Opinions needed on almost-white sapphire!

[Lex183]

Hi all, I’m very interested in this sapphire but I’m also a bit concerned about the “hole” (for lack of a better word) in the middle. Even in person, I felt like I was looking right through the middle of the sapphire and seeing the color of whatever was under it. Is this normal? I was told it happens to all gems, but colored gems put a tint on everything, so it gives the allusion of not looking through it. However, I then see videos like this where you can’t see the black felt through the colorless gem at all... Help!

The sapphire I’m considering:

 

[GliderPoss]

The "hole " is called a window and it's due to the way it's been cut. Personally I'd give this one a miss and look for a better stone.

 

[Lex183]

I thought it was a window but the person who showed it to me insisted it wasn’t, so I got very confused.. she told me a window usually looks dark. Thank you.

 

[Bron357]

It’s called a “window” and is undesirable, especially in a pale/ clear gem as you can and will be able to see “through it” to your finger.
Many gems will show a slight window or see through bit when tilted to the side but looking down, how you and others will be viewing your gem, you really don’t want a window.
This is my white sapphire, it doesn’t have a window. It also shows a very faint blue in sometimes. This is common with white sapphires that they have a very faint blue or sometimes yellow tint in some lighting conditions.

 

[Bron357]

Get the vendor to photograph it “top down” over a dark background. If there’s a window you’ll see through to the dark underneath. In the vendor shot shown “top down” it is a light background so you can’t tell.

 

[lovedogs]

If the vendor denied it was a window or tried to tell you that windows are all "dark" (what does that even mean??) Then run away and find a more trustworthy vendor.

 

[Anne111]

Second that: RUN

 

[Lex183]

I’ve been almost bamboozled! Thank you all for your feedback. Definitely running far far away.

 

[AV_]

I am rather fan of almost white sapphire - particularly those with a wash of blue (& all other light blue things too). It is a long story of what it takes for a round sapphire to not look like a hole, & this is for cutters to know.

I recall seeing nearly colourless, beautifully cut sapphires at

Dan Stair WWW
Earth Treasury WWW
&
John Dyer & Co. WWW

Sapphires are loved for intense colors, so nearly colourless examples are not always offered & prices are ridiculeously different for no real reason!

2c

 

[AV_]

edited the post above to add links

Digressing,

Sapphire & diamond are quite different (in white too!) & I might argue that for very light colours the choice is less obvious than for colourless - sapphire & spinel does these very well (quibble: top diamond cut might need to be taken down a notch for the sake of colour in this range, sapphire is less bright itself...)

I really love this colour - www ... The price tells of how far off the beaten track these light colours are!

2c