Aprraisal on a ruby.............

[Mayacamas]

< have recently bought a ruby to have set in a pendant for my mom. I liked the stone, it had pleasing shape and color, and although I knew it wasnt super high quality, I thought it was "pretty" and fair priced- I was happy when I bought it.

I have recently had the stone appraised, and it was graded as a Mong Hsu super heat treated severely included stone- not worth what I paid according to the appraiser.

I paid $540 for a 2.8 ct stone

My question is this in regards to appraisals, if an appraisal is merely for insurance value what does it actually MEAN in terms of quality?

I think the stone is pretty, but if I read that appraisal I would think the stone was junk. Does that mean the stone is junk? The reason why this is an important question is that I am about to spend $700 to have it set with diamonds, and I dont want to spend that money if its just guilding the lily.

Opinion please!

 

[valeria101]

The ruby below really is that not-too-red color, it is translucent (not transparent, not "eye clean", not brilliant - being a cab) with even texture and a fine finish and... well, it is pretty much a case of what you see is what you get. The setting makes this ring a very special piece

- "Magnificent" ... says Sotheby's

 

[mogok]

Hello,
Well some comments from my $0.02 opinion:
Most of Mong shu stones are heat treated at high temperature with flux in order to enhance both clarity and color. To say that your particular stone is "super heat treated" is just a particular appraisal way to describe this fact as it can be applied to all stones from this locality.
Now "Severely Included" well if your stone is from Mong Shu heated with flux and if it present a lot of inlcusions it means that it has probably a lot of heated flux type "worms and droplets" style fingerprint as most of the Mong Shu stones. Rubies are not diamonds and clean stones are very difficult to get (even heat treated) and for sure if you 2.8 carat ruby was clean it would have cost much more.

The point about your question is that quality and value on the market are 2 separated things: A high quality spinel has a lower value than a medium quality ruby.
To say that you have paid too much does not mean that the stone is junk, if to your opinion the stone is pretty, it is that probably the stone has some quality. Now as you say the stone is not top quality (A top quality 2.8ct ruby at this price is impossible to get) but is your appraisal an expert on rubies?
I've heard about several appraisal that are mostly diamond "engeneer type" people that look down every stone that does not sparkle, is included and is not cut to the symetrical perfection. They look at rubies like diamond and if the stone is lower that SI then it is close to junk...
Well opinions can be very differents from one appraisal to an other one.
Personally I'm not a fan of heat treated included rubies, but it does not mean that they have no value and no quality.

Hoping to have helped,

 

[mogok]

Well,
I come back as I missed one point...

The concept of value and quality are different as I said as whatever the quality of the gem the value of a given stone is depending on time and space as it represent in fact what the people are willing to pay in order to get the stone.
A given stone can have one value in one market and another in an other market.
Now quality depends on the taste of the person. Some people will find quality were other people will see junk especially when you deal with art...
Some people will see a Picasso as junk without value until they find out that this is a "Picasso"... Then it will become an expensive valuable piece of junk!

Gemstones concepts about appraisal, value and quality are very close to paintings or sculpture...

 

[rubydick]

A couple items: The flux healing treatment used for ruby does not necessarily involve temperatures of 1800+ degrees. Fluxes are used precisely because dissolution can then occur at lower temperatures. For a full report on flux healing, see my recent piece:

Fluxed Up: The fracture healing of ruby

Regarding appraisals, they exist for various reasons, not just for insurance purposes. Charles Ellias has written an excellent essay on the subject that you can see at:

Is Your Jewelry at Risk? A Guide to Choosing a Professional Jewelry Appraiser

 

[mogok]

Excellent articles! I regularly send my students in the "synthetic and treated gemstones" course I teach at AIGS to read your article on flux...
People interested by the subject may also go to see, for further illustration, some photos I've taken of flux in heated corundum and cavity filling at the following link:

inclusions photos

All the best,