and grass green for emeralds is every variety of grass the same colour let alone every blade????? It is a qualifying term that is used for descriptive purposes but has no real definition.

 

[valeria101]

There was an older thread about this, you might want to take a look LINK

 

[velouriaL]

Oh, no Raddy... are you thinking of going down another labryinth-- one with blue walls instead of red?

 

[tonysgeko]

Raddy, this pic was from an auction that I think is close to the cornflower color.

 

[widget]

Here''s a Kashmir from CherryPicked...is this what you mean by "cornflower blue"??

widget

 

[Georg]

Hello Raddygast,

I am sure some may not agree with me but the truth is that "Cornflower Blue" is not a gemological term at all,... However It is being used within gem
sellers and jewelers as a reference to high or ideal color of Sapphire,...
I actually know a guy who would tell buyers that all the sapphires in his inventory are "cornflower blue" therefore the best you can find and rare and they should sell for higher prices!,...

Reputable gem dealer will not use the term of cornflower,... Why? because the color value of Blue sapphire is based on purity of Blue color saturation and it''s tone ,...
The color refered to as "Cornflover" does actualy have a secondary traces of violet present. Well Guess what , most of Blue Sapphires have traces of violet present!,..
True there are Sapphires with pure blue color,... with the right tone they are refered to as Royal blue ,.. Again not a gemological term,.. But if you need to use the jewelry slang, theese have the potential for highest value.

If you talk about Midnight blue, it is a color understood as overly dark , therefore less valuable and Sky Blue or Baby blue is the oposite way,...
Too light or too dark sapphires are not suitable for use in fine jewelry but they definitely make a great fashion jewelry and are quite popular because of their durability and very reasonable price,..
So if one has to comment on your pictures the small round looks like sky blue fashion ring but the loose Burma sapphire looks too good to be called too dark or midnight blue
Cheers
George

 

[Matata]

Ack, guilty as charged -- whether you call it cornflower, light, or windex blue -- I like the lighter sapphires especially when paired with D, E diamonds. The lighter colors make me feel happier than the deeper blues which make me feel more serious so in my case it''s all about mood enhancement.

 

[Georg]

True, Matata,...
The general market prefers the bright medium blue colors ,... much like the Kasmir pictured!,..
I like the windex blue term!,..
George

 

[chantal990]

Date: 1/13/2005 7:30:10 PM
Author: Matata
Ack, guilty as charged -- whether you call it cornflower, light, or windex blue -- I like the lighter sapphires especially when paired with D, E diamonds. The lighter colors make me feel happier than the deeper blues which make me feel more serious so in my case it''s all about mood enhancement.

Agreed. I love the really soft pastel blues.

 

[mogok]

Date: 1/13/2005 7:24:17 PM
Author: Georg
Hello Raddygast,

I am sure some may not agree with me but the truth is that ''Cornflower Blue'' is not a gemological term at all,... However It is being used within gem
sellers and jewelers as a reference to high or ideal color of Sapphire,...
I actually know a guy who would tell buyers that all the sapphires in his inventory are ''cornflower blue'' therefore the best you can find and rare and they should sell for higher prices!,...

Reputable gem dealer will not use the term of cornflower,... Why? because the color value of Blue sapphire is based on purity of Blue color saturation and it''s tone ,...
The color refered to as ''Cornflover'' does actualy have a secondary traces of violet present. Well Guess what , most of Blue Sapphires have traces of violet present!,..
True there are Sapphires with pure blue color,... with the right tone they are refered to as Royal blue ,.. Again not a gemological term,.. But if you need to use the jewelry slang, theese have the potential for highest value.

If you talk about Midnight blue, it is a color understood as overly dark , therefore less valuable and Sky Blue or Baby blue is the oposite way,...
Too light or too dark sapphires are not suitable for use in fine jewelry but they definitely make a great fashion jewelry and are quite popular because of their durability and very reasonable price,..
So if one has to comment on your pictures the small round looks like sky blue fashion ring but the loose Burma sapphire looks too good to be called too dark or midnight blue
Cheers
George

Hello Georg,

Well to my knowledge it is exactly the inverse: Royal blue has a tint of violet and is the traditiona term for fine Burmese sapphire but cornflower with a tint of violet?
In fact this argument is the perfect illustration of what you say: Serious people does not use these terms as they are not precise. I use to think roayl blue with a tint of violet and you say its cornflower blue...
Well in this case better use just "slightly violetish blue" when there is some visible violet and "strait blue" when there is no.

But now may be we should also speak about the wa to look at the stone. As we know sapphire is dichroic with a blue violet and a green blue ray... depending the way you look at a stone someone can see some green or some violet.
In grading issues we have to get a standart way to look at the gem and a standart way to communicate about them...

Well not easy...

All the best,

 

[raddygast]

heh, no, I''m not going down the sapphire road. It was just a post out of interest. Still definitely on the red track, and nearing the end.

 

[raddygast]

tonysgeko: yeah, that seems closer to what I''ve seen called "cornflower blue."

widget: no, that is definitely "Kashmir blue" from what I''ve seen, and similar to the fine quality Burmese stuff.

Basically, I was wondering if there actually was some sort of top color grade that falls in line with the good stuff out of Ceylon. Personally, I thought that Kashmir and Burma were the kings of sapphire color, and Ceylon was in a different category. But most jewellers tell me the "Ceylon cornflower blue" is the cream of the crop -- perhaps this is due to the lack of availability of Kashmir stones these days (and to a lesser extent Burmese).

 

[Georg]

I have attached picture of top gem quality color of natural unheated blue sapphire from Sri Lanka for your information,...
I am not sure how the picture would look like on yur screen but I want you to know there is a fine line for this color and natural unheated stones are rarely seen in this color therefore very expensive.
In real life this gem looks mpre vivid pure blue with no secondary hues,.. it is clean , no inclusions , no color zoning , and very very slight , almost non apparent color bandidng typical for Ceylon gems.
The gem is transparent with very high brilliance for such rich material,.. Brilliance is why it looks possibly lighter colored in the picture than it actually is,..

Sapphire I should say most colored gems color grading has been a dihema for many of members in the industry, there seems to be diversification in languages by different gem labs and even the ones who set the industry standards are having hard time to communicate,..The grading is different by GIA to AGS and other leading gem labs ,.. This becomes very digfficult when dealing on long distance because it is difficult to understand what color is the peron 5000 miles away requesting,...

I have experienced certain class of gem dealers have come up with simplyfied color grading of blue sapphire. This is being used in the industry providing the goods offered are clean and well cut and no overly dark or too light. The top darkest color is fefered to as #1 , #2 would be the medium blue with strong saturation , #3is medium #4 is light and #5 is very light
This however works only between dealers and buyers that have established understanding of the scale from 1-5. For example a jeweler in Seattle calls a dealer in NYC knowing that his customer is looking for color #2,.. This saves time ans shipping costs but it does not eliminate the dilhema entirely and need of one language for everyone to understand whemn making such important decision buying expensive gem,..
George

 

[Georg]

Missed the picture

 

[strmrdr]

Remove the # sign in the file name for the pictures to post properly.

 

[widget]

Georg...every time I try to download your picture, it says I''m "unauthorized"!!!!

In the mean time, I can''t resist showing off my baby: It''s an unheated Burma...It looks pretty dark in the evening, indoors. This picture was taken outside, on an overcast day..

In direct sunlight, It knocks one''s socks off!

widget

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Just for fun.....some cornflowers

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Awesome Widget...

 

[widget]

Thanks, CGN!

And Richard...thank YOU! I''ve ALWAYS wondered what cornflowers look like...there''s a lot of violet in them, isn''t there?

widget

 

[Georg]

Ok, I am having hard time uploading the picture even tough I tried to size it down,.. I admit I need a lesson on sizing files,...

Mogok,..
Great point!,.. I was actually hoping to hear from you,... Again I don''t have 100% understanding what the "Classic Burma Blue" would be,... Nor Classic Kashmir or Ceylon ,...
All I know that there is a higher percentage of pure colors in Burmeese sapphires than sapphires from other origins .
George

 

[Georg]

Hi Richard ,
Thank you for posting the cornflowers just in your opinion is this pure blue color? Or color representing the top qualiy blue Sapphire?
George

 

[Georg]

Here we go,...

 

[Georg]

Thanks Strmdr,... I have just learned that posting pictures with # sighn is waste of time,...

Widget,..! Gorgeous stone Gorgeous Ring!,....


George

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Date: 1/13/2005 9:52:10 PM
Author: Georg
Hi Richard ,
Thank you for posting the cornflowers just in your opinion is this pure blue color? Or color representing the top qualiy blue Sapphire?
George

No, that's why I labeled it "just for fun". Ana's got a better pic on the "cornflower" topic that was just revived.

Premium sapphire color would be more saturated and with less (or no) violet than the flowers shown above. A medium dark pure blue or slightly violetish blue with vivid saturation commands the coveted "10" grade, while medium toned stones with vivid saturation command a "9".

Many people prefer a medium tone - vivid saturation stone over a medium dark -vivid saturation stone, though.

I like them both. The deeper tone though (medium dark) does usually command more money.

 

[cflutist]

Richard, can you post a picture of that "10"? Would love to see it.