Difference between these sapphires (besides $856)?

[Des_Esseintes]

Hi all—very exciting to finally post here. I've been lurking and this forum is such a treasure trove of information (especially for a beginner like myself). I've been searching for a center stone sapphire (was told to look for round cut or oval cut in "peach," "champagne," or more neutral/darker tones that depart from that baseline) for an e-ring for my girlfriend. I'm a writer (fiction) and doing my PhD in history, so my budget is, unfortunately, tight.

In any case, I was wondering what the difference was between these two sapphires, besides the $856 that separates them. I can see that one is "VS" and the other free of inclusions. They're around the same ct, seem to both be Tanzanian, and are both unheated. I don't have any eye for things like cut quality, so perhaps that's the difference?

Any help would be quite appreciated!

Gem 1: http://gemrite.com/sapphire/61-orange-sapphire-87-cts.html
Gem 2: http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/p-47911-oval-padparadscha-sapphire-pa2343/#AssetData4

 

[lovedogs]

I am certainly not an expert by any means, but from what I've read here and other places, the natural sapphire company tends to overcharge fairly significantly, so that is certainly something to take into account.

To my eye, if the Gemrite one looked like the pictures of the stone by itself I would find it very appealing. But the picture of it near a hand looks more brownish, which I don't prefer.

The NSC stone looks very orange (I don't really see any pink/peach tones there), so that's also something to consider if you are shooting for the champagne/peach color.

If you are open to alternatives, I found these two from a recommended vendor on our list (Mastercut Gems). They are both larger than the ones you posted, and both $200, which is a great price. I like them and think they have that peachy color, but hopefully more experienced experts can weigh in Granted there are more saturated "bright" stones out there certainly, but they might be more costly.






Other things to ask: Do you have a specific budget for stone + setting? Do you definitely want to get the setting and stone separately, or would you rather buy the ring as a complete package?

Hope this helps!

 

[Des_Esseintes]

Other things to ask: Do you have a specific budget for stone + setting? Do you definitely want to get the setting and stone separately, or would you rather buy the ring as a complete package?

Hope this helps!

Thanks lovedogs for your quick reply. That is an appealing color—so thank you for that link! I was thinking of a colored sapphire as a center stone, and two melee diamonds (~0.1ct—found those on Multicolour, another preferred vendor!) flanking it, on a ring of 14k rose gold. I've been told to find a ring that is very simple in design. Given the specificity and design constraints, I figured I would buy separately. I've been calling around and have found several jewelers willing to work with customer supplied stones, so I'm thankful for that.

I was hoping to spend no more than 2250, which is probably laughable. There's something about ring buying that makes you wonder why you chose a certain career path!

 

[Bex]

Have you checked in with Julia B and Pristine Jewelry, both on Etsy? They seem to have regular supplies of lovely pink/peach sapphires and have plenty of completed rings well under your budget!

 

[GregS]

Champagne is code for brown. I'd stay away from anything referred to as champagne. The two stones in your first post are brown. The Gemrite stone looks to be better cut, hazy and fairly priced. The NSC stone looks to be poorly cut, have better clarity and is grossly overpriced.

 

[chrono]

Champagne is code for brown. I'd stay away from anything referred to as champagne. The two stones in your first post are brown. The Gemrite stone looks to be better cut, hazy and fairly priced. The NSC stone looks to be poorly cut, have better clarity and is grossly overpriced.

Agree with Greg's post in its entirety.

 

[Jajabis]

1st stone :
The cheaper one seems to be somewhat cloudy?
I think i see inclusion's. Hard to tell, but it is listed as Vs.
The cut might not be great enough to hide this from the top window.

2nd stone :
Listed as VVS. Looks a lot more clear from the photo's.
Saturation looks better.
Oval cut might be more desirable?

I'd find out how much it will cost for the setting as it might be cheaper or more expensive and then find your budget on a center stone. I think it would be a good idea to spend more on the stone as it's only going to be a simple design and you want that center stone to be the focus.

There are many factor's that make the stone possible more expensive. While it does seem highly price for that ct. Might be a perfect stone at that size.

Also, since you are looking into a sapphire. Remember that CT for sapphires vs diamonds does not mean the same size.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c5/c8/0d/c5c80d6c4629a6bfe29ddcee2b9d6360.jpg

Chart to help you out with idea of size.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/250162789/padparadscha-color-peach-champagne?ref=shop_home_active_19
https://www.etsy.com/listing/231195405/portuguese-cut-orange-sapphire-round?ref=market

I like this one, it's a Brilliant round cut= normal diamond cut with 57-58 facets.
Portuguese round cut = deeper with around 130-170 facets. "I don't know the exact number, but here is a video"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R13ZdC-6KgM


The color you are looking for tend's to be called a Padparadscha sapphire.
"Padparadscha is a delicate light to medium toned pink-orange to orange-pink hue corundum, originally found in Sri Lanka, but also found in deposits in Vietnam and parts of East Africa. Padparadscha sapphires are rare; the rarest of all is the totally natural variety, with no sign of artificial treatment"


Hope this information helps you out.

 

[iLander]

Honestly, those are sapphires that you linked. . . .

Did you want pale brown? I'll bet your GF is thinking of a padparadscha sapphire, the rarest and most expensive color there is.

https://www.google.com/search?q=padparadscha&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCAQsARqFQoTCI7PyeXo6sgCFcxHJgodKpMADA&biw=1158&bih=875

I think the two of you should sit down and look at a google images search of sapphire colors and narrow it down.

IDJewelry in new york can set it for you very inexpensively, around $700 I'll bet. They will source the diamonds for you, very inexpensively.

 

[chrono]

I'm not sure I would call a brown stone as having better saturation. Oval is more common and as such, rounds tend to have a bit more of a price premium than ovals.

 

[Jajabis]

I'm not sure I would call a brown stone as having better saturation. Oval is more common and as such, rounds tend to have a bit more of a price premium than ovals.

I'd say neither of them look,
"peach," "champagne," or more neutral/darker tones that depart from that baseline"

Also due to your budget.
Here are some finished rings from this jeweler i found that seems to have a lot in the color you're wanting.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/PristineJewelry?section_id=11340170&ref=shopsection_leftnav_2

 

[Des_Esseintes]

Thank you all for your careful and extraordinarily helpful replies.

This jeweler has been mentioned a few times, and this stone is beautiful:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/250162789/padparadscha-color-peach-champagne?ref=shop_home_active_19

I don't see the jeweler in the trusted list, however. At the risk of sounding dumb, is this a "good" stone and a "good" jeweler?

 

[chrono]

I would do a search for reviews on the vendor.

 

[pinkjewel]

I would do a search for reviews on the vendor.

Yes, please check reviews for this vendor.

 

[Jajabis]

I would do a search for reviews on the vendor.

Yes, please check reviews for this vendor.

Where do you find those? "I'm guessing you mean on pricescope and not etsy"

 

[pinkjewel]

Do you like this color? MasterCut Gems has this one. AGL listed as orange (heat only), but Dana says it looks quite peach and that it's bright and flashy. 1.89 cts

 

[Des_Esseintes]

Do you like this color? MasterCut Gems has this one. AGL listed as orange (heat only), but Dana says it looks quite peach and that it's bright and flashy. 1.89 cts

Beautiful stone, a bit out of my budget though! After reading through the reviews on the forum, I've decided not to pursue the Etsy seller.

 

[lovedogs]

Thank you all for your careful and extraordinarily helpful replies.

This jeweler has been mentioned a few times, and this stone is beautiful:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/250162789/padparadscha-color-peach-champagne?ref=shop_home_active_19

I don't see the jeweler in the trusted list, however. At the risk of sounding dumb, is this a "good" stone and a "good" jeweler?

I think this jeweler has a good reputation both for rings and loose stones. If you look at his reviews on Etsy, he has an average of 5 (out of 5) stars, and 194 reviews, so it seems like this store is pretty well regarded, but I haven't personally done business with them so I can't say for sure.

ETA: Ok, maybe their reputation is slightly more mixed than I thought based on what others have said. So definitely search around.

 

[lovedogs]

Ok, so here are a few whole-ring options from JuliaB....see if any of these might work.

Pink Sapphire, 1600



Peach Sapphire, 2000


Peach Spinel (don't know if you would be ok with spinel), 1700


Orang-y "Padparadscha" sapphire, 2200


Montana Pink sapphire, 2000


Peach/pink spinel, 1100

 

[GliderPoss]

Ooooooh that last one is utterly divine!!!

 

[Des_Esseintes]

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions! I ended up buying a 4mm round cut sapphire from Wildfish Gems (I inquired about an oval and he said he had a round from the same parcel: http://wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/10925/19377). I'm pairing it with two 3mm round cut melees from AfricaGems. Now the wait! And then to find a local jeweler to make the ring!

 

[partgypsy]

Other things to ask: Do you have a specific budget for stone + setting? Do you definitely want to get the setting and stone separately, or would you rather buy the ring as a complete package?

Hope this helps!

Thanks lovedogs for your quick reply. That is an appealing color—so thank you for that link! I was thinking of a colored sapphire as a center stone, and two melee diamonds (~0.1ct—found those on Multicolour, another preferred vendor!) flanking it, on a ring of 14k rose gold. I've been told to find a ring that is very simple in design. Given the specificity and design constraints, I figured I would buy separately. I've been calling around and have found several jewelers willing to work with customer supplied stones, so I'm thankful for that.

I was hoping to spend no more than 2250, which is probably laughable. There's something about ring buying that makes you wonder why you chose a certain career path!

I don't think your budget is laughable it is a decent budget. I think the stone you picked out is very pretty, but you may be surprised at how small the stone is when you see it in person. I think with your budget you can find a stone that is larger but still nice and in your budget.
As an example here is a ring with a 4.3 stone and bezeling makes a stone look larger

here is one a little larger
https://www.etsy.com/listing/208008652/peach-pink-champagne-cushion-sapphire?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=peach sapphire ring&ref=sr_gallery_17

https://www.etsy.com/listing/196983599/peach-sapphire-and-14k-gold-ring-peach?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=peach sapphire ring&ref=sr_gallery_4

 

[Des_Esseintes]

I don't think your budget is laughable it is a decent budget. I think the stone you picked out is very pretty, but you may be surprised at how small the stone is when you see it in person. I think with your budget you can find a stone that is larger but still nice and in your budget.
As an example here is a ring with a 4.3 stone and bezeling makes a stone look larger

here is one a little larger
https://www.etsy.com/listing/208008652/peach-pink-champagne-cushion-sapphire?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=peach sapphire ring&ref=sr_gallery_17

https://www.etsy.com/listing/196983599/peach-sapphire-and-14k-gold-ring-peach?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=peach sapphire ring&ref=sr_gallery_4

As an unfortunate product of the Imperial system, my mind doesn't think very well in Metric. I did, however, draw out a 4mm circle, both on paper in Photoshop. It is indeed quite small! That is when I lost a bit of my nerve and caved to ask my partner what she thought of the size. Thankfully, she said that she would be a bit wary with anything bigger (what a wonderful answer).

 

[partgypsy]

That's a relief. Other than diamonds it's unusual to use a 4 mm stone as a center stone, but everyone is different!