advise on sapphire

[Acl]

I've gotten some very helpful advice on the last few sapphires I've posted (all of which steered me away from them), so I'm trying again with another one I'm considering.

What are your opinions on this stone?

https://www.gemsny.com/loose-sapphires/3.43-Carat-Round-Sapphire-SU40036RD/

It's so hard to tell color online (at least for me) but I know they offer a 30 day return policy so I would be safe to order it to take a look. Does it look worth a shot?

I've also got some jewelers going to Vegas next week who will be searching for something for me. Am I likely to get a better stone or better deal that way?

 

[ChanterelleJ]

Looks windowed (?) and probably a bit greyish in real life. However, AGL certified unheated, which is great, although I would prefer a full report with origin at that price point.

 

[chrono]

A bit windowed but what concerns me most is that the sapphire is the furthest thing away from vivid.

 

[Bron357]

Its not actually too windowed (it’s a modified brilliant cut) but it does have a colour zoning right through the centre. Will that annoy you?
It’s a better cut in my opinion, seeing as you pay for “carat weight” I prefer to be able to see it not have a “fat / thick bottom” underneath that you can’t see.
Again, with sapphires you do need to see them in person in natural light as those vendor videos and photos are always filmed in “optimal” conditions.
They can look very different “in the flesh”. I find that inside lighting makes mine look very dark, whereas in better lighting they look much more blue.
Mine are 9 mm and 9.10 mm diameter but just on 3 carat each.

 

[Rubybrick]

A bit windowed but what concerns me most is that the sapphire is the furthest thing away from vivid.

Color does not look great on my screen either.

 

[Acl]

This may be a silly question, but can anyone post pics of a sapphire that you know also looks great in person? I've seen many online and only a few in person, but so far with no crossover. So I'm not really sure what to look for online to know what will look good in person. I thought this one was a nice blue - what am I not looking For? Thanks.

 

[Jbows]

I think the problem is you are looking at websites that are not particularly committed to providing all high quality stones. If you find one you like, you should then request hand shots in specific lighting.

Then you can better judge. But in my LIMITED experience with it, GemsNY and NSC and even people on LoupeTroop put up enhanced photos. Roger dery’s Stones actually looked better in person than online. I’m sure that will be true of a lot of spectacular vendors. I would suggest searching the vendor photos sticky thread.

 

[MissyBeaucoup]

Blues can be distorted on your computer screen too. You might try using more than one computer to see if the images look the same. Often the hand shots are the most accurate.

 

[LilAlex]

Pretty color, imo, but not perfect of course. Lots of color zoning which you will notice but others will not. Nothing wrong with a little personality as long as it doesn't bother you. A friend who works in a very high-end vintage/estate jewelry store wears a pretty but dark sapphire with obvious color zoning -- she's worn it every day for a decade.

I had good luck with this vendor last year -- photos were conservative and not played with. Stone looked better in person than I expected (for an undersaturated shallow radiant cut sapphire) and color was accurate or even undersold the stone. For fun, look at the alex photos on GemsNY and compare them to anyone else's -- they are the same cert'ed Brazilian hematitas, etc. -- and I think they are shown accurately and unappealingly at GemsNY!

I really like unheated Ceylon -- especially in bright direct sunlight. If it's returnable, maybe try it?

About posting photos, my wife's small unheated cornflower-blue Ceylon looks pretty in all light but lights up like a blue LED in direct sunlight. I don't think I can capture a picture of that. I don't think it's fluorescence -- I think it's just "enough" silk to disperse the light. One more reason to like unheated, if it's in the budget.

 

[MollyMalone]

This may be a silly question, but can anyone post pics of a sapphire that you know also looks great in person? I've seen many online and only a few in person, but so far with no crossover. So I'm not really sure what to look for online to know what will look good in person. I thought this one was a nice blue - what am I not looking For? Thanks.

Although I've ended up doing a colored gem return only twice, I go into an online stone purchase with the expectation that I'll be returning the stone once I have it in hand. Here's why:

• Even when the vendor is conscientious about posting photos that -- on his/her display -- accurately depict the stone, I have no way of knowing if my display's color calibration is in sync with theirs. And although I re-calibrate the display a couple of times a year (color calibration "drifts" over time), I'm relying on the "native" (built-in) calibration feature -- I've never made the investment in, e.g., a colorimeter that my brother, who's a real photography buff, has.

Also, check out this article to see if the browser you're using is "color-managed"; if not, switching to another browser could be useful:
https://photographylife.com/is-your-browser-color-managed​

• Colors don't all "register" the same way with each of us. E.g., I know from her comments here on PS that @chrono is more sensitive to brown in rubies & red spinels than I am.

You might find it fun to do this free variation of the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue test for color discrimination:
http://www.colormunki.com/game/huetest_kiosk​

• Photos are 2-dimensional; even videos kinda "flatten" a colored gem imo.
• And as already been said, gems perform differently in different lighting situations.

Of course, we all understand you want to minimize the potential for a return! Let me ask you this: must the sapphire be round? If you're open to other shape(s), that would expand the possibilities.