Thoughts on another HK Sapphire

[5starclown]

Hi All - me again! Had a chance to review some more stones in HK during the big show last week. Sadly, nothing was super exciting. This stone was passed onto me by another friend, who saw it at the show. I think I'm getting better at picking the good from the bad, but would love your thoughts as well. I feel it is a)a bit heavy on extinctions and b) the color is a bit green to account for the cost. (heated 1.8ct for $5,800 USD) With that said - am I reading this one right?

And as ever - thanks for the help in my Engagement Right search!

 

[chrono]

You are correct on both assessments but the cost is ridiculously high. This is the first time I'm reading of a heated sapphire under 2 carats going for more than $3000/ct.

 

[pregcurious]

I agree with Chrono. That price is _very_ high, even for a top color heated sapphire. The sapphire, if the picture is correct, is on the green side, which means it does not have top color. That said, I like that color.

 

[5starclown]

Great, thanks Chrono and Pregcurious! Appreciate the feedback. Yeah - I thought the cost was ridiculously high as well. Unfortunately, I am a hardcore traditionalist - love that vivid royal blue (as an ideal example: http://rwwise.com/products/id|1877)

With that said, this purple sapphire is definitely off the beaten path, but also very cool. Not for me - it's too big for the GF, but cool none the less: http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-46ct-UNHEATED-Phenomenal-Sized-Cushion-Blue-Sapphire-/261180454765?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccf91776d

 

[slksapphire]

i'm sorry that the show was disappointing ... personally, i found that outside of the show, it was virtually impossible to find a decent supply of quality sapphires.

i think you have trained your eye well ... i agree with your assessment of the stone pictured. i'm not familiar with heated sapphire pricing, but given that major price jumps usually happen at 2 carats and the stone is less than that, $3,000/ct sounds like a lot for a stone with issues.

have you asked richard wise about the price of the "ideal" sapphire you posted? it is probably a very good comparable for you.

as i mentioned, i think that sapphires (and most luxury goods) are more expensive in hk than in the u.s. if you are between both countries, i would urge you to look in the states. good luck ... you will find THE stone but it may take some time.

 

[chrono]

have you asked richard wise about the price of the "ideal" sapphire you posted? it is probably a very good comparable for you.

Sadly, I would not be surprised if RW's sapphire costs more per carat than the one the OP looked at. Many on PS have pondered the reasoning for his ultra high pricing, even when the quality is taken into account.

 

[slksapphire]

chrono, i don't disagree but i thought it would just be a real data point from which to compare ...

 

[chrono]

It might be a real data point, but an unrealistic data point.

 

[5starclown]

Slksapphire & Chrono - thanks for your advice! I am jumping back and forth a lot. Based on what I've seen in HK, I have started to focus more on the PS-vetted vendors. I agree that I'll probably have better luck (and find a better price). I've been doing a lot of per-carat comparisons and have started to build a database of what the market looks like right now. I've heard RW tends to be pretty expensive, but it can't hurt to include it in my larger breakout. Unfortunately, he's essentially OOO for all of March, so for now I'm sitting tight

With that said, I've seen some heated gems approach the 3k per ct mark. There is a very pretty heated Sapphire on Africa Gems that is in that range: http://www.africagems.com/cushion-bluesapphire-g2k-4332.html

Obviously, the caveat here is that Africa Gems isn't known to be a cheap vendor either.

 

[aaronl]

With that said, I've seen some heated gems approach the 3k per ct mark. There is a very pretty heated Sapphire on Africa Gems that is in that range: http://www.africagems.com/cushion-bluesapphire-g2k-4332.html

The same sapphire is listed via this jeweler's website at $4293.75 (item # 4332).

 

[distracts]

heated 1.8ct for $5,800 USD

haha, no.

 

[chrono]

The same sapphire is listed via this jeweler's website at $4293.75 (item # 4332).

Excellent sleuthing! $1875/ct is much more palatable for that sapphire. That works out to a 46% reduction in price.

 

[pregcurious]

Hmm, another consortium. This is the second thread in the last week to mention that the same stone is available from another vendor at a significantly lower price.

 

[chrono]

I think the Vetted Vendors page should be updated to reflect that the same stones from certain vendors can be purchased at a different link for better pricing. So far, I know of at least 2 vendors that fit into this category (Jeff Davies and AfricaGems). In the first case, it is due to the added eBay fees (I think) and in the second case, I wonder if it is because AG finds it a hassle to deal with internet purchases, hence gives a bigger discount to jewellers who have to deal with that. I could not find the return / refund policy on ABC's website.

 

[5starclown]

Wow, aaronl - serious detective work!!!

There doesn't seem to be much chatter about Abracadabra on PS - have you ever bought from them? Would love to know - they seem to have some interesting stuff.

Thanks!

 

[aaronl]

Hmm, another consortium. This is the second thread in the last week to mention that the same stone is available from another vendor at a significantly lower price.

Consortium? I'm not part of any consortium. As I look at it, it's not much of a surprise that when people see a stone that seems overpriced they play around a bit in Google to see if there's more to the story.

I looked at that jeweler because I live in Ann Arbor - although I have no further connection than "it's in my hometown". Their inventory search is an plugin to Gem2000, so I expect the stone can be purchased from a wide variety of sources. The reason I used the jeweler's website as a reference point is that Gem2000 does not list prices.

 

[pregcurious]

Aaron, I wasn't saying you were part of a consortium. I was noting that multiple vendors will join what I was calling a consortium that allows them to have access to stones that they do not necessarily own.

I knew for instance that Pala owns certain gems, and allows trade members to broker those stones, but I was not aware that colored gemstone vendors could show stone X on their own sites, and offer different prices. The model is more similar to diamonds where vendors often don't own the stones, but broker them. I'm used to colored stone vendors that own their stones, but that may be because I am usually dealing with lapidaries.

 

[aaronl]

Sorry for misinterpreting. Thanks.

 

[minousbijoux]

It seems that if this is the trend it appears to be, its a real shift in online gemstone sales methods. Hmm - good for us!