CaseyLouLou’s gemstone adventures

[CaseyLouLou]

I decided to start my own thread as others have done so that everyone can choose to see my latest projects without spamming the board with multiple posts.

I have a few ring projects in the works. I have been hunting for affordable used settings so that I can finally set some of my loose stones. I have compiled quite a collection after developing an addiction thanks to PS!

My latest gemstone search has been for a silky blue sapphire and I may have found one. I think it’s finally time to stop buying gems (yeah, right) and get more of them set.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Here’s the sapphire I’m just about ready to pull the trigger on. It’s a 1.79ct heated, silky blue “roval”.

I am hoping this one is as nice as @Bron357 or @Rfisher or @Acinom or at least close. My budget is usually quite limited but this will be the biggest gemstone purchase ever for me. It’s $1200 and I’m hoping that’s reasonable.

Here are some video screenshots of the stone.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Sunlight


Lower lighting

 

[elle_71125]

Yay for starting your own thread. All the cool kids are doing it.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Where did you find that?! It's velvet goodness and I wanna know! If it as good when in hand it's a score!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Where did you find that?! It's velvet goodness and I wanna know! If it as good when in hand it's a score!

I’m so happy to hear you say that because I kind of felt like I had to make a decision before I could get any feedback. Despite the fact that I despise shopping on Instagram, I wasn’t having any luck find anything so I reached out to a couple of random vendors that seemed to have some nice inventory. I sent photos of the examples from PS and asked for silky/glowy and this one was given as an option. The vendor was super helpful with lots of videos and info and described it as sleepy and vivid. I just couldn’t imagine that I was going to do any better within my budget and since he will allow me to return it to a U.S. location if needed, I decided to jump on it. If it all works out I will definitely share the vendor’s name.

I was definitely going for velvet and not too dark and sleepy/silky and this seems like it meets all the criteria. It’s a bit bigger than I was expecting to find too. It heated but that’s fine with me.

 

[Rfisher]

Can’t wait to see it!

Ability to return to a stateside address is a huge plus - IMO

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

I am super interested to see lots of pics. Velvet and royal/med blue like that isn't that common and they are almost never on the more affordable side. Fingers crossed that it turns out to be the find I hope it is

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Can’t wait to see it!

Ability to return to a stateside address is a huge plus - IMO

Do you think it has potential from what you are seeing from the photos based on your experience?

I am super interested to see lots of pics. Velvet and royal/med blue like that isn't that common and they are almost never on the more affordable side. Fingers crossed that it turns out to be the find I hope it is

It’s interesting because the seller is calling it cornflower blue. He doesn’t think it’s royal. I wanted something in between which I have seen called “velvet” and from the photos I’m feeling like it could be right on.

 

[Autumn in New England]

The color (and silk level) look fabulous in the photos! I'm crossing my fingers that it ticks all of the boxes in person!!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

The color (and silk level) look fabulous in the photos! I'm crossing my fingers that it ticks all of the boxes in person!!

Thank you. So here’s something interesting that I have noticed while learning about sapphires. It seems that trade ideal stones typically have less silk than this unless it’s one of those Kashmir ones in which case they look pretty silky to me. So I’m confused because “too much silk” seems to bring the price down which is great for me but it makes no sense when the coveted, outrageously expensive Kashmir stones look exactly the same.

Here’s the $7 million Kashmir ring.



Here’s mine, albeit a lot smaller and heated but I am happy to save the millions.

 

[Autumn in New England]

Yes, you're right... there's a fine line in terms of silk, and other factors also play a part. A little silk can be desirable. I think of it in terms of still wanting to clearly see all pavilion facets through the table. A little silk sort of scatters the light play and creates that glow we all love. But, as was mentioned previously your other thread, the intense coloration has to be there as well (lower tone and very vivid saturation) in order to experience that effect. Provided you have those two qualities, the result can be a very special (and valuable) stone indeed. But it's impossible to accurately judge these features by comparing photos alone.

Kashmir sapphires are exceedingly rare, hence the much higher price tag than gems of similar quality from another mine. But they also tend to possess incredible saturation, along with their signature silk. Even if the clarity isn't ideal, they'll still command super high premiums. That all being said, too much silk can cloud the stone. And if you couple that with less-than-ideal saturation, you have an unremarkable stone. It's such a delicate balance, my friend!

 

[Acinom]

Based on these photos this stone looks stunning! I find it heard to judge sapphires based on pics alone. But it looks like you might have found a winner. And it’s good that US returns are possible.
I can’t wait to learn if you will indeed order this stone and if you love it in real life.
It looks saturated, the colour is amazing as well as the silky quality. Great price too if it meets expectations.

 

[Acinom]

Yay for starting your own thread. All the cool kids are doing it.

I agree!
Cool thread. Looking forward to see and read about your gemstone adventures.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

I purchased this ring for the setting for $299 on eBay but now I’m not sure what to do. I don’t know if the 1ct 7x5mm sapphire in it is natural or lab grown but it’s very nice and sparkly. It’s a bit dark but not at all ugly dark. It’s very clear with a loupe so I’m guessing lab. The diamonds are very high quality and bright and sparkly. It’s 14k. The seller said her jeweler thinks it’s natural and that vintage rings sometimes do have nice sapphires in them. It does have a small window.

I had planned to replace it with a blue zircon but now I’m thinking of just having the ring sized and wear it as is for a while. It’s only a size 4.5 so it fits my pinky. Hopefully sizing won’t be a problem. I’m not sure I want to bother with a lab cert to find out it’s a Chatham. I don’t really need another sapphire ring either. Decisions.

Anyway, the awesome thing about this setting is that I had admired a very similar ring in the jewelry store where I worked in high school and college. The band looks like a ribbon and the taper is very flattering and it’s low set on the finger. I was so excited when I found this. I think the one in the store had an amethyst.

Here are a few photos. It looks brand new.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Introducing my new Merelani mint garnet ring in a preowned setting that had an ugly dark sapphire in it. The setting has really nice diamonds and the garnet sparkles like crazy. As you may know, I’m not a green fan but this green is a pastel, minty, blue-green and I am absolutely in love with it. It’s a .76ct garnet.

I love the shape of this ring. Hopefully I’m wearing it in the right orientation.



Here is the before photo

 

[Autumn in New England]

It's gorgeous, @CaseyLouLou! Congrats!! And you can wear these chevron type shapes in either direction. I wear them the other way 'round, but I think most folks wear them as you are. Enjoy!!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

I can’t get over all the colors in this mint garnet. I have had this in a gem box for several months and didn’t even realize how much I was going to love it in a ring. Here’s a closeup of the stone.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

@CaseyLouLou, holy night and day! It is so pretty. That minty color is fabulous.

 

[Acinom]

I can’t get over all the colors in this mint garnet. I have had this in a gem box for several months and didn’t even realize how much I was going to love it in a ring. Here’s a closeup of the stone.

Stunning!!! What a stone! and it indeed sparks in your pretty setting. Great choice. I can see why you can’t stop looking at your beautiful ring

 

[CaseyLouLou]

Stunning!!! What a stone! and it indeed sparks in your pretty setting. Great choice. I can see why you can’t stop looking at your beautiful ring

Thank you. It even does rainbows!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

And I just remembered it’s fluorescent under UV. It looks pink but it’s actually orange. Looks like one of the diamonds has fluorescence too.

 

[Rfisher]

@CaseyLouLou
Did you pull the trigger on that 1.79 roval? If so- when do you expect to receive it? Inquiring minds…….

Your mint garnet is beautiful! - the ring you put it in, too!

 

[CaseyLouLou]

@CaseyLouLou
Did you pull the trigger on that 1.79 roval? If so- when do you expect to receive it? Inquiring minds…….

Your mint garnet is beautiful! - the ring you put it in, too!

I did pull the trigger! How could I not? Lol. It just got it’s very own lab report from GGTL stating it’s cornflower blue if that means anything. It looks slightly darker than that to me but that’s what I wanted.

It is getting packed at customs and then will be shipped on Wed via FedEx so however long that takes to get to CA and I will have it. I’m excited and nervous.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

I meant to post more photos of this one earlier this week after I posted it on the under $2k thread. This one was under $1k.

It’s a vintage setting that I’m guessing is from the 1940’s but I really don’t know. It’s 18k rose gold. The diamonds are tiny but sparkly and I love the shape of the ring.

The spinel is from Vance gems and is a reddish, raspberry pink and it is also super sparkly but it did get a bit darker in this setting. I like the color because it’s not as bright as some of my spinels so it will go with more outfits. The overall effect is very nice and some part of it is always glittering.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

@CaseyLouLou
Did you pull the trigger on that 1.79 roval? If so- when do you expect to receive it? Inquiring minds…….

Your mint garnet is beautiful! - the ring you put it in, too!

It’s here! I have only had it for about an hour so I still need to play with it some more but I think it’s a good one - for the price I’m willing to pay anyway. Here are some photos in various lighting. It doesn’t go black easily and the photos in low light are darker than in reality. The photos in the sun I had to desaturate because iPhones are notorious for overdoing the blue. These are fairly accurate to my eye except for the dark ones.

It’s maybe a bit on the cloudy side is my only issue with it but in the sun it absolutely glows a gorgeous blue.

 

[Autumn in New England]

It sounds like you are quite pleased with it, Casey! Glowy indeed... congrats and enjoy!!

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

First blush: the pictures were pretty accurate, so that's a pleasant outcome.
I happen to love it, but then I'm a silky fan. Play with it for awhile and tell us what you think.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

It sounds like you are quite pleased with it, Casey! Glowy indeed... congrats and enjoy!!

Yes, I am pleased with it and it’s pretty much as expected but the funny thing is that I got my other sapphire ring back from GIA today and now I can compare them. It turns out that I might love my eBay one even more but it really depends on the lighting.

I haven’t had enough time to experiment yet but it seems that the new glowy 1.8ct one is best in the sun and the eBay one is best indoors because it’s more transparent and also very saturated without being too dark. I think the eBay 1.3ct sapphire might be an extremely high quality one given that is doesn’t have any inclusions and it was so hard for anyone to be convinced it was natural.

Another funny thing about the eBay ring is that when I was emailing the seller to inquire if he was sure it was natural, he started demanding I return it and to hurry up and send it back because clearly I didn’t want it. Then when I finally told him I was keeping it he said he was disappointed because his mom wanted it. I think he might have realized it’s value. I got lucky!

Back to the new 1.8ct, I happened to find an antique setting on Etsy that I think will fit perfectly. It has a square replacement garnet in it but it’s not a perfectly square setting and the garnet is slightly too small. My new stone is almost round at 7x7.8mm. I did a mock up and the ring looks better with the roval in my opinion.

Photos coming soon.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

First blush: the pictures were pretty accurate, so that's a pleasant outcome.
I happen to love it, but then I'm a silky fan. Play with it for awhile and tell us what you think.

I’m sure I will be posting a lot of photos over the weekend! Here are some comparing the sparkly eBay sapphire ring with the silky new sapphire.