Blue sapphires.....can I get some feedback and/or advice?

[DianaBanana]

I received my Jeff White sapphire this week....based on the photos I received, I knew I would love it....I was giddy with excitement when I was tearing open the packaging....and then.....disapointment.

This is my very first sapphire and having only seen them in photographs, magazines and jewellry stores, I was quite shocked to find how much I dislike it in various lighting (mostly inside my house). It puts on quite a show in photographs (flash) and is quite nice in daylight but everywhere else it''s just sort of blah. Maybe blah is a little strong, it''s beautiful, but it''s much darker than I was expecting.

My photos look the same as Jeff''s, it''s how it looks IRL that I''m trying to wrap my head around. For those of you with blue sapphires, are you happy with your stone in all lights? Is it possible to have sapphire that looks bright and blue indoors or is that expectation totally unrealistic?

LostSapphire, I''d love to hear from you, and if you have any photos of what your blueberry looks like inside your house (no flash), I''d love to see them!

 

[oldmancoyote]

Sapphires are notorious for "bleeding" colour in artificial light - but not for becoming darker (apart from the obvious fact that indoor lighting levels are generally lower). Is the stone looking dark even when it''s directly under a fairly strong artificial light?

 

[DianaBanana]

Yes, it''s pretty dark under the halogens in my office....it looks like a dark royal blue with sparkles of medium royal blue if I move it around a little. I was hoping it would look like the picture in my avatar, do you think it''s possible to have a sapphire look like that indoors?

 

[cushioncutnut]

Sapphires are called "day stones" for a reason. They look best in brighter/outdoor lighting. My sapphire tends to take on a dull appearance inside my house at certain times. It drives me nuts, but when I go outdoors, or am driving in my car, or sitting in a restaurant, it looks gorgeous! Your sapphire is gorgeous!!! Move around in different lighting before you express too much disappointment. You will realize in different lighting situations that you may have judged it too quickly. I guarantee you will find yourself falling in love with it many times over.

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 4/10/2009 6:20:38 PM
Author:DianaBanana
I received my Jeff White sapphire this week....based on the photos I received, I knew I would love it....I was giddy with excitement when I was tearing open the packaging....and then.....disapointment.

This is my very first sapphire and having only seen them in photographs, magazines and jewellry stores, I was quite shocked to find how much I dislike it in various lighting (mostly inside my house). It puts on quite a show in photographs (flash) and is quite nice in daylight but everywhere else it''s just sort of blah. Maybe blah is a little strong, it''s beautiful, but it''s much darker than I was expecting.

My photos look the same as Jeff''s, it''s how it looks IRL that I''m trying to wrap my head around. For those of you with blue sapphires, are you happy with your stone in all lights? Is it possible to have sapphire that looks bright and blue indoors or is that expectation totally unrealistic?

LostSapphire, I''d love to hear from you, and if you have any photos of what your blueberry looks like inside your house (no flash), I''d love to see them!

Hi dianabanana

I''ve been waiting to hear from you! I get what you mean about indoor lighting but I''ve never been actually unhappy with how it looks...right now, it''s 7 p.m. and overcast. I''m sitting with it on my desk and no, there are no flashes or sparkles in this light. BUT it is such an amazing colour of blue.

Part of what you are experiencing may be because the stone is not set. Mine came to me already set (Jeff shipped it to Whiteflash directly) so I never saw the stone "bare naked". But now that you mention your disappointment, I can see how that would happen. Without the setting around it (and those yummy fat pears!) I can see how it would look kind of blah in this light.

What surprised me the most about the blueberry was how vibrant it was on an overcast day...those 1st pics I posted of it were taken just before it started raining.

In the mornings when I have tea with sweet DH, I sit by the back kitchen window: the light hits it and he says it "shoots arrows" at him. He LOVES that. I am sure you too, will get arrows!!

It DOES change though....I''ve never taken pics of it inside with no flash...let me clean it and I''ll take a few and post them. An interesting experiment for me too!

hang on, I''ll be back.

LS

 

[T L]

Did you ask Jeff if it changed colors in certain lighting, or "held" it''s color?

 

[innerkitten]

Maybe you''re just not a sapphire person. There are so many types of stones to choose from. Or maybe you just need a different sapphire? Or a sapphire in a different color.

 

[innerkitten]

p.s. I have a midnight blue sapphire. It''s very pretty but the lighting in my house doesn''t do it any favors either. Looks great outside though and I get compliments on it when I wear it. It''s from Burma.

 

[LostSapphire]

OK so I did these in Powerpoint. Hope they''re not too big.

Quite a few pics so you can get an idea of how it changes.

LS

Outdoors @ 7:30 p.m. overcast day. These will give you some ''context'' to the indoors, I hope!

 

[LostSapphire]

"natural lighting" ie: beside the window with no lights on in the room.

 

[LostSapphire]

"incandescent lighting" ie: in the bathroom with regular light bulbs.

 

[LostSapphire]

"beside my desk" ie: desk fluorescent and one in front of the monitor

 

[LostSapphire]

"fluorescent lighting" ie: overhead fluorescent fixture

 

[LostSapphire]

In taking these pics, I am amazed at how much it changes depending on the light. But I truly believe that I get as much light/sparkle as I do in this ring because of the cutting skills of JW. I think it would just turn into a blue ''blob'' otherwise...but you can see scintillation and facets and arrows even in not-so-perfect lighting conditions.

Hope this helps.
LS

 

[DianaBanana]

Thanks LS, your pictures make me feel a million times better as that''s what my stone looks like inside too. Jeff says they''re moody stones and I couldn''t agree more! I''ve taken it with me all over the place today and it sure looks different under the various light sources, I guess I wasn''t prepared for that.


I''m sitting by the Fraser river now and the color is looking very kashmir/Burma....absolutely beautiful. My blackberry won''t let me upload so I''ll post pictures tomorrow.

I feel like a goof, I was expecting love at first sight which led to my initial disapointment. I am definitely growing to love it!

Thanks LS and all who posted, I feel MUCH better now.

 

[LostSapphire]

Glad you feel better!

I''ve never regretted setting the BLUEBERRY with a diamond melee.....the white bling helps in those moments when the lighting is not perfect. But outside in the sunshine, that darn thing FLASHES!!!

So when I see sapphires set on their own or bezelled, I wonder how they look in some lighting conditions. Especially when they don''t have an excellent cut...I''d imagine they go quite opaque.

LS

 

[chrono]

Date: 4/10/2009 6:31:29 PM
Author: oldmancoyote
Sapphires are notorious for 'bleeding' colour in artificial light - but not for becoming darker (apart from the obvious fact that indoor lighting levels are generally lower). Is the stone looking dark even when it's directly under a fairly strong artificial light?

I've heard about this too. As with all gemstones, they look their best outdoors. Mine gets a bit darker indoors but is still obviously blue; not the inky black colour.

 

[DianaBanana]

Date: 4/10/2009 6:41:53 PM
Author: cushioncutnut
Sapphires are called 'day stones' for a reason. They look best in brighter/outdoor lighting. My sapphire tends to take on a dull appearance inside my house at certain times. It drives me nuts, but when I go outdoors, or am driving in my car, or sitting in a restaurant, it looks gorgeous! Your sapphire is gorgeous!!! Move around in different lighting before you express too much disappointment. You will realize in different lighting situations that you may have judged it too quickly. I guarantee you will find yourself falling in love with it many times over.

Thank you for this comment...you're absolutely right, here is a terrible blackberry photo taken at about 6pm outdoors in overcast weather....it's got that beautiful Kashmir/Burma glow in this light....quite a personality this little stone has, what should I call him/her??

ETA - sorry for the HUGE blackberry pic....argh.

 

[DianaBanana]

Date: 4/10/2009 9:19:12 PM
Author: LostSapphire
Glad you feel better!

I''ve never regretted setting the BLUEBERRY with a diamond melee.....the white bling helps in those moments when the lighting is not perfect. But outside in the sunshine, that darn thing FLASHES!!!

So when I see sapphires set on their own or bezelled, I wonder how they look in some lighting conditions. Especially when they don''t have an excellent cut...I''d imagine they go quite opaque.

LS

Can I just say how sweet those pears are? Wow...juicy pears!

 

[DianaBanana]

Here is how I plan to set it....fat pears as well but halo''d....I think all the single cut melee will distract me from the unflattering indoor light!

 

[marcy]

Sorry you are disappointed. Your stone is a very pretty color. I have a royal blue sapphire that is a RB. It looks amazing in most light but there are times is appears dark blue but all I have to do it move my hand and I can see sparkles again. It looks amazing in sunlight and bright lights.

 

[Cind11]

My stone that I just got from Wink (cut by Richard Homer) definitely looks its best outside or under my bathroom lights for example. In fact, the color is amazing then. However, in certain places in my house, away from good light, it really looks darker than I would like. Mine is bezeled in a James Meyer setting and when he sent it to me, I was relieved that the bezel didn''t make it any darker. Maybe becaue it is so well cut. So, you are not alone!

 

[icekid]

First, I loooove your setting plans. Leon??

Second, sapphires definitely change their look greatly depending on lighting. Outdoor is definitely my favorite for mine, as well. (Though mine is a lighter/medium shade.) Some indoor lightings are great, some are meh. But overall- I love

Plus it''s fun to experiment

I bet that baby will grow on you.

 

[TravelingGal]

It''s a pretty stone DB, but I see what you mean. Glad to hear you are coming around.

LS, that was an awesome presentation and really helpful. I love your blueberry, but I''ll admit (being a novice at colored stones), I thought your stone would be closer to the color of your av in more lighting conditions. Good to know that this is normal and your stone is still gorgeous - it just has different facets of personality!

I guess this is why kasmirs are so highly valued? Is this what they mean by the fact that they don''t bleed in certain lighting conditions?

 

[ma re]

We learn something new every day - sapphires seem to be "healthy lifestyle stones"; they make you go outside more, wether you like it or not

 

[LD]

The only way to achieve the blue in your avatar indoors is to buy a much lighter Sapphire in the first place and then there''s no chance it will darken.

I''ve got to say that the picture taken with your blackberry looks gorgeous. I do hope you''re growing to love it. I''m sure when it''s set with those fabulous pears it will be stunning.

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 4/11/2009 1:50:50 AM
Author: TravelingGal

LS, that was an awesome presentation and really helpful. I love your blueberry, but I'll admit (being a novice at colored stones), I thought your stone would be closer to the color of your av in more lighting conditions.

Hey TG

Yes and No on the colour: it depends on the lighting (both artificial and natural). I could do another whole photoshoot and get "avatar pics" only....

It looks like a sunny day here today. I'll take some indoor shots later and show you what I mean. Even now (7 a.m.) with bright sun coming into my office, I can get either navy blue or shooting arrows...depends on the angle. That's what I mean about the cut. I think it allows every possible bit of scintillation ....yay Jeff White.

LS

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 4/11/2009 12:40:58 AM
Author: DianaBanana
Here is how I plan to set it....fat pears as well but halo'd....I think all the single cut melee will distract me from the unflattering indoor light!

DB: It's going to be beautiful! I have loved MissGotRocks' ring from afar for a long time! When does it go to be set? (Leon, right?). How long will it take? What kind of 'follow up date' should I be marking in my calendar??

I think the indoor lighting isn't necessarily 'unflattering', but it does change up the stone depending on conditions. And remember, when you're moving it around on your hand it doesn't stay flat and dark. But I think the diamonds adjacent to the blue really help too.

Once the sapphire is set it creates a 'package'. Even in the darkest of conditions in those pics last night, I was still in love with it. The setting is like putting a picture frame on a great piece of art. Enhances the natural beauty....

LS

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 4/11/2009 5:22:16 AM
Author: LovingDiamonds
The only way to achieve the blue in your avatar indoors is to buy a much lighter Sapphire in the first place and then there''s no chance it will darken.

I think that a lighter sapphire would still go somewhat flat. The professional pics have such amazing lighting, every single facet and arrow are evident. A lighter one would just lose those elements like a darker one.

But yes, in indoor lighting it would not get quite as dark.

LS

 

[LostSapphire]

This is the pic that totally amazed me. So DARK BLUE but you can still see arrows spiking.
LS