Newbie interested in Sapphires and ebay

[T L]

oh! I didn't realize about the abrasions; after I looked again, it was visible in the hand shots. Thank you for telling me about that! I'm not in love with the color, but I didn't hate it, though I guess I do, if it is darker IRL!

I'm still trying to figure out my favorite--I think it's a light cornflower shade, or maybe something that gets closer to an aquamarine's color. There are so many choices!

Just wanted to apologize again if I sounded blunt (I have a bad habit sometimes ).

Well, aquas are very light in tone (the tone is the darkness or lightness of a gem) and they do not have great strength of color ("saturation"), so you may want to look at lighter toned sapphires if that's what you like. I personally cannot stand dark stones, so I get a little aggravated when I see someone want a dark stone. It all stemmed when I was first collecting gems, and I confused saturation with tone. I confused dark tone with strong saturation, which is probably what Princess Diana did when she picked out her awful sapphire - LOL! I really detest that ring ( can you tell? ). It's the reason so many people are being ripped off with low quality sapphires these days.

However, all things being equal, much rather have a light toned stone than a darker toned one, even if the saturation is the same. At least the lighter toned one will pass light through and you'll see some sparkle. Dark toned stones are what I refer to as "black holes." The light goes in, but does not come back out. For sapphires, I would stick with medium light, medium, or medium dark tones.

 

[chrys31]

I don't think you were blunt; I'm so grateful for the comments in here! Plus if you say things in a roundabout way, I am so dense that I will probably not pick up on what you're saying!

It seems like the lighter shades are difficult to find, but maybe I am just looking in the wrong place. The teal stone I posted above is one of the only ones I've seen. I loved this one on jbeg, but I waffled and then it sold

 

[T L]

It's hard to see the color well of that small picture of the JBEG ring, but at least it looks to be an optimal tone, and not a black hole.

 

[chrys31]

I got scared of posting pictures after I posted an enormous one higher up. Here are lots of pics of it:

http://jewelsbyericagrace.smugmug.com/Jewelry/Modern-and-Estate-Pieces/Estate-Sapphire-Ring-Tacori/17842250_fvx3RS#!i=1364338527&k=jpvmWsr

 

[T L]

I got scared of posting pictures after I posted an enormous one higher up. Here are lots of pics of it:

http://jewelsbyericagrace.smugmug.com/Jewelry/Modern-and-Estate-Pieces/Estate-Sapphire-Ring-Tacori/17842250_fvx3RS#!i=1364338527&k=jpvmWsr

Very pretty. Appears to be medium to medium light tone and medium blue saturation (some grey, but not overwhelming). Sapphires seem to generally look best in sunlight, so you should always ask the vendor what the saturation AND color shifts are in artificial light as well. I do like that stone MUCH better than the sapphire you posted at the bottom of the previous page. I have a very similar sapphire (also in a round cut), that doesn't shift color much in various lighting, and it keeps its saturation. It's Tanzanian, so perhaps you might want to look into those. Gene of precisiongem.com sometimes gets nice Tanzanian material.

The nice thing also about lighter material is that you can halo it (if you like halos), and they won't get super dark.

 

[chrys31]

All these factors going into stone selection are so overwhelming. My boyfriend wanted to propose in May, but between law school and moving, I am not so sure we will find a stone on time. We might buy a lab created one to buy ourselves more time, and maybe we'll find the stone this summer. It sounds like 6 months is about what it takes to figure this stuff out and find something worth buying!

 

[movie zombie]

getting engaged does not require an e-ring......
for the record: i was married almost 2 years before i got one

 

[chrono]

I suggest not getting a ring first then because it gets MORE difficult when trying to replace the lab created stone with a real sapphire later. In addition to the specific colour, now you have to consider getting the right cut AND dimensions to fit into the existing setting.

Don't feel disheartened; sometimes the right stone just pops out of nowhere.

 

[chrys31]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys! We were thinking of a full-on temporary ring: think something in sterling silver from Kohl's. We'd just have to postpone engagement pictures till we found The One. At this point, honestly, keeping it forever doesn't sound like a bad idea to me--we'd be making sure we didn't overpay for a crappy stone, ha!

Chrono, my boyfriend shares your view--we could find the stone today! I am not such an optimist. He's going to look at stones in person today, to try to apply all our newfound PS knowledge. Hopefully he comes back with a revelation

 

[movie zombie]

ok, flame me if necessary but you can get a engagement photo with or without a ring.
you really do not need to postpone the engagement UNLESS YOU WANT TO, of course.
the $ used for a "temporary" e-ring is $ that could have gone to the "permanent" e-ring.
idea: get your wedding band now and use it as an e-ring. some have done this. i think they do this in europe.
and there is nothing wrong with saving $ all around by just keeping that "temporary" e-ring as your permanent one if it will go with whatever wedding band you think you might want.
just a bunch of ideas......

eta: i really like montana sapphires. it seems that was your first inclination. are you sure BF can't be convinced?

 

[chrys31]

ok, flame me if necessary but you can get a engagement photo with or without a ring.
you really do not need to postpone the engagement UNLESS YOU WANT TO, of course.
the $ used for a "temporary" e-ring is $ that could have gone to the "permanent" e-ring.
idea: get your wedding band now and use it as an e-ring. some have done this. i think they do this in europe.
and there is nothing wrong with saving $ all around by just keeping that "temporary" e-ring as your permanent one if it will go with whatever wedding band you think you might want.
just a bunch of ideas......

eta: i really like montana sapphires. it seems that was your first inclination. are you sure BF can't be convinced?

lol, of course you are right, MZ! I know people get engaged (or married, even!) without a ring. And honestly, I bet they're a lot better off than people that focus so much on the ring that they forget to focus on the relationship, so I am trying to be careful not to do that! I think I was overly emotional yesterday. In the grand scheme of things, the stone and the ring matter so, so little, compared to all the other stuff we have going for us! I think I will be able to approach this more sanely now, thank you so much for helping me do that!

I think my bf loved the montana sapphires we looked at yesterday--it's sapphiregirl123 whose beau might not.

What did you think about the stones in the 2nd row? I am starting to think I prefer stones that are grayish, because I keep being attracted to them. Ick.

http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_montana.html

 

[movie zombie]

getting the sapphire search threads confused, aren't i?!

hey, if you like a wee bit of grey, you like a wee bit of grey: its you that has to be happy with the stone and its you that will be wearing it. you're getting it for you with your $, not for us with our $.

personally, i lean towards a bit of green and like the one on the far left in the third row.......

also, you won't know until you see the ston IRL.

 

[Starzin]

I'm still trying to figure out my favorite--I think it's a light cornflower shade, or maybe something that gets closer to an aquamarine's color. There are so many choices!

Then have a look here http://www.planetarygems.com/bluesapphirepage.htm and when you've done with that page go to their Padparadschas, Fancy Sapphires, Pairs, Sets & Inventory Mix...page.

Prepare to be further confused

I think my bf loved the montana sapphires we looked at yesterday--it's sapphiregirl123 whose beau might not.

Obviously this calls to you and it is a lovely montana, perhaps you could ask SG123 whether they've really ruled it out?

 

[chrys31]

oh, goodness! so many pretty shades of blue! Why can't they be like diamonds?

I'm just gonna wait on spg123 to decide if she wants any of the Montanas at that link, I think--there are so many choices out there, and I had no knowledge of them before now!

How do you guys find all of these links? I am in love.

 

[chrys31]

I've been looking through old threads and looked at stones IRL, and I think I've settled on a shade:



which is from this 2008 thread: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-sapphire.96760/..']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-sapphire.96760/....[/URL].

Here it is in the ring:

Now, to find it....

 

[T L]

I've been looking through old threads and looked at stones IRL, and I think I've settled on a shade:



which is from this 2008 thread: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-sapphire.96760/........']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-sapphire.96760/..........[/URL].

Here it is in the ring:

Now, to find it....

I love that tone, hue and cut. It's beautiful!!

ETA: Your link to the original thread doesn't work, it got cut off.

Fixed your link, it's a Jeff White stone.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-sapphire.96760/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-sapphire.96760/[/URL]

 

[Starzin]

Lovely choice. You should be able to find a sapphire that colour - everyone here lately wants them much darker
working link https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-sapphire.96760/

ETA: posted with TL

 

[T L]

I found more shots of the ring. It's a color shifter too. Beautiful!!!!

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/here-they-are.98908/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/here-they-are.98908/[/URL]

 

[chrys31]

eeep, thanks for fixing my link fails, guys!

I wonder if Jeff White has any of that rough left? No harm in emailing to ask, right?