Best place to buy small Yogo sapphire

[whitewave]

I'm looking for a blue 4.5mm round Yogo sapphire. Does anyone have a recommendation for a place to contact?

I appreciate your help!

 

[chatoyancy]

They were readily available in Montana when I visited my dad. Earth's Treasury and Mastercut gems always has Montana sapphires, but I don't know if they have Yogo sapphires specifically.

 

[marymm]

Maybe check with etsy vendor Mountain Mama Gems (https://www.etsy.com/shop/MountainMommaGems) and BlazeNGems (https://blaze-n-gems.myshopify.com/)? For September BlazeNGems is having a 15% off sale...

 

[soxfan]

Caysie gets them for her bands, she'd be the first person I'd contact.

 

[whitewave]

All great suggestions, thanks! @chatoyancy @marymm @soxfan

 

[MollyMalone]

For the past 10 years or so, I've periodically trawled the Internet for a Yogo sapphire (alas, what my eyes & heart wish for has far exceeded my allocated budget for this!). But perhaps my research & past 'net surfing can be of help to you.

Here's a paragraph from the Wikipedia page on Yogo sapphires:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogo_sapphire

The Jim Adair who appears in that paragraph as one of the 2 gentlemen who purchased Citibank's huge stash of Yogo rough and cut stones, is the owner of Adair Jewelry in Missoula, MT. The web site currently shows only finished pieces with Yogos, not loose stones, but perhaps he'd be willing to sell you a loose stone -- or provide you with other leads.
http://www.adairjewelers.com/jewelry/montana-yogo-sapphire

Sofus Michelson, the other gentleman who went in on the Citbank purchase, is yogoguy on eBay; his wife Jackie also sells Yogo jewelry on eBay (under Jackelyn):
https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&_ssn=yogoguy&_sop=10
https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&_ssn=jackelyn&_sop=10
Jackie also has an etsy shop & at least one web site:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/YogoSapphiresandMore/reviews
http://www.sapphire-untreated.com
But imo the quality of the stones offered by this husband & wife isn't as good, generally speaking, as they used to be.

So I've spent more time eyeballing, e.g., Mac's Gems (also in Missoula, MT)
http://www.montanasapphires.com
http://www.montanasapphires.com/yogo-mt-sapp-loose-stones/?sort=featured
and The Gem Gallery (Bozeman, MT)
https://gemgallery.com
https://gemgallery.com/gemstones

When I went to The Gem Gallery's home page to confirm they are still in business, I was happy to see that they are having a 20% off sale that you could take advantage of until September 22. But then another photo announcement scrolled through the home page with bigger news: the owner, Don Baide, has purchased the Vortex Yogo mine.*
https://gemgallery.com/whats-new-detail-71
http://www.nationaljeweler.com/diam...-retailer-acquires-reopens-yogo-sapphire-mine
So if you don't see anything of interest on TGG's web site, you might reach out to Mr. Baide to see if he can give an ETA re new stones from the Vortex mine.

(*The mine has been closed since 2012 when Mike Roberts, the mine's previous owner, died in an accident at the mine; Richard Hughes' lovely, and informative, tribute:
http://www.ruby-sapphire.com/mike-roberts-yogo-sapphire.htm )

 

[MollyMalone]

P.S. Stephen Voynick's book, Yogo: The Great American Sapphire, is the source of much of the information on the Wikipedia page. I enjoyed it immensely & you might like to read it too:
https://www.amazon.com/Yogo-American-Sapphire-Stephen-Voynick/dp/087842217X
There are a number of second-hand copies on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_productid=292398&isRefine=true&LH_ItemCondition=2500|3000|4000|5000|6000&sl_ready=true&_sop=15

ETA article on The Yogo Sapphire Deposit from the Spring 1995 issue of GIA's Gems & Gemology journal:
https://www.gia.edu/doc/The-Yogo-Sapphire-Deposit

 

[minousbijoux]

Wow, Molly, you never cease to amaze me with your wealth of information - on a broad range of topics!

 

[whitewave]

P.S. Stephen Voynick's book, Yogo: The Great American Sapphire, is the source of much of the information on the Wikipedia page. I enjoyed it immensely & you might like to read it too:
https://www.amazon.com/Yogo-American-Sapphire-Stephen-Voynick/dp/087842217X
There are a number of second-hand copies on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_productid=292398&isRefine=true&LH_ItemCondition=2500|3000|4000|5000|6000&sl_ready=true&_sop=15

ETA article on The Yogo Sapphire Deposit from the Spring 1995 issue of GIA's Gems & Gemology journal:
https://www.gia.edu/doc/The-Yogo-Sapphire-Deposit

I am very grateful for your help, thank you.