Advice for birthday gift for wife

[dazedmedical]

Hi everyone,

My wife's birthday recently passed (Sept) and for various reasons we couldn't be together. I was looking getting her a sapphire ring or loose stone for her birthday.

Going through the list of recommended vendors a few options on simply sapphire caught my eye. Was hoping for your opinions.

AGL Certified Blue Sapphire & Diamond Platinum Ring 4.94 ctw - Simply Sapphires

Sapphire prices have seemed to dramatically rise due to increased world wide demand the past few years. Many of the top sources of sapphire being depleted so finding large blue sapphire has become a coveted treasure. The blue sapphire in this ring weighs 4.00 carats and is a gorgeous rich...

www.simplysapphires.com

GGTL Certified Unheated Emerald Scissor Cut Burma Blue Sapphire 5.14 Carats 10.46x7.94x6.15mm - Simply Sapphires

Exquisite GGTL Certified Blue Burma sapphire, showcasing a velvety intense cornflower blue hue. This unheated gemstone boasts eye-clean clarity.

www.simplysapphires.com

And finally while not a sapphire

GIT Certified Large Paraiba Tourmaline Diamond Ring 14KWG 7.02 ctw - Simply Sapphires

Simply Sapphires GIT Certified Large Paraiba Tourmaline Diamond Ring 14KWG 7.02 ctw

www.simplysapphires.com

Thanks so much for your advice /expertise

 

[Autumn in New England]

Happy belated birthday to your wife! By the looks of things, it will have been worth the wait. I'm going out on a limb here... with a budget of $20k or more, I think you can do better than all 3 pieces. The first sapphire's color and cut are meh... the second one appears to have nice color, but there are clarity and zoning issues, plus I'd need a better look head-on to get a feel for the cut... and the paraiba is a fantastic size and rather clean, but the saturation is weak (and I see a decent-sized window, even if the seller says there isn't one). This is probably not what you wanted to hear, but remember it is only my opinion. You, your wife, and others here may love one or more of these pieces!

 

[Bron357]

Hi there.
I’ll start.
Ring no 1, good certificate ie known & reliable but a pretty hefty price considering.
Loose Sapphire - don’t know the lab who issued the certificate and the sapphire appears to have colour zoning and also in one photo it looks like chips / cracks to the girdle. The colour is great but I’d want a lot more photos to be sure of condition. Don’t forget it’s another $2,000 plus for a setting.
Ring with Paraiba. Again I don’t know this lab but it seems a lovely ring and a good size Paraiba. In terms of Paraiba it’s not fantastic though I like the hue.
And what would your lovely wife prefer?
My added 5 cents - as a woman I wouldn’t want my husband spending a heap of $$$$ without my input.

 

[dazedmedical]

Thank you both for your advice will chat with her a bit more but sounds like none of these are good options at this price.

I actually liked this pairaba more but didn't even have a certificate at this price! https://www.simplysapphires.com/product/portugese-cut-paraiba-tourmaline-dia-ring-14kwg-5-43-ctw/

She has mentioned interest in this stone and has a couple saphires already.

Thanks again for your opinions and recommendations!

 

[Autumn in New England]

Thank you both for your advice will chat with her a bit more but sounds like none of these are good options at this price.

I actually liked this pairaba more but didn't even have a certificate at this price! https://www.simplysapphires.com/product/portugese-cut-paraiba-tourmaline-dia-ring-14kwg-5-43-ctw/

She has mentioned interest in this stone and has a couple saphires already.

Thanks again for your opinions and recommendations!

I'm a paraiba lover, and it sounds like your wife is as well, so I love that you've broadened the search parameters. With a gem like this, I would suggest shopping the stone first and then having it set (which you guys can do together... fun!). And it seems like you have no problem with that since you showed a loose sapphire in your OP. That way you can be sure every cent you're spending is on the stone, and not on the finished jewelry mark-up. Because as you know, this is a pricey gem variety in finer quality. What will your max budget be for just the stone, if you don't mind my asking?

 

[dazedmedical]

I would say around 10k (with some flexibility) will need to get a mount and it set too so want to leave some budget for that too. But don't need to send that much either if there is a very nice smaller stone.

 

[Autumn in New England]

I would say around 10k (with some flexibility) will need to get a mount and it set too so want to leave some budget for that too. But don't need to send that much either if there is a very nice smaller stone.

I'm curious... does it have to be paraiba or can it be blue tourmaline in general? Because if your wife doesn't care about the paraiba designation, you can get muuuuuch finer and larger stones for better pricing.

For instance: This.

 

[Bron357]

I’ll just add, a good clean Paraiba with intense hue and great glow will be close to $10,000 a carat. They are quite rare and very desirable.
If you relax on hue / glow you will get bigger BUT the thing with a good Paraiba is that it’s unique and breathtakingly beautiful, whereas lesser quality gems start looking like aquamarine so you’re spending $$$ for a name that doesn’t “wow” visually if you get my drift.
It’s why Burmese rubies and Kashmir sapphires are drooled over, the good examples are out of this world with unique glow, tone and hue.
You should pay for the “wow” not the “label”.

 

[LilAlex]

Too much to write; I was you. I at least had a local century-old stodgy shop with lots of vintage/antique pieces where I could spend some years refining my knowledge and taste before I outgrew their expertise (not in jewelry history or design, but in terms of colored-stone quality and value). As you know, diamonds are fairly easy -- especially now that there are cut grades on reports -- but it's still the wild west for colored gems. They are not all commoditized.

For low four figures, you could gamble on any number of online vendors and get something pretty and not have to worry about playing a high-stakes game. At five figures, though, you really need to watch out. You could get an amazing heirloom that will make her gasp, or a piece of junk (that, to be fair, might also make her gasp, but you don't want to find out years from now how terrible a purchase it was -- terribly treated material, poor "make," etc.).

With your budget and time-frame and (inferred) professional obligations, you might do best working with a broker like Inken at Enhoerning. She has a few things on her website, but she mostly sources from NYC wholesalers for her clientele. She will not be the cheapest, but you will never be taken advantage of. I'm sure you know that every gem is a compromise in some way -- color saturation, cut quality, depth (too deep vs. too shallow), clarity, unreliable report, "cost-effectiveness" at the moment (e.g., tough times to buy a Burma ruby). If you are unwilling to compromise on any of those things, you will find yourself with an unexpectedly small gem, albeit a "killer" one. Most of us would compromise on a few things. For colored stones, it is usually not color! Inken is great at working within your unique compromise profile -- at last she has been for us. I'll compromise on clarity and cut ("native"/wonky is OK for me) but not on color or treatment.

Also, have your wife scroll through Lang Antiques -- gemstone rings, reverse-sorted on price, etc. Have her see what she likes. New/contemporary/modern? Art Deco? Cocktail ring? Everyday right-hand ring (only corundum or harder). My wife had a super-modern "style" with the base-metal jewelry she'd buy and wear when we were dating, etc. She'll wear any style now -- as long as it's beautiful.

For your online searching, you are at the mercy of how accurate/representative the photos are. As a photographer, I know how easy it is to fake it, and as a sometime-seller (not how I make my money), I know how hard it is to resist "optimizing" the appearance of what you are selling. You can get ten of us to agree on what is the best-looking online photo, but that has little to do with what will be the real-world best-looking gem -- unless it's a vendor you know and trust and who has an iron-clad return policy.