Sapphire Newbie needs your tips and help!

[greenline]

Hey everyone, I am a total newbie when it comes to shopping for sapphires. I am looking to purchase a sapphire necklace for my wife as a wedding anniversary gift. I was looking at the following three online retailers (random order):

BlueNile.com
The Natural Sapphire Company
Brilliant Earth

Which of these three retailers is the best? Are there any of these I should avoid? Are there any other retailers not listed that I should seriously consider?

After looking at what those three retailers had to offer, my top choice thus far (unless you all recommend otherwise) is the following necklace:
https://www.brilliantearth.com/Sapphire-Twist-Pendant-White-Gold-BE406S5/
Is this one quality and/or worth the price they are asking?

Thank you so much for your feedback! My wife will appreciate it too!

 

[arabella]

Hi, I have no personal experience with any of the vendors you listed, by you can search this forum to see threads with feedback/reviews from others. You will probably be able to find some sort of feedback on all 3 of those vendors.

Pinned at the top of this board is a list of vendors that PSers have had good experiences with. That would be a good place to start.

It might be helpful to let everyone know what your budget is, what color sapphire you want, if you want untreated or are ok with treatment, etc.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

I, like arabella, don't have any experience with the three vendors you listed; however, I believe two of them don't show you the actual stone you'd be getting. (ETA: There's no size on the sapphire, treatment, dimensions, anything!) Personally not a fan of that. I'd rather buy the stone loose from a trusted vendor and have someone I know do the work.

What's your time frame?

 

[coralee87]

@greenline I went to the brilliant earth showroom in SF to look at their sapphires. Was not impressed. The stones were not cut great and a lot of them were murky/gray undertones. I'm sure they have some that are nice but I personally was pretty disappointed, the rep also knew nothing about sapphires. He actually said to me "Sapphires are way easier to pick than diamonds, you just have to pick a color you like. They are basically the same otherwise. (!!!!)

I would also suggested the recommended vendors on PS. NSC has gotten mixed reviews. Blue nile and brilliant earth are both mainly diamond jewelry. Better to go get your stone from a colored gem expert!

 

[arabella]

I didn't even notice that SparkliesLuver. It does seem that you're not even actually seeing what exactly you're purchasing.

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

My favorite seller has a few sapphire pendants like this:
https://www.wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/0_34_unheated_sapphire_yellow_gold_pendant_/10826/20937
Always unheated gems:
https://www.wildfishgems.com/jewelry

 

[doberman]

I've seen some NSC padparadscha sapphires and they were very nice. Their sales staff is good too. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. BE is ridiculously overpriced. I like BN for diamonds, not sure how they are for sapphires. Take a look at some of the recommended vendors here, nearly all of them have nice stones. I like Jeff White and Litnon, both good to do business with.

 

[Acinom]

I see good reviews on Joe Escobar but have never worked with him. I see some nice goodies on his website but these are much higher priced compared to the example you posted. What is your budget?

 

[greenline]

Thank you everyone for the replies/feedback and sorry for not answering your follow-up questions more promptly. It seems the PS forum stopped emailing me when people had posted replies even though I was still following it. I simply assumed my post had gone by the wayside and I hadn't proactively checked it since.

Anyhow, to answer your questions:
@SparkliesLuver - My timeframe is to purchase this week.
@Acinom - My budget is to stay below $1000 including stone, setting, labor, shipping, tax, (all).

After looking into the vendors more closely, you all were correct about BE not having the actual stones in their graphics (you merely get a similar one). Though I contacted them and a rep did send me actual photos she had taken for me of similar stones to what I'd be getting (though, still not the actual one per se). And they don't have certs like other vendors. It is a weird way to purchase unless you don't care of course. For me though it is a deal breaker even though I liked a setting they had best.

My plan as of now is to purchase from NSC. I found a loose sapphire I liked and did their "build a setting" thing on their website to find some decent options. They do have certs available and actual photos of the gems in question. I was glad to see your feedback confirms my decision.

Just today I put up another post soliciting feedback to see whether or not I should go with a 3-prong or 4-prong setting. It is here if you're interested:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...-better-setting-for-sapphire-necklace.234305/

Thank you all for your help! I'll try to post the final product when it arrives, whatever I end up pulling the trigger on.

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

I don't want to be a party-pooper, have you bought already? That sapphire has a ugh-window, in a round stone and a pendant that's may be an unlucky combo?
Ignore this post if you have bought already.

 

[greenline]

@normanintheskywithsapphires - I have not purchased yet, and I sincerely appreciate your candor. Here is another stone I was eyeballing, though I don't have a mock-up of it in a setting. As you can see, it is a little darker relative to the other, though still within my desirable color range. Despite being the same weight, size, and actually slightly better clarity, it is much cheaper than the other. That is why I was cautious at first about it. What do you think of this stone? What issues do you see if any? Should I keep browsing or is this one a winner? Feel free to educate me as I am new and appreciate all the tips.

I don't want to be a party-pooper, have you bought already? That sapphire has a ugh-window, in a round stone and a pendant that's may be an unlucky combo?
Ignore this post if you have bought already.

 

[chrono]

Pass on it. One week is incredibly tight for a ready made piece. I didn't find any worth buying but I'll keep looking.

 

[greenline]

Also looking strongly at this one. It is slightly lighter than the previous two options, but slightly larger dimensions and weight. Is eye clean clarity. Priced about the same as the 2nd option I posted earlier.

For reference, when replying, refer to this stone as #3 and the darker one on my previous reply from earlier today as #2. Thoughts?

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

#2 photo looks 'shady' as in 'doctored'.
I like color and cut and all of #3 better.

 

[partgypsy]

I suggest checking this site out. If you want to know treatments for any particular item, he will let you know. The Trillian looks great and is unheated/untreated
http://www.mineralminers.com/html/sbljlry.stm

I think the designs on the Angara site are nice, but I have no idea what the gemstones are like. They say they only carry gems with "AGTA approved treatments?" Does anyone know what that means?