Would you put this sapphire in an engagement ring?

[grove]

Hi everyone, after getting sidetracked over the holidays I am again looking for the right stone to put in a solitaire engagement ring. What do you think of this stone on Gemfix? The cost is good, color isn't super but it doesnt look too dark either, and the saturation looks pretty fair. The thing that worries me is that the brilliance might not be up to par. But his description does say that the stone is "sparkly and clean".

I saw a 7.5mm round in person and the coverage would have been a bit much, but I think an oval in these dimensions would be just about right. Thanks for your input!

 

[T L]

BTW, it is not precision cut, you do know that. He doesn't only sell precision cut stones, but some native cuts as well. I'm not enamored with that stone for nearly $1K/ct. For that kind of $$$, I would also want an AGL lab brief.

 

[JewelFreak]

The way the pic is lighted, it shows color fairly well but I think it would be dark IRL especially when set.

 

[grove]

A bit too dark then. How about this unheated Ceylon from Wildfish? The included certificate is from the Global Gem Testing Lab in Bangkok.

http://wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/10883/14516

 

[Treenbean]

I actually like the wild fish sapphire a lot more! It says it has a bit of silk which I like. I am a fan of glowy ness to a gem. It doesn't look too dark it's untreated and less money.
Do you like the color? Not your typical sapphire color.

 

[distracts]

To add a different opinion, I like the first more than the second for an engagement ring. I think it's more of a classic, elegant color. My opinion is that the bright, glowy sapphires look weird as engagement ring center stones. I tried some when I was searching for my ring and just didn't like them. I had started off thinking that was what I wanted (because it's what PS people said was best!) but quickly switched to searching for a light blue-grey sapphire, and then to a darker blue one, which are the sapphire colors that just sing to me. Which is to say, by way of a long example, that you need to take your girlfriend out to look at sapphires and see what colors she likes best. She may love the bright blues, or may like a different color more.

 

[pregcurious]

I think it's very hard to judge the true color of the sapphire from the Wild Fish pictures. The description states it is medium-dark, and the picture posted here is not what I would call medium-dark. Also, the picture of the stone taken in the lab report looks much darker than the one taken by Wild Fish. If you're interested in the stone, I would just call up the owner Ed and ask him what it looks like in person. For high-priced items, it's a good idea to get a verbal description by phone or email because good photos are very difficult to take.

 

[Arcadian]

According to what I' m reading about the Gemfix stone, its unheated. ask if they have a report on it because in their description, they're saying they do.

The one from Ed is also very nice. I would ask about that one too.

Both to me look very pretty, it would depend on what you really want. You may want to ask if any images in natural light could be provided.


-A

 

[deorwine]

I have a medium-to-medium dark sapphire that looks exactly the shade of the Wildfish gem in direct sunlight, so I wouldn't say it's necessarily an incorrect picture... but it probably does look quite different in non-direct-sunlight. (My sapphire gets rather dark in non-direct lighting, so it goes through a large number od different tones. Sapphires are moody!) It wouldn't be a bad idea to ask for pictures in other types of lighting as well, if Ed can provide those.

I love my sapphire though... it's a color I really love. But I had to go through seeing a bunch of other sapphires to ascertain that I really liked this one. (Including one from Wildfish, actually, that I returned and now I wish I had kept!)

 

[sapphirering]

I, too, prefer medium dark sapphires. To me, it's more of a true "jewel tone", but color is very subjective as others have stated. I went to a local jeweler that is known for their gemstones and tried on a bunch of different sapphire rings and I like the medium dark ones on my hand the best. My sapphire does go dark in indirect lighting too, but that was a trade off I was willing to take because I prefer the more intense look. May I ask why you thought 7.5mm round was too much on the finger? What ring size does your girlfriend wear? I'm asking because I just got a ring that is 7.5mm round and on size 6 finger, it is not too much at all. In fact, I would say it's more on the discreet side. (Unless you are planning to halo the sapphire.)

 

[chrono]

Gemfix sapphire:
The colour looks "honest"; yes, a bit dullish and flat but there's no fancy lighting. Yes, the colour isn't the best and the cutting is decent. Have you check it out under different lighting? The true test is how it appears under indoor lighting where most sapphires tend to either black out or gray out.

Wildfish sapphire:
I don't trust that picture one whit. The picture is over-exposed and looks overly bright, enough to put a paraiba tourmaline to shame.

 

[Edward Bristol]

Sorry, Chrono,

but that is indoors, on a winter-day in north Germany, no additional lights, standard camera and no digital effects.

You mistake that photo with a series I made under artificial light a few years ago. Those are overexposed, sometimes, but I changed my set-up long ago (amongst others because of your comments).

 

[chrono]

Ed,
Did you use flash photography? There's just so much light reflection back in most of the lower facets, like overly strong lighting exposure.

 

[Edward Bristol]

No additional light. No flash. Its just brilliancy.

 

[chrono]

Ed,
I've nothing against you so please do not take it in an accusatory manner. I've never seen brilliancy like this before in a sapphire - it seems to glow enough to put a real Paraiba tourmaline to shame, which is why I am trying to figure out why it looks like that in your photographs. It is a totally unnatural picture. What type of lighting was used? How strong are the lights?

 

[Edward Bristol]

Chrono, as I said, no additional lights (no direct sun either).

 

[chrono]

Ed,
Obviously, lighting is used, otherwise the sapphire will be in pitch black darkness. I am curious as to know what sort of lighting and the strength of lighting used. You said this picture is taken indoors since it was a winter day in Germany . Therefore, lighting of some sort is used, correct?

 

[Edward Bristol]

uh, repeat: NO.

We do have windows.

 

[chrono]

Thank you for the clarification; you could have stated upfront clearly that it was taken under indirect sunlight.

The lab memo picture shows a tone of medium dark (the same as you've described it on your website) that one would expect to see but your pictures show a tone of light to medium light. Clearly, it is a beautiful stone but due to this brilliancy, I don't know what to make of its true colour. I suppose one has to see it in person before making any preliminary judgement.

 

[deorwine]

Now that I actually look at the description, it says a tone of "60," which I think many people on this board would describe more as a "medium" than a "medium dark" -- I suspect that it is significantly lighter than, say, the stone in my avatar (the one I previously described as "medium-to-medium-dark" -- my stone falls more in the medium-dark category, and Ed's, I suspect, falls more in the medium category). I would be willing to bet that Ed's pictures describe what it looks like in bright indirect sunlight [ETA: including window light], and the cert describes what it looks like in a somewhat lower (probably still direct) lighting condition.

I have a sapphire that looks that brilliant in bright indirect sunlight [ETA: including window light] (my understanding from reading Hughes is that the sunlight sets off a fluorescence reaction with the titanium to give it an extra glow -- but that was many years ago so correct me if I'm wrong), and looks very much like the cert pic in indoor direct lighting conditions [ETA: non-sunlight], but I would have described its tone as medium, if not medium-light.

 

[grove]

I went ahead and snagged the Wildfish gem--it's just too intriguing to pass up. Especially after reading all the comments here. Thank you all for your valuable opinions.

I did speak to someone at Gemfix and I was told that the stone in question was very well saturated and not quite as sparkly and brilliant as some of the other stones on the site. That pushed me more towards the Wildfish gem, which Ed patiently gave me details about over the phone earlier today.

I'll update the thread with pics as soon as I get the stone!

On a side note: the person at Gemfix told me they were headed to Tucson for the gem show and that there would be new inventory to browse sometime next month. The interesting thing he mentioned was that the price per ct. of unheated sapphires has increased dramatically over the last year, and that would be reflected in the new inventory. Anyone else hear/know about how the market is changing lately?

 

[Starzin]

I'll update the thread with pics as soon as I get the stone!

Ooooh goody! We await with bated breath on this one - keeping fingers crossed that it's all you could want

 

[chrono]

Pricing of gemstones has gone up all across the board, some more than others, but the general trend is still going upwards. The reason is mostly two-fold; good material is harder to come by and there's an increased demand, particularly from Asia.

 

[pregcurious]

Sometimes I look at the threads from 2005 and wish I had been into gemstones then...things were more affordable and available back then.