Fair price for lavendar sapphire

[c]

I am considering purchasing a lilac sapphire ring as a consumer, and I wonder if someone could give me a sense of how to decide if the price is fair. The ring is a lavendar ceylon sapphire, 1.46 carats, set in a bezel platinum setting. It is priced at $4250. The seller describes it as an exceptional stone. It is heated, and I don''t believe there is a cert. There is a picture of the ring/stone ont the web at:

http://www.goldberry.com/LavenderSapphireRing.html

The stone looks very clear and bright to me (I am untrained), with no clouding. I can see at least one tiny black mineral deposit, particularly with a loupe, which I beleive can be seen on the picture above as a tiny black spot just below and to the right of the center (although I''m not sure that it''s the same thing on the image, it looks about the same). The workmanship on the ring looks outstanding.


I haven''t seen other sellers who focus on high quality jewellery with colored gemstones in the San Francisco area, so it is hard for me to compare.
Thoughts on how to tell if this is reasonable would be greatly appreciated, or how to go about deciding.

Thanks

 

[AGBF]

I do not know and I don't know if even an expert could advise you without examining it given that it has no cert. Be very, very careful, though. Please. You appear fairly blasé in your description of a stone that seems flawed and the color or which may be nothing out of the ordinary and which is selling for a very high price! It makes me want to be careful on your behalf!!!

 

[mogok]

Well...
I guess that the workmanship of the ring is excellent as to what I know such a stone even in unheated quality will be maximum (for a real gemmy beauty) may be 300 dollars in Burma. Lets say that the stone was perfectly recut and sold again the max for such a pastel color cannot be more than $500 in Bangkok. Most of such stones if they are heat treated will sell for around $100 to $200 in the market.
I'm not very aware of American prices for jewelry but then there is the design, the workmanship, the platinum,...
Looks to be expensive anyway. Difficult to say as I dont see a lot of information about the ring to justify the price.
But its very difficult to judge such a thing just based on a photograph.

 

[rab]

I believe the price is too high. Each jewler has his own pricing for rings, however the style is nice but not complex. By your description the stone itself is only worth about 200-500 dollars retail depending on how good the cut is. I'd have it appraised before paying too much.

 

[Michael_E]

c,
If you break the costs of this ring into it's components then, (in the U.S.), you would pay $800 to $1200 for the metal work for this ring in platinum. That leaves over $3000 for a pale sapphire that is not even loupe clean and from the sound of it has an eye visible inclusion. This ring is overpriced by quite a lot. For that kind of money you should be getting a much, much finer sapphire. This means maybe 3 carats and substantially more intense color. I would continue looking around and perhaps even consider purchasing a loose stone and having it mounted in a similar ring, or even having one made, as that style is readily available.

Michael E.

 

[mike04456]

I concur with the others. If that picture is at all accurate, the stone is far overpriced.

 

[Hest88]

Way, way, way, way, way overpriced.

 

[valeria101]

There was just ONE answer when I started writing this!!! The message should be very clear by now

If that (awesome!) setting deserves at leats $3500, you've got a deal! The sapphie is really inexpensive, a $500-ish stone, as far as I can see - even if eye clean. And I am trying hard to be nice here

I know levander is a fashionable shade, but last-year's fashion is NOT a major criteria for sapphire.

The stone could be a nice sight, but it is not worth all that, and by far. The setting is elegant, but such a simple model can be made anywhere any time. If you get a quote for a custom ring like that, you should get a nice surprise. If the price of that piece reflects your budget, you shoud expect a stone with great color saturation and perfect pedigree for it.

 

[valeria101]

Despite the bad, gray picture, THIS stone have about the same color as yours... Just for ref.