Sapphire pics and setting help.

[lookingaring]

Hi there, My gf has let it be known she would like an emerald sapphire engagement ring. I have so far purchased this sapphire.

Gemstone Type: Natural Sapphire
Shape: Emerald
Weight: 1.10ct
Clarity: SI-1 (eye clean)
Color: Blue
Polish/Symmetry: Good/Good
Measurements: 6.90 x 4.80 x 2.70mm

These are the diamond side stones I plan on buying, hopefully these can fit a 5x3 setting. 5x3 was literally almost double the price, so for .75mm difference I'll live with it.

Cut - Emerald
Weight:- 0.45 carat total
Colour:- "K"
Clarity:- VS2
Length:- 4.22mm
Width:- 2.88mm
Polish:- Good
Symmetry:- Good


Now I need a setting for these, a local bench jeweller has quoted $950 for a trilogy setting in paladium like this. Is this a good deal?

can anyone reccomend a setting online or sources for settings, this seems to be the norm in the states less so in uk for a ring like this to fit roughly 3x5-5x7-3x5. or is the local jewller the way to go? $950 seems a little strong for a plain setting (im supplying stones)

 

[lookingaring]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-3-Stones-EMERALD-CUT-76CT-DIAMOND-14K-White-GOLD-Engagement-RING-Settings-/250950838527?pt=US_Fine_Rings&hash=item3a6dd5e8ff

saw this nice but not sure of fit and might be a bit big/bling tastic lol

 

[lookingaring]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VVS-Dark-Purple-AMETHYST-DIAMOND-5-11ct-14K-WHITE-GOLD-Pave-Engagement-RING-/250919929817?pt=US_Fine_Rings&hash=item3a6bfe47d9

quite like this setting too.

 

[Michael_E]

These are the diamond side stones I plan on buying, hopefully these can fit a 5x3 setting.

I don't think so, at least not well. $950 is about right for a custom made setting. You will most likely find a big empty space when you go looking for palladium commercial settings and since the 5x3 size won't work well anyway I would suggest going with something which does fit well. Although good commercial settings are about 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of custom, the custom setting will generally have a heavier build and so be much more durable and give much better life. In addition the custom will be more protective of the stones, as a heavier build will flex less than a lighter one and so transmit less shock to the stones if it gets banged around.

 

[lookingaring]

I don't think its custom, more a cast mount mount and then a shank fitted/stones fitted.

I had asked the jeweller who told me that those stones should work? I dont know if he is going to adapt the mount? (thats with a setting like the one in the first post).

thats .2/.3 of a mill either side is that a huge amount to move the prongs?

 

[lookingaring]

gf found the other ebay settings too loud so its back to the plain trilogy mount i posted first!

 

[Edward Bristol]

Yep, 950 is good, especially since you supply the stone and the jeweler has no margin there.

 

[Pandora II]

Are you in the UK?

 

[lookingaring]

yep. uk based.

 

[Pandora II]

In that case, the price is really good - I presume it includes the 20% VAT?

Palladium is quite a difficult metal to find people willing to work with - as far as I am aware none of the big semi-mount suppliers here do them (I was looking for stock earring mounts last week and there weren't any, plus many jewellers won't work with palladium). I would be very wary of trying to fit the 5 x 3s into a bigger setting.

Is there a reason for not using white gold?

Can I ask where you bought the sapphire?

 

[lookingaring]

The sapphire was from this seller on etsy, it arrived today actually and the sellers pictures really dont do it justice at all. Finding an emerald cut I liked at a decent price was a bit of a pain to say the least.

http://www.etsy.com/people/baffy21

Palladium v white gold, was one of palladium not tarnishing over time like white gold does but being much cheaper than platinum which doesent tarnish.

Im still wrestling with this setting, but getting a centre stone im happy with is a step in the right direction.

did a couple of mock ups today with zircons, excuse the dreadful pics !

 

[lookingaring]

Right, bit worried here.

All the pics of this sapphire are front on and it shows a nice blue colour there.

however if I look from underneath or side ways the stone appears to be virtually clear, like literally no blue???? Not a huge problem if mounted but it is a problem if it means the stone is a fake or glass or something.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84952039/110ct-blue-emerald-cut-sapphire

If you notice the listing, it only shows front on (that inclusion isnt visible to the naked eye thankfully as you can see from other pics above.).

That cant be right, can it?

taking the stone down to my jewellers today for him to have a look. This is for an engagement ring so I really don't want to have a stone that i'm worried is dodgy. I don't know a great deal about gems and whether this is normal?

 

[Pandora II]

The price is extremely cheap for a blue emerald cut sapphire for over a carat.

Looking at the pictures, there is quite obvious colour-zoning - which is a good sign that it's natural. Sapphire grows in bands and you often find colourless areas - the skill of the cutter is in placing the stone to maximise the blue colour from face-up whilst keeping as big a stone as possible.

I would be more worried about the inclusion on the left-hand side - is it surface reaching? Get your jeweller to check that.

Just a word of warning, the vast majority of jewellers are not gemmologists and wouldn't know the difference between a synthetic or natural sapphire. In the main they only deal with diamonds not coloured stones - I give my jeweller strict instructions on how to treat coloured stones such as no ultrasound cleaning if there are liquid inclusions or just ones I'm worried about and to NEVER put my stones near steam cleaners on pain of death.

If it checks out okay on the inclusion, then I think you did well on the stone. There is always the risk of something like beryllium diffusion, but it would cost you nearly 3 times the price of the stone to get it tested so I wouldn't bother. Assume heat-treatment though.

 

[lookingaring]

Thanks for taking the time to reply pandora.

My jeweller is a silversmith and general bench jeweller, he works a good bit with gem stones so I'd be pretty confident with him.

He put the stone under light with a white page and pointed out the the colour zoning you mentioned and was happy enough with the stone that it wasnt synthetic/lab. The inclusion looks much worse in the pics hence the price the actual stone itself isnt nearly as bad certainly not eye visible and it doesent give a crack or anything like that.

The colour difference he showed me was to do with the cut and showed me some other gems with a similar cut that had the same thing with the back of the gem being lighter than the front.

 

[Pandora II]

Great result - you did very well! Sounds like you have a good jeweller as well.

Colour zoning is super common in sapphires due to the way they form.

I have quite a cool one - it's blue with a slight violet tint. I was looking at a load of my stones with a UV light one evening for fun and noticed this stone glowing red at me. Hmm, I thought, this is not good - blue sapphires do not fluoresce red!

I got it under the loupe and found that it had very tight colour zoning with a couple of the tiny bands being a deep pink/purple (hence the violet tint). It was these bands that were fluorescing and making the stone glow red.

I posted this picture the other day that shows what sapphire rough looks like - you can see the banding quite clearly on it.

On the palladium v white gold thing, although white gold can discolour, the speed at which it does will depend on things like the chemistry of the wearer. The good thing is that you can replate and return the ring to sparkly white - rhodium plating is also pretty cheap, check with your jeweller how much he charges, but it should be around £10 - £15. Some people need and everyday ring replated every 6 months, some every 3 years.

Going the white gold route would be cheaper and give you more possibilities for the setting.

Please don't let your future wife wear her ring 24/7 - she should take it off to do housework, bath, sleep etc. Sleeping in your rings can cause damage to the setting and it's amazing how much people clunk their hands around while they are asleep! Bathing, showering etc can cause the setting to get full of gunk.

I regularly confiscate my friends and family's rings and give them a good scrub and a couple of minutes in the ultrasonic and they are amazed that they almost change colour! Emerald cuts in particular get dirty looking quicker than others. A baby toothbrush and some washing-up liquid with warm water (not hot) is ideal and if you want to get an ultrasonic there are some nice ones on eBay for around £20.

 

[lookingaring]

so post sapphire I got stuck into diamonds today, was going to buy some stones online. My bench jeweller just wasnt happy that the colour would be white enough, the stone guy obviously thought otherwise etc. On balance I'm listening to my bench jeweller I think and giving them a pass. He's pricing some other stones wholesale for me today so maybe an avenue there.

Though this turned up today,its .6 cttw and 6x6 centre stone. The band is yellow gold and the wrong size but I could have my jeweller just replace the shank in palladium. The actual mounts for the stones are platinum. would mean I'd have to return the sapphire I bought firstly. Yellow gold really isnt so popular in the uk so have been offered a pretty good deal on the ring too. I think it looks great too.

gonna have a chat today and see what the costings are.

as far as white gold goes I don't like the idea of it having to be redone every few years, I like the permanence of the palladium in something like an engagement ring too.