Antique sapphire ring... help?

[antiquejewels]

Hi there,
I''m new here. Sort of I used to post often when we were purchasing my engagment ring, and you all helped me pick the perfect stone!
I am looking at purchasing an antique sapphire engagement ring for a right hand ring. The jeweler has agreed to sell it for $550. Here''s a photo. Please let me know what you think of the color/ face up of the stone. I don''t have table values etc. but the stone is 1.25 cts sapphire. It is very sparkly and a nice cornflower blue color. The diamonds tcw is 0.25(4 baguettes) and they are G color and SI1 or better. The metal is 14kt white gold and the scroll work is mint, not worn at all. The band is included... He says that the set would appraise for well over $3000. Do you think that is a good purchase?

 

[velouriaL]

!!!

Some people have all the luck...

 

[valeria101]

$3000 ?! ROL ? (that's Romanian currency) Well, if anyone would write an appraisal sayng "replacement cost $ 3000" than, yes, he is right about the potential appraisal value.

There seems to be a psichologic limit at $500 for any piece of jewelry, so yeah... it would probably be hard to find a replacement for less than the asking price. If you like this, why not.

In the picture I see here the stone looks light green rather than blue, but then, the lighting is colored too (reddish), so there is no telling. The piece is new, of course.

 

[antiquejewels]

Sorry! I should have specified. This piece is a set recovered from an estate sale. It''s an authentic piece from the 1930s.
Are you then saying that this piece is not worth $3000?

 

[valeria101]

It is hard to know if it was made a couple of decades ago, when rings are made the same today... Anyway, it does not appear to me that age adds to the appeal. It would, if, say, the engraving would be handmade which may not come on a setting worth a few hundred regardless. Otherwise, age just means "tarnish". Neither wear or small details of the make can be seen in the picture.

I think the price is ok-ish relative to comparable pieces I can remember of. The 3k claim sounds rather too optimistic... at least to me, that is. To believe, I'd have to imagine someone actually buying the piece for 3k, and that seems, well, surreal.

 

[antiquejewels]

I removed the red from the photo to give a better idea of the color of the stone. I think that it is a desirable color isn''t it?
You seem pretty negative valerie abou this purchase. Can you recommend a location/site where authentic antique rings can be purchased? I know that as you said it doesn''t make it more valuable, but to me an antique ring seems romantic and special somehow.

 

[antiquejewels]

Another photo....

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/21/2004 6:34:57 PM
Author: antiquejewels
I removed the red from the photo to give a better idea of the color of the stone. I think that it is a desirable color isn''t it?

Not negative, really... the price seems right. The rings look nice. I just do not understand what the $3000 appraisal potential is all about.

I did the same with the picture. To me, the result looks grayish... greenish blue. Not that''s ugly by nature, but steel-blue is not what makes sapphire expensive, nice or not nice.

I see no reason not to purchase a piece that you obviously seem to like for what it is. If it is the bargain status of the rings that make them attractive to you more than the looks, does it make sense to ask professional advice ? After all, from $550 to $3k is quite a distance - enough to accommodate a small appraisal fee. Besides, the one way to check the seller''s claim is to actually have the piece appraised by a third party, I would think.

If I only knew where to buy jewelry for a sixth of it''s worth,

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 12/21/2004 6:34:57 PM
Author: antiquejewels

Can you recommend a location/site where authentic antique rings can be purchased?

HI:

Forgive my inertia, but for the life of me I cannot recall which PS forum I saw a list compiled of favorite antique websites. But for starters I would try Nelson Rarities, RJ Phillips (spelling? British/Royal Family ties), Faye Cullen, and on Ebay the vendor, melonypino (Mel''s Antiques). Happy searching!!

Cheers--Sharon

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Hi A.J.

Although the wedding band pictured could possibly be from the 30's (or possibly a reproduction), I'm fairly certain that solitaire ring is probably not more than two decades old, if that much.

My gut instinct is that it didn't originally come with that sapphire, either. Probably a diamond was in there originally, or it was a "semi-mounting" (minus a center stone, with the sapphire added).

If the ring and sapphire is really from the 30's, the sapphire would be an unheated stone, which would be easy enough for an experienced gemologist to check out. He could also estimate age by the method of manufacture, mounting wear and workmanship.

The $550 price tag is very good. Sounds like it's priced at wholesale, or a little less than wholesale. A more realistic retail appraisal on it would probably be in the $1200 to $1500 neighborhood. $3000 is pretty optimistic.

The sapphire looks to be a "fair" quality, on a scale of
Gem Fine Good Fair Below Average

Fair can be pretty. You should ask the dealer if you can purchase contigent upon it appraising out to your satisfaction, with right-of-return for ANY REASON within a reasonable return perioid (10 days?)

 

[strmrdr]

If you like it its probable worth the $550 but dont buy it thinking its worth $3000 or $1200 for that matter.
You have to evaluate it as a $550 ring set to see if you still want it.
Looking at it any other way value wise would be a mistake.
Any jewlery on the secondary market is only worth as much as you can find someone to pay for it.
In this case someone in the business figures thats in the $550 range.
Do you know jewlery better than they do?

 

[beginswithT]

Well, I ahve to say that I have been looking for a substantially-sized sapphire in an antique or antique-looking wg setting for less than $500 (but $550 will do!) for quite some time. I have not found anything as nice as what you have there for anywhere near that price.

For example, here is a 1.25 sapphire set in 18k wg antique reproduction ring from faycullen.com

For $1,560

Is the faycullen ring WORTH $1,560? No... but that is how much it would cost me to buy it.

Here is an antique-style setting from diamondsbylauren.com that costs $150-

Here is a 1.29 oval sapphire from imperialjewels.com --

That costs $77.40

Which goes to show that you can probably put together a beautiful, cheap ring... but it''s all a matter of finding the stone that fits with the setting or vice-versa or paying to get a jeweler to custom-make a setting, which is where the price begins to go way, way up. I''ve been searching for months for a round sapphire 6.25-7.27mm to go into some settings I picked out, and i''m going nuts.

I say-- the ring is a good value. You''re not getting a $3,500 ring for $550, you''re getting a $550 ring that someone (perhaps in a mall store) COULD sell to an uneducated shopper for $3,500. I would say that it could be sold to an educated one for...maybe... $750 - $1200.

If you don''t get it, maybe I will. See my threads about searching for a $500 sapphire e-ring for my girlfriend. PM me if you want to pass on it.

 

[antiquejewels]

Well,
Thank you all so much for your sincere advice! I really did fall in love with this set and so I purchased it. Well my husband did, and I can''t have it or see it until christmas. I will let you know how it looks in person!
I did notice that I said that the setting diamonds were 0.25ctw but they are actually 0.35ctw. I wasn''t really concerned that the set be worth $3000. The value isn''t what made me want this set. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn''t being ripped off. And based on what I''ve seen here and the websites with antique jewelry I think that I''ve done pretty well.
Thanks again!
Jennifer

BeginswithT if I see something that I think you''d like within your price range I''ll let you know!
Merry christmas!

 

[innerkitten]

Nice ring but it doesn''t strike me as being from that time period either. It does look more recent. Take a lok at some of the pictures of antique jewelry online. I like these sites.

www.wannabuyawatch.com
http://www.langjewelry.com/

 

[belle]

congratulations on your purchase!!! you know you will have to post some pics!!!! Merry Christmas to you!

 

[Hest88]

Innerkitten, I didn''t know Lang had a website! They have one of the most drool-worthy windows in SF.

 

[innerkitten]

Hest they just got one !

Jennifer congratulations on your purchase