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Blue sapphire on tight budget, help!

Steahl

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Sep 21, 2015
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Hello all!

First time poster, long time lurker, and all that . This forum is amazing, and I'm hoping to benefit by the experts on here! By now I feel like I can find a decent diamond thanks to this forum, but I'm a bit out of my depth with colored stones, and in need of help!

Long story short, I have the amazing honour of helping my sister's bf find an engagement ring for her. She fell in love as a little girl with Princess Di's blue sapphire ring and has always wanted a (slightly modernized) replica as her e-ring. I've asked David Klass for a quote for the setting (14k wg pave halo), and his price has left us with around $600usd budgeted for the stone. From reading on here,
I presume it will be a tough challenge to find something great for that price, so part of my question is, what should a realistic budget be, for a 7x5 - 8x6 oval, royal blue, well cut sapphire? I think heat treatment will have to be ok.

I have started reading up on all the recommended threads and stickies, but hoping to find a handful of recommendations as a starting point while I become educated. Any help would be fabulous! Sister's bf is hoping to propose by end of summer, so that puts him in a bit of a time constraint as well.

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to learning from you all!
 

Niel

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Hey what setting is he having made?
 

chroman

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marymm - good call; I see at least one promising listing on LT ;-)
 

Steahl

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@Niel, this is the inspiration ring I sent to DK for a quote! https://www.pricescope.com/blog/jewel-week-sapphire-halo-engagement-ring
I have looked around for a stock setting as well and have found a few options, but I'm concerned about pave quality...I'm open to options tho! Another concern is if I can find a stock setting that would accommodate a whacky oval measurement like 7.10x5.3, etc, without having gaps and airlines.

I've looked through DB and LT, that 1.06ct AGL certed oval did catch my eye, any opinions on it? It seems like the right colour and the cut seems good. This is the one:

http://www.diamondbistro.com/category/229/Sapphire/listings/47601/106ct-Blue-Sapphire-AGL-heat-only.html

I've also emailed gemfix to ask if there's anything available in my budget, so I'll wait to see what they come back with.

I really don't want to have to sacrifice cut quality if possible, having lived with a dull diamond I know how easy it is to fall out of love with an e-ring cause the thing don't sparkle :-/ Is $600 pretty unrealistic for my expectations?
 

Niel

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Well it's not a lot of money, and blue sapphire prices are crazy high. How much is the setting costing?
Does it have to be an oval? Have to be blue? Have to have diamonds in the band, rather than how princess Diana's is?

It's perfectly fine if those are the answers, I was just thinking of things that might help with the cost
 

Steahl

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chroman|1465769698|4043353 said:
marymm - good call; I see at least one promising listing on LT ;-)

I'd love to know which one has caught your eye? :)
 

Steahl

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Niel|1465773310|4043370 said:
Well it's not a lot of money, and blue sapphire prices are crazy high. How much is the setting costing?
Does it have to be an oval? Have to be blue? Have to have diamonds in the band, rather than how princess Diana's is?

It's perfectly fine if those are the answers, I was just thinking of things that might help with the cost

Yes to all those, unfortunately. As a trade off she's going with a plain wg wedding band. As far as shape, I think an ovaly cushion would be fine too.
 

arkieb1

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I'd be tempted to put a halo around the centre stone only and have a plain metal shank, that will increase your budget for the stone and reduce the cost of the setting a bit.
 

Niel

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arkieb1|1465775010|4043386 said:
I'd be tempted to put a halo around the centre stone only and have a plain metal shank, that will increase your budget for the stone and reduce the cost of the setting a bit.

In my mind a plain shank halo with a diamond wedding band seems more cohesive than an all pave halo with a plain wedding band. Same amount of pave,just not "top heavy" by having it all the pave on one thing. Plus, you can find cheap wedding bands with diamonds


Just an idea. I'm still looking for a 600 stone
 

agingsparkle

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This is at 714 with the current gem sale, but I believe that ends today... https://www.etsy.com/listing/204802742/sale-certified-ceylon-sapphire-oval-14?ga_search_query=sapphire&ref=shop_items_search_11

I'm not sure what the setting is costing you, but here's one in a diamond halo at JuliaB (there's a video link in there) https://www.etsy.com/listing/197878135/blue-sapphire-engagement-ring-agl?ref=shop_home_active_26 and it might also be worth asking her what other blue sapphires she has (in rings or unset) as she often seems to have ones that haven't made it to etsy yet.

Good luck!!
 

Steahl

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Budget for setting + stone is $3000 cad so unless the dollar changes, that's $2340usd at the moment.

Plain wedding band is also a workplace requirement, and plus, I've run that idea by her (I've looked at this from so many angles lol) and it's not the look she's going for. I've personally tried on an oval sapphire halo with plain shank, and I have to agree with her, it doesn't quite do it for me either :-/ I love that look with a diamond tho, go figure haha.

Any opinions on Natural Sapphire Company? It seems they get mixed reviews here, but I've found a handful of options that seem beautiful to me and are under budget. Which is actually making me think I'm overlooking something obvious, but maybe you all can correct my thinking once I post a few? I'll get to my laptop later tonight.
 

Steahl

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Steahl

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caf|1465793411|4043464 said:
Love dogs:

This one that you found is very pretty. good work. Maybe they can make it work and extend budget a bit/

www.diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/loose-sapphire-101ct-blue-cushion-cut-sapphire-antique-vibe-r5627""""

It is very pretty! Unfortunately $3600usd is ~$4600cad, and way out of budget...

Thanks for looking, folks! When I talked to my sister about plan b, should her dream ring be out of budget, she said she would love an antique diamond over a different style of sapphire ring. So if I absolutely cannot find a great sapphire oval or elongated cushion, I'll focus on finding an antique ring. I'll start a different thread If that happens. :) for now, I'm still pretty keen to make the sapphire happen if possible
 

VirginiaZee

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Quick question about blue... your sister wants royal blue, which can be rather dark (like Diana's ring). Is that darker blue your sister's ideal color, or is Di's ring the style that she likes vs. the actual color/tone of the sapphire? My concern is that some of the darker sapphires might go very dark in a setting (just something to be aware of).

Completely out of the box, but if she's also interested in antique rings (and wouldn't care about maybe wearing the engagement ring on a different finger from her wedding band) there's this diamond and sapphire ring on Grace's website: http://www.jewelsbygrace.com/1-42ctw-3-stone-old-european-cut-diamond-and-sapphire-ring (about $350 USD over budget, might accept offers).
 

Steahl

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@VirginiaZee :love: I'd wear that!! TOTALLY not her taste though...I've tried to talk her into similar styles, but no cigar.

The tone does worry me, which is why I feel the cut is important. I don't think she'll mind a dark sapphire, as long as it doesn't go black indoors and still gives off blue flashes, if that makes sense? I don't think she would be able to give me an exact colour level preference, but I know that light blue wouldn't do it. The stones I've linked to, do you think those are too dark? Hard to gauge from internet pics...
 

lovedogs

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Steahl|1465826340|4043543 said:

I like these, but do worry about them being over dark indoors. The owner at Litnon (forget his name right now) is very nice, so I'd shoot him an email with what you're looking for and see what he thinks about that stone you linked (or if he has anything else that might work).

I'd actually recommend writing a similar email to Dana at Mastercut gems, since he is also very nice and helpful.
 

lovedogs

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lovedogs|1465790720|4043460 said:


So are all of these (in budget) a no-go because of the sapphire shape? Just want to check--I think they're worth showing her, but of course you know her best :)
 

Steahl

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lovedogs|1465834023|4043571 said:
lovedogs|1465790720|4043460 said:


So are all of these (in budget) a no-go because of the sapphire shape? Just want to check--I think they're worth showing her, but of course you know her best :)

The best way I can describe it is this: Her holy grail is a sapphire oval halo. She doesn't have a particular love for any and all sapphires, she just adores that specific Princess Di look (just modernized a bit). She's not super fond of other stone shapes, and even some types of halos won't do it. Ie, anything bezeled she has a, ahem, very strong reaction to lol. Now, if she can't have the Princess Di halo, she'll go for just about any diamond ring, with just a preference here and there. She wants to be surprised though, and doesn't want to be tipped off as to when the proposal is near, so I've done my best to figure out her EXACT preferences so that I can help her BF, with 0 input from her, from here on out. So I guess what I'm saying is there's ideally not a whole lot of give to this particular style, but if I can't find her something gorgeous in his budget, then we're starting over and focusing on a vintage diamond instead. Hope that makes sense?
 

Steahl

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I've ended up with a handful of good leads this morning!

There's this: a bit out of budget but likely doable. http://www.thegemtrader.com/Aug15BSapphirePage.htm

Also found Roger Dery of spectralgem in the recommended vendors sticky, his cutting looks beautiful and he has a nice selection of blue ovals that I think will work! I hesitantly emailed him, expecting him to be way out of budget, but I just got an email back, and even though he is a bit higher than $600, I think we can make it work!
These 2 are my favorite so far, I'll have to email and ask about performance indoors, etc, but to my untrained eye these look perfect. What do you guys think?
http://www.spectralgems.net/sapphire/sapphireblueoval1_09ct_1539/ About $845

http://www.spectralgems.net/sapphire/sapphireblueoval_96ct_1540/ About $744

(ETA all of these come with AGL report stating heat only treatment)
 

lovedogs

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Steahl|1465836382|4043576 said:
I've ended up with a handful of good leads this morning!

There's this: a bit out of budget but likely doable. http://www.thegemtrader.com/Aug15BSapphirePage.htm

Also found Roger Dery of spectralgem in the recommended vendors sticky, his cutting looks beautiful and he has a nice selection of blue ovals that I think will work! I hesitantly emailed him, expecting him to be way out of budget, but I just got an email back, and even though he is a bit higher than $600, I think we can make it work!
These 2 are my favorite so far, I'll have to email and ask about performance indoors, etc, but to my untrained eye these look perfect. What do you guys think?
http://www.spectralgems.net/sapphire/sapphireblueoval1_09ct_1539/ About $845

http://www.spectralgems.net/sapphire/sapphireblueoval_96ct_1540/ About $744

(ETA all of these come with AGL report stating heat only treatment)


ooh, I love these options! I always hesitate to recommend Roger to people on a budget since he doesn't list prices, and some of his stones are pricey (although worth it IMHO because he is incredible). But I'm so glad you wrote him! I love both of these options, and think they would look great.

I honestly like all of the options. I would write both vendors and ask about how they perform indoors, under low light, etc, since the concern would be maybe going "dark" inside or looking black. They all look lively and not over-dark, but I think it's worth asking. Both Brad and Roger are great vendors so will give you honest answers. I think this will end up being beautiful!
 

Steahl

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Ack! That's really encouraging to hear! :) I've emailed Roger to ask about performance, and then wrote him again asking to put them on hold. Lurkers have me all paranoid haha
 

Arcadian

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The stones from Roger look great! :appl: I have a preference on the first over the 2nd. I tend to like more med. blue than dark.
 
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