A million sapphire questions...

[wapila1]

Well, maybe not a million.

I''ve spent more time in this forum the last few days, and the more I learn the more questions I have! I''ve been a fan of sapphires for quite a while (they are my birthstone) but don''t own any - yet! Before I consider purchasing anything, I want to know what I''m doing. I''m still a little confused on what to look for as far as color and cut and what the consensus is on heat treating. If anyone has thoughts they might like to share or could point me in the direction of a good educational resource on these topics, I''d appreciate it! Thanks very much!

 

[Harriet]

Hi,
Richard Wise''s book, Secrets of the Gem Trade, is a great guide.

 

[wapila1]

Thanks! Off to check to see if the library has it...

 

[Harriet]

You''re welcome. Here are my thoughts, which not everyone shares. Hope they help.

Colour:
This is non-negotiable for me. I must love it. For some (if not all) stones, you''ll find that a certain colour (hue, tone, saturation) is prized. However, that doesn''t matter to me as I think that colour preferences are subjective.

Cut:
I don''t care about perfect cutting, as long as the cutting is acceptable (no window, off-centred culet, etc.).

Heat treatment:
This doesn''t bother me, unless I''m buying an ''investment'' stone.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 1/3/2009 3:59:15 PM
Author: Harriet
You''re welcome. Here are my thoughts, which not everyone shares. Hope they help.

Colour:
This is non-negotiable for me. I must love it. For some (if not all) stones, you''ll find that a certain colour (hue, tone, saturation) is prized. However, that doesn''t matter to me as I think that colour preferences are subjective.

Cut:
I don''t care about perfect cutting, as long as the cutting is acceptable (no window, off-centred culet, etc.).

Heat treatment:
This doesn''t bother me, unless I''m buying an ''investment'' stone.

Ditto to all the above for me.

Colour is everything, but as Harriet says totally subjective. However you will pay a premium for what the ''market'' considers to be the finest colour.

Cut within reason is not a priority: big windows are a no always, a slightly off-centre culet with all other things exceptional is not a reason for me to reject, ditto for minor problems with meet points. Unsymmetrical faceting (ie more facets one side of the table than the other) will totally bug me, so I''d turn down for that.

Clarity: I like eye-clean, but not loupe clean. Sapphires with no inclusions make me nervous...

I also second reading Richard Wise''s book. There are others on the market - Renee Newman has a couple - but they''re not as good.

There is no quick and easy way to pick up knowledge on coloured stones. It takes a lot of looking, comparing and reading to work out what makes a good stone good and a poor stone poor.

 

[Harriet]

I forgot about clarity. Like Pandora, I don't care about a gem being loupe-clean. Eye-clean is good enough for me. But, and this is a big but, I don't mind inclusions in gems that are typically included (e.g. rubellite). Also, I like interesting inclusions (there's a tsavorite with a pyrite inclusion that I covet).

P,
We're either great minds or fools.

 

[Pandora II]

No comment!

 

[T L]

Everyone gave really good advice. The only thing I have to add is that gentle heat treatment is not the only type of treatment that sapphires undergo, but it is the only one that's really accepted readily in the trade. There is another form of heat treatment that actually drastically changes the color of the stone. This is called beryllium heat treatment or diffusion. All beryllium treated sapphires are heated, but not all heated sapphires are beryllium treated. In other words, an unscrupulous seller may tell you that a sapphire is heated, and if it's beryllium, than he's not really lying, but he's not disclosing the full truth either. If you do go for a heated sapphire, make sure through a reputable lab (in particular if you're spending a lot), that it's only gentle heat treatment and nothing else.

Whatever you do, do not get a sapphire off of ebay as well.

Here's a typical lab cert for a sapphire that doesn't give the full evidence because the listing states that the stone is "heated." However, if you look at the fine print in the cert (if you have good eyes because the seller won't show it large), it states "Further analysis on whether a foreign element has been introduced is required." In other words, it was not tested for beryllium. The seller just shows a lab cert, and states the stone is heated, but there is nothing conclusive here to indicate that it was not be-heated. The comments section of the lab cert are suspect.

http://cgi.ebay.com/4-18CT-VVS1-CERTIFIED-FINEST-PAILIN-BLUE-SAPPHIRE-NR_W0QQitemZ170286234389QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item170286234389&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

 

[Harriet]

TL,
I''m glad you added the BE part.

 

[wapila1]

Oh, thank you all for hte input. I''m thinking a sapphire is going to be next on my birthday/anniversary wish list, so I need to read up in order to be educated enough to know what to "hint" to my husband.

 

[marcy]

Date: 1/3/2009 9:10:50 PM
Author: wapila1
Oh, thank you all for hte input. I''m thinking a sapphire is going to be next on my birthday/anniversary wish list, so I need to read up in order to be educated enough to know what to ''hint'' to my husband.

I can''t add a thing past what all these wise ladies told you but I hope you have fun reading up on sapphires and end up with a lovely one for your birthday or anniversary.

 

[ma re]

THIS site shows what a sapphire with a good cut looks like, next to the one with a typical, native cut (the good one is obviously on the right). But if level of color saturation is high, cut may not be as evident as in that photo, so it''s importance might not be as big for the overall beauty of the stone. If you, on the other hand, prefer lighter tones of blue, be sure to pay attention to the precision of cutting and the level of life (scintillation) a stone has.