Acquiring Spinel and Sapphire

[Djarum]

I am a complete newb at this stuff, however my mother has been collecting stones for years. At any rate, I am trying to put together an e-ring for my girlfriend. We have a setting picked out. We know we don''t want diamonds. What I think she wants is either a round purplish-pink sapphire(or spinel) or "tanzanite" colored round sapphire(or spinel). Looking for a 5.5 to 6.5 mm size sapphire. I''m not concerned as much on actual karat weight. I really don''t care if it has been heat treated(but no lattice diffusion).

Any suggestions on where to look to find such a quality stone? I have seen many websites, but I have no ideas which ones are reputable. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Djarum.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 7/14/2008 1:39:28 PM
Author:Djarum
I am a complete newb at this stuff, however my mother has been collecting stones for years. At any rate, I am trying to put together an e-ring for my girlfriend. We have a setting picked out. We know we don''t want diamonds. What I think she wants is either a round purplish-pink sapphire(or spinel) or ''tanzanite'' colored round sapphire(or spinel). Looking for a 5.5 to 6.5 mm size sapphire. I''m not concerned as much on actual karat weight. I really don''t care if it has been heat treated(but no lattice diffusion).

Any suggestions on where to look to find such a quality stone? I have seen many websites, but I have no ideas which ones are reputable. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Djarum.

I LOVE tanzi coloured sapphires - my personal favourites!

I would really suggest contacting a vendor and having them source the stone for you.

There are recent threads with lists of recommended dealers.

I work with Richard at artcutgems.com and Wink at winkjones.com

Palagems is a good site for lots of examples (it''s trade only so if you''re interested in a stone you''ll need to get a jeweller to call it in for you). The Natural Sapphire Company is also worth a look (but they carry a premium for unheated).

 

[stacy]

I would check with Jeff White, if you aren''t in a hurry. He''s an awesome cutter, and he can usually find what you''re looking for if you give him some time. His website is www.whitesgems.com.

It seems like every colored stone post I respond to I sing the praises of Jeff! I promise -- I don''t work for him or anything. I just love his work! (And we both appreciate spinel!)

 

[Djarum]

Thank you all.

There is so much information out on the web, it is hard to sift through what is and isn''t a good stone, what is and isn''t a good cut. And then one has to worry about website reputability.

gemfix has a stone I like, and so does the natural sapphire company. I will contact them for more information.

Djarum