asscher cut sapphires & emerald cut sapphires?

[londonblue]

hi,

i''m not that new to this board, but this is my first time posting
right now i''m just researching.. my gf and i were wondering if there are Asscher cut sapphires? or even Royal Asscher cut sapphires? she likes the cut, but was looking for it on a sapphire. do they exist? i''ve yet to find one on the net.

also a friend of mine said that an emerald cut for a sapphire isn''t recommended as it''s more prone to fracturing? is that correct? i''ve yet to figure out the properties of different crystal systems.. so does that mean an Asscher style emerald cut should be avoided?

Thanks!

 

[valeria101]

Look HERE

no idea what your friend means... just because the shape is popular enough for sapphire and has been around for ages. If this is what she likes, there is no inherent detraction to step cut sapphire that ever passed me by. It may take complicated science to figure out why these are considered so elegant and are less often cut than brilliant types, but you may as well start with the conclusion.

There is more... down this LINK

 

[chantal990]

I have never heard anything like that about Asscher and Emerald cuts in sapphires. I am currently on the hunt for an asscher cut sapphire but finding them a little hard to trabk down in a decent cut at a reasonable price.

Good luck with your search London Blue

 

[londonblue]

thanks for the reponses!

I''ve read about cherrypicked, but never had chance to visit. Their sapphires are quite lovely, but I''m curious exactly how representative are the images, especially in terms of color and brilliance? I assume they''re magnified?

And I''ve yet to find an Asscher cut sapphire.. please point the way if you have any examples EmeraldGirl
What is the price range of the ones you found?

So are sapphires more often cut for brilliance than color? I had assumed that sapphires, like emeralds were often cut for color. I definitely do like the look of the cushion cut sapphire though!

 

[strmrdr]

Calling any cut in colored sapphire asscher would be a misuse of the term in my opinion the material is too dark to display the asscher pattern properly.
Square emerald yep asscher nope.

The emerald cuts to avoid in my opinion are the long narrow ones.
I havent seen one yet that didnt badly window at the slightest tilt.
The more squarish ones are awesome.

just my 2c :}

 

[strmrdr]

yummy:
http://www.ajsgems.com/SAP/SAP-00547.htm

yucky:
http://www.ajsgems.com/SAP/SAP-00111.htm

 

[Michael_E]

londonblue,
It doesn''t matter how a sapphire is cut as far as it''s durability. Unless the stone is severely flawed it is almost immune to anything that you could do to it without a hammer in hand. I cut a fair number of sapphires and when I need to cut a rough stone into several parts I will saw it over 50% of the way through and then set it in a "V" shaped block of steel and tap it with a hammer to break it on that line the rest of the way through. Once a stone is cut, polished and set into a mounting you are more likely to hurt the mounting than the stone. O.K., maybe a surface chip now and then, but I''ve never seen one broken in two.
As far as Ascher cuts, well that will be tough. A properly designed Asscher cut in sapphire will need to be at least 65% depth to width ratio and 70% would be better. This makes the face up size of the stone small compared to it''s weight and this is just the opposite of how most sapphires are cut. (Many sapphires come from river tumbled pebbles that are oval in shape and are then cut to maximize their finished weight and faceup size). You don''t mention how large of a stone that you are looking for, but it would be possible to take a deeply cut round or fat oval stone and re-cut it to an Asscher. You would most likely lose 30% to 40% of it''s weight, but if you are looking for a specific cut then this may be your best bet.

 

[chantal990]

LOndonBlue - The only asscher cut sapphires I have been able to find have been created stones. I agree with what everyone else has said about the emerald cut stones they are relatively easy to find.

Stmrdr - would it be possible to have an Asscher cut on a really light blue ceylon coloured one?

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 12/8/2004 5:43:36 PM
Author: Emeraldgirl

Stmrdr
- would it be possible to have an Asscher cut on a really light blue ceylon coloured one?

Sure you could have one cut that way but would it look like an asscher and perform like one?
Not likely.

What Im trying to say is that there is a difference between being cut like an asscher and being/performing like an asscher.
You can cut or have cut almost any material following the cutting diagram for the asscher cut but will it look like an asscher when your done. Not likely.

Iv seen some cz asscher cut stones and while they look decent they cant really combine the looks and the fire of the real thing.
They have either one or the other but not both.

Its a mistake to think hey I love asschers and I love sapphires lets combine them and expect a blue asscher as the outcome.
I forsee a big disapointment ahead.
The resulting stone might be pretty enough in its own right to make up for it or maybe not :}

 

[widget]

I just found a yummy "asscheresque" emerald cut sapphire at Palagems.com.

I have yet to succeed at attaching a picture to a post

...if this attempt fails, the stone can be found on page seven of the "New in Stock" list at Palagems...

widget

(Edited to add Hurray! it worked!!!!

 

[chantal990]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm pretty *drool*

 

[valeria101]

There are a few square step cut sapphires on the 'other site (link in first post), includig this below:

However, square cut sapphires are usually mixed cuts. This, just because brilliant-style facets produce more brilliant stones and give more leeway to adapt the cut model to the shape and size of the stone. Sometimes, these mixed styles do retain much of the geometric order of a step cut. I think the stone below is such a case:

It is hard to take reasonably good pictures of colored stones, and what you see on your monitor, may be quite different from what I see - not allot, but enough to make a serious difference of pedigree for sapphire. It is easy to see how far these differences go if you play a bit with your monitor settings... Pictures are a good hint, but not precise down to a hair split.

Anyway, you never really get to make a purchase like this sight unseen - there is always some return policy.

 

[londonblue]

on a whim, i thought, let's see what ebay has to offer..
as ebay is the place to go for rare and hard-to-find unusual items right?

anyway, i turned these up:

(but how easily can you even an asscher or step cut pattern on a .3-.4 diamond or sapphire on those eternity rings?)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=67727&item=4949185704

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=67727&item=4949382888

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=45404&item=4948803425

and then there was this...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10265&item=4949077380

which to me, looks like a poorly photoshop in sapphire into something, by a 0 fb seller, and a lot of shill bidding on their most recent auction of the exact same item. but i still love ebay! hehe

 

[valeria101]

Pictures are not easy to interpret... But when the photo shows a dark graish blue (like the first ring with square diamond sides, and the eternity band) and the price is low, than you've got two good arguments for "what you see is what you get".

The pictures at Facets are too worked on to say anything. The ring posted has the sapphires cut square baguette: squares with straight corners so there are no gaps in a channel setting, but fragile for prongs IMO. Tiffany uses the same for their current channel set "celebration rings" and the stones are quite nice. No idea if Facets abides by the same standard.

The last picture ? Now, that is very amateurish. If the stone really looks like that from arms' length, than that's very nice (strong saturation on a dark stone, as far as I can imagine). But chances are this picture was just the one of a batch of 100 that shows nice blue flash out of an overly dark stone that may or may not be natural after all.

Zero Ebay feedback doesn't worry me allot - after all, if I wanted to clean my jewelry box than I'd also have 0 feedback. If this is a one-off amateur, it's understandable. Selling a good sapphire with no reserve is the part that sounds worrysome. Despite the looks, internet auctions are a very dynamic market - if there is ever a true bargain, than they are definitely few and far between. After all, it takes far less time to research prices and what not online than between actual shops. Why would the potential seller of a nice thing not get himself informed at all ? If this did happen, are you sure you can trust the crazy seller ?

Just some 0.2 of course.

 

[londonblue]

ah, i see what you mean about the garish sapphires

in any case, that particular seller i wouldn't trust, seeing how all their other completed auctions were private, and the winning bidder of the most recent and the only one w/o hidden id's looks like an acct used to drive the final price up.

anyway, i personally really like this cushion cut sapphire from the front page of cherrypicked:

is this more in line of what a high quality sapphire should look like in person? i've got to get out and check out some real cushion cut sapphires!

yum yum...

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/10/2004 4:25:17 AM
Author: londonblue
ah, i see what you mean about the garish sapphires

Nope. I meant "gray" = low color saturation.

If I saw one looking anywhere near as blue as Cherry's on someone, I'd first think they're fake !

Once in a blue moon, that assumption is wrong... However, Cherrypicked specializes in such blue moons. The website of David Arnstein labels their nicest with "vivid saturation". Of the sites often cited here, Multicolour.com uses the same wording consistently (as far as I can tell) - if there happens to be any sapphire of very good color in their stock (less frequent).

Words are just as good as the seller though, so I do not imply here that every other label indicated some undersirable specimen. There is no standard for what is called what, fortunately.

The square from Cherrypicked received some expert review lately - very relevant, given that the value of that one rests as much on rarity as anything.

There is an interesting story about a sapphire being recut around here (LINK). Worth reading. After everyone admiring that stone inside out, no wonder the grading barely received a puzzled second thought (5/5 for a wonderful blue, that is). Same here (LINK).
Just my opinion, but any pedigree needs a serious doze of salt. So does my rambling ! Double doze

 

[avlatin]

valeria101

THAAAAAANNNKKKKKK YOOOOUUUUUUU!!!

i have also been looking for an e-vendor that sells high quality rubies (preferably) & sapphires.

THANKS AGAIN!

 

[avlatin]

londonblue,

WOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!

i love that sapphire with diamond sides. considering in bidding, by chance do you know anything about this vendor, is it safe?

 

[rubydick]

Date: 12/10/2004 4:44:49 AM
Author: valeria101

The square from Cherrypicked received some expert review lately - very relevant, given that the value of that one rests as much on rarity as anything....

Just my opinion, but any pedigree needs a serious doze of salt. So does my rambling ! Double doze

I should clarify my previous remarks on the square. I should have said I wouldn''t touch a stone with a "hedge" cert unless the origin was verified by another major lab. The reason is quite simple. For "preferred" origins (they really are simply ''preferred'' prejudices) such as Kashmir, a huge premium is paid by the buyer. Thus if you care how you spend your money, you should make doubly sure that the origin call by the lab is rock solid.

Hope that explains things better.