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Where to buy treated sapphires?

paul_

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 26, 2014
Messages
5
Hi all

So as promised in my last post about buying cheapish stoned in Colombia I have a quick question for you which would really help me out.

My wife has asked if I can get hold of some blue sapphire studs as a present. But I really want to do it on a tight budget. Personally I would probably look at the synthetic options. But having mentioned this my wife doesn't like the idea and wants them to be natural. Treatments, however, are fair game as long as the stone is mined rather than made in a machine.

What I gather from this forums FAQ is that the price for treated stones is much more competitive than untreated and therefore I'm hoping this is a good way to get the price down (to $200 or so ideally).

In terms of treatments my only real concern is beauty (ie. it still needs to look like a 'natural' sapphire rather than a lump of glass) and permanence. So I think that heat, diffusion, irradiation etc would be ok. But coatings and non-permanent enhancement would be no good. Also I'm not too keen on doublets or other 'trickery'.

I am looking for 2 reasonably matching round cut 6mm stones. The cut i'd like to be pretty good but it doesn't have to be spectacular given the pricing. For color I think I would err on the side of lightish medium cornflour blue to maximise brightness. I'm not a big fan of darker colors as I think they might struggle to 'pop'. Equally it has to be dark blue enough to be clearly a sapphire if you know what I mean.

Basically, in a nutshell, I think I'd like a nicer looking treated stone than a less good looking untreated stone at the same price.

Any thoughts on this from the experts? Do you know where is a reliable place to buy nicely cut but heavily treated stones? Many of the online stores pride themselves on only selling untreated/lightly treated stones so I'm not sure which way to go.

Thanks very much
Paul
 

minousbijoux

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Treated stones are all over ebay, but I would only buy from a reputable seller there, and for Be- treated stones, I'm not sure who that would be. Perhaps you can try Tan's stores? Another thought would be Jeff Davies. His business focus is largely on untreated stones, but since he is so close to the action, he would likely easily be able to find a pair for you.
 

chrono

Super_Ideal_Rock
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LD

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Diffused sapphires can actually be more beautiful than their natural counterparts $ for $ so they're a good bet on a limited budget. Ebay is littered with treated sapphires and I'm sure you could even get ready made earrings there to.

If you want heat only then some of the vendors in the sticky at the top of this thread will be able to help but with your budget you'll be limited in what you find.
 

chrono

Super_Ideal_Rock
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The problem is that eBay is also littered with vendors who sell undisclosed simulants (dyed glass), synthetics, photoshopped pictures and undisclosed clarity enhancement.
 

Siameseroo

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
1,475
If you are willing to go down in size, Jeff Davies has several 4.2mm Ceylon sapphire pairs, heat only, for under 200.
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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gemselect.com has be-treated sapphires for low prices.
 

paul_

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 26, 2014
Messages
5
Thanks very much for the suggestions - I really appreciate the advice. Here's what I've seen:

http://www.gemselect.com/sapphire/sapphire-387845.php
GemSelect has these Be treated stones which are almost the right size (5mm compared to 6mm) and a good price. I'm not sure about the violet coloring though as it seems more violet than blue. Also I'm not sure but are there windowing/cut issues in the centre of the stone? It seems a little dead in the middle but maybe it's just the photo.

http://jefferydavies.com/inventory/product/391-0321-sapphire-pair-66tcw
Jeff Davies has these really lovely color stones and they look really nice optically in the video. Although might these look a little dark in real life for earrings or would they perform well do you think? To be honest though they might be a little small at 4.2mm.

http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?/details/pair/sapphire/ysa734ai/&1244716636
MC has this pair which also look nice. Again maybe a little small perhaps (4.5mm). Also seems a little silly to pay a premium for heat only stones when I'm comfortable with Be infusion which should be much cheaper I think.

So I guess if I could wave a magic wand it would be to find a 6mm pair that have the color and optical performance of Jeff's offering but at a Be treated price. I guess I'll have a look at a few other websites and see if such a thing exists. I'd rather avoid ebay because I'd really like to know they are from a reputable source and not glass filled rubbish.

Thanks again
Paul
 

LoversKites

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 16, 2013
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paul_|1419703884|3808319 said:
Thanks very much for the suggestions - I really appreciate the advice. Here's what I've seen:

http://www.gemselect.com/sapphire/sapphire-387845.php
GemSelect has these Be treated stones which are almost the right size (5mm compared to 6mm) and a good price. I'm not sure about the violet coloring though as it seems more violet than blue. Also I'm not sure but are there windowing/cut issues in the centre of the stone? It seems a little dead in the middle but maybe it's just the photo.
Windowed, but since these are for earrings it's probably not gonna be that noticeable. They seem bright and pretty.


http://jefferydavies.com/inventory/product/391-0321-sapphire-pair-66tcw
Jeff Davies has these really lovely color stones and they look really nice optically in the video. Although might these look a little dark in real life for earrings or would they perform well do you think? To be honest though they might be a little small at 4.2mm.
I like these the most colour-wise, plus they're heat only. I like these the most even if they're the smallest.

http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?/details/pair/sapphire/ysa734ai/&1244716636
MC has this pair which also look nice. Again maybe a little small perhaps (4.5mm). Also seems a little silly to pay a premium for heat only stones when I'm comfortable with Be infusion which should be much cheaper I think.
Pass. If they're described as dark they're gonna be dark. 'Dark' is the darkest tone designation.

So I guess if I could wave a magic wand it would be to find a 6mm pair that have the color and optical performance of Jeff's offering but at a Be treated price. I guess I'll have a look at a few other websites and see if such a thing exists. I'd rather avoid ebay because I'd really like to know they are from a reputable source and not glass filled rubbish.
Good luck in your search.

Thanks again
Paul

See the bold.
 

paul_

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 26, 2014
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5
Thanks LoversKites for your thoughts. I hadn't even noticed that the MC pair said 'Dark' in the description. It's these kinds of things which are easy to miss for a beginner.

I live in Dubai so there are tons of jewellers here. Might go and have a wander around and see what I can find in B&M. I've had a look at most if not all of the recommended vendors and haven't seen much. But then I think they are generally selling heated only stones so not really the same market for my price range.

Thanks
Paul
 

paul_

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 26, 2014
Messages
5
So I had little doodle with my ruler and came to the conclusion that 4-5mm would be fine for the stones since they will have a 1mm halo in the setting. So I think 6-7mm total diameter will be about right for her ears.

So I've decided to buy this heat only 0.9ct 4.5mm pair from Jeff.
http://jefferydavies.com/inventory/product/122-sapphire-pair-90tcw

I should add that Jeff was extremely responsive to my emails and was very easy to do business with. Also I'm very happy with the price given these are only heated stones. He has some really beautiful looking inventory in his store so I think it's likely I'll be going back. Looking forward to having these set in the NY and seeing how they look.

Thanks very much for all your advice. Don't think I would have found these without it.

Paul
 

Siameseroo

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
1,475
Congrats! I love my pair of Jeff Davies sapphires, I hope your wife loves her set just as much!
 

LoversKites

Brilliant_Rock
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Nov 16, 2013
Messages
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Cool, please post photos when you get them.
 
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