Have you ever unknowingly purchased a synthetic Sapphire or other CS?

[2Neezers]

I just found out I did.
I had purchased my very first pre-loved finished piece of jewelry from Loupe Troop about a year ago. A lovely sapphire and diamond ring set in platinum. The ring was from a ps’er and came with an appraisal from a very well known retailer of estate pieces, so I foolishly didn’t investigate further. The appraisal was several years old, so I recently decided to send the ring off to AGL before taking it to get an updated appraisal from a local jeweler. Well, AGL called today to tell me the sapphire is synthetic. I could kick myself. This ring was over $2,000 and a rather large purchase for me.
I do believe the seller thought it was genuine, and I was given a return period, so this is on me. The good news is the setting is quite lovely and I likely have another CS that will fit in it, but it’s hard to swallow that I paid that much for just a setting.
I am mainly sharing this as a cautionary tale, but am also wondering if anyone else has had an experience like this?

 

[NKOTB]

I sold off a whole bunch of stuff for what I thought was my holy grail pad sapphire, and it turned out to be BE treated. I got a full refund, but it was still disappointing for everyone involved (the vendor got it from a supplier they had been working with for decades). I know I should be sending more of my stones to a lab in the “trust but verify” vein of PS, but it’s a lot of hassle. Do you like the stone? Is it wrecked by the fact that it’s synthetic, or could you appreciate it for what it is?
Also, I would definitely let the person you bought it from know. If I was that person, I’d want to know, and they might want to let the vendor they bought it from know (especially since I’m assuming they paid more than you did)!

ETA: 2k is actually not that bad for a platinum setting, depending on obvious factors (weight, diamonds, etc.)

 

[minousbijoux]

I sold off a whole bunch of stuff for what I thought was my holy grail pad sapphire, and it turned out to be BE treated. I got a full refund, but it was still disappointing for everyone involved (the vendor got it from a supplier they had been working with for decades). I know I should be sending more of my stones to a lab in the “trust but verify” vein of PS, but it’s a lot of hassle. Do you like the stone? Is it wrecked by the fact that it’s synthetic, or could you appreciate it for what it is?
Also, I would definitely let the person you bought it from know. If I was that person, I’d want to know, and they might want to let the vendor they bought it from know (especially since I’m assuming they paid more than you did)!

ETA: 2k is actually not that bad for a platinum setting, depending on obvious factors (weight, diamonds, etc.)

I agree completely with NKOTB (not surprising). I too had a similar experience with a padparadscha, years ago unfortunately, and there's a thread around here somewhere on my experience...

2Neezers: I'm sorry this happened. Yeah, maybe we should know better, but I chalk it up to the learning process of gemstones; none of us will repeat our experiences!

 

[2Neezers]

I sold off a whole bunch of stuff for what I thought was my holy grail pad sapphire, and it turned out to be BE treated. I got a full refund, but it was still disappointing for everyone involved (the vendor got it from a supplier they had been working with for decades). I know I should be sending more of my stones to a lab in the “trust but verify” vein of PS, but it’s a lot of hassle. Do you like the stone? Is it wrecked by the fact that it’s synthetic, or could you appreciate it for what it is?
Also, I would definitely let the person you bought it from know. If I was that person, I’d want to know, and they might want to let the vendor they bought it from know (especially since I’m assuming they paid more than you did)!

ETA: 2k is actually not that bad for a platinum setting, depending on obvious factors (weight, diamonds, etc.)

That must have been so disappointing! Especially after selling so many pieces in order to purchase the pad. I bet someone in the supply chain ended up taking a huge loss on that one.
The color of the “sapphire” was fantastic, but it did have a window that I would have been okay with if it were genuine, but will probably take it out of the setting now. My local jeweler did say that he couldn’t recreate the setting for the price I paid when I showed it to him, so that is good to know. I haven’t told the seller yet. I wasn’t sure if I should, but with what you said, I will reach out to her. Thank you for sharing

 

[2Neezers]

I agree completely with NKOTB (not surprising). I too had a similar experience with a padparadscha, years ago unfortunately, and there's a thread around here somewhere on my experience...

2Neezers: I'm sorry this happened. Yeah, maybe we should know better, but I chalk it up to the learning process of gemstones; none of us will repeat our experiences!

Hi Minou! It sounds like this might just be something that most collectors experience once, and then hopefully learn from and avoid in the future. The shock is wearing off and I feel better just sharing it here and knowing I’m not the only one this has happened to.
I do have a beautiful cushion chrysoberyl that I purchased from a lovely ps’er that is my first choice for this platinum setting if my jeweler says it will fit

 

[Bron357]

I’m inclined to think any red or blue gem synthetic until proven otherwise. I remember an auction I went to about 10 years ago. Lovely sapphire with diamonds in platinum. Outside my budget but I checked it out anyway. Oh my, I could see the tell tale glass bubbles with my Loupe. It sold for a gob smacking $11,000 plus commission. Here in Aussie land, back then, people just assumed expensive setting, must be real.
Not so.

 

[Deia]

I just purchased a pink sapphire from Ebay which the seller claims is natural, but it's over 2 cts and I paid £35 for it so my guess is synthetic. I asked the seller and she says it's a natural sapphire and it has a certificate from Earth-mined (some random India based place). She either is unaware or lying. Eiether way, I bought it fully aware it most likely won't be natural, but I am curious at what it will look like.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I have a pink sapphire ring I bought off Etsy that might be flame fusion considering how it glows under UV. Also looking at it with a loupe it appears like there is dust in the stone. It's fine though, I still enjoy the aesthetic of the ring and the setting is old Art Deco platinum with single cut diamonds.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Yep, it's happened to me too. I purchased a (most likely) heated sapphire from a PS vendor. I decided to send it off to AGL before doing anything with it as I'm unfortunately very skeptical about sapphires. It came back as synthetic. The seller was shocked and embarrassed, but they did eventually issue a refund.

I'm sorry this happened to you! But we all live and learn, and I guess that's also why AGL exists. "Trust but verify" rings true for me as almost all of the stones I keep now go there first.

 

[daneshpastry]

Why is it that there are so many CS vendors that don't provide any external certification? As far as I'm concerned, any stone over $500 should, and not those silly in-house deals either.

OP - sorry this happened to you - but it could honestly happen to anyone. Imagine, if members of this forum have been duped, what has happened to the general public??

 

[Austina]

Years ago I bought a pad from a well known vendor here in the UK. A few years later, they found out they’d been misled, and refunded all those who’d bought from them.

 

[T L]

Sapphire, and corundum in general, is one of the most highly and invasively treated materials, not to mention it has been synthesized for eons. As many have stated in this forum zillions of times, one can never be too careful when purchasing a sapphire or ruby. I personally think padparadchas and rubies are the most difficult gems to verify on the marketplace, since it's not only the myriad of treatment and synthetics out there, but the vagueness of "what is proper color. " All these factors can mean thousands of dollars lost to someone who is a novice.

 

[metall]

I'm sort of terrified of this happening, as a new jewelry collector I'm at a place where I want EVERYTHING on my wish list and I want it all now! But realistically with my small play fund, and one that is rapidly dwindling with my wants I am almost grateful that so things on my wants list are still out of my budget. It means I have to be EXTRA careful with pieces that I choose and even more careful not to jump at too good to be true pieces which might end up being very expensive mistakes.

@2Neezers I am so sorry that this happened to you! At least a pt setting will make up a lot if not most of the price difference!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Sorry that happened to you.

 

[chatoyancy]

I’m so sorry this happened to you! It is so disappointing. I’m almost positive this happened to me with what was sold as a blue spinel by a vendor at a gemshow. I seriously doubt he knew. Thankfully, it was very small and inexpensive, as it was priced as a regular blue spinel and not misrepresented as cobalt. My warning flag should have been that he had no idea of origin. I did not realize it might be synthetic until I realized it looked “off” under my bathroom lights. It also looked strikingly similar to fakes on eBay. I’m going to a larger gemshow later this month and am hoping to find a real blue spinel from one of the participating vendors I already know and trust.

 

[2Neezers]

Thank you all for sharing and commiserating with me. Hopefully someone will read this and avoid making the same mistake I did. I knew I should have sent it to AGL right away, but I really wanted to believe it was a natural sapphire and that I purchased it at great deal. My poor judgement, I know.
The actual purchase price was $2350 and with the AGL report and shipping to and from it’s up to $2500! I really purchased the ring for the big royal blue sapphire and I can’t help but think of the gorgeous genuine sapphire I could have purchased with that money. The setting is nice and I will make use of it, but I always buy fairly inexpensive settings for my CS, so it’s still hard to swallow. I think my most expensive CS setting prior to this was $420, lol.
The ring is back in my hands and AGL sent a little card stating it was synthetic and colored by diffusion.

 

[Cockatiel]

Thank you all for sharing and commiserating with me. Hopefully someone will read this and avoid making the same mistake I did. I knew I should have sent it to AGL right away, but I really wanted to believe it was a natural sapphire and that I purchased it at great deal. My poor judgement, I know.
The actual purchase price was $2350 and with the AGL report and shipping to and from it’s up to $2500! I really purchased the ring for the big royal blue sapphire and I can’t help but think of the gorgeous genuine sapphire I could have purchased with that money. The setting is nice and I will make use of it, but I always buy fairly inexpensive settings for my CS, so it’s still hard to swallow. I think my most expensive CS setting prior to this was $420, lol.
The ring is back in my hands and AGL sent a little card stating it was synthetic and colored by diffusion.

Sorry it happened to you. At least the stone is close to being a calibrated size, it's not one of those ovals with weird width to length ratio so you can at least recycle the setting with another stone to minimize the loss.

 

[Cockatiel]

It really sucks when stuff like this happens, it takes the fun out of collecting CS and makes it stressful. Navigating sapphires and rubies is like walking through a minefield. I also believe all antique spinel rings are synthetics. I also have this belief that alexandrites, and chrysoberyls (of more desirable colors, not the common greenish yellow and the like) are fakes until proven otherwise...I have some ugly (purported) jade earrings and pendants which I got as gifts, mounted in 18k or higher. I bet they are fakes or maybe 5% "jade" and 95% plastic or something, so I treat them as constume jewelry.

 

[chrono]

Fortunately no, but I also generally stay away from corundum. If I do purchase any, I usually get an AGL brief unless it is dirt cheap or accept that possibility.

 

[daneshpastry]

Question - would the AGL report still say "synthetic" if the stone was lab-grown? Or does it infer that it's a fully synthetic? I get confused by the terminology.

 

[chrono]

A synthetic means lab grown and made of the same mineral aka corundum

A simulant is a natural stone, not lab grown. It looks like corundum but could be, say, spinel or some other earth mined stone. In this case, the brief will not say synthetic but what the stone type is.

Not sure what you mean by full synthetic.

 

[daneshpastry]

A synthetic means lab grown and made of the same mineral aka corundum

A simulant is a natural stone, not lab grown. It looks like corundum but could be, say, spinel or some other earth mined stone. In this case, the brief will not say synthetic but what the stone type is.

Not sure what you mean by full synthetic.

By "full synthetic" I meant glass/plastic. In my mind, lab-grown doesn't equal synthetic, but I guess that's subjective.

 

[Frost]

Oh my, I could see the tell tale glass bubbles with my Loupe.

... just a caveat, as a gemmologist - a loupe isn't normally enough to conclusively prove or disprove anything. Rounded crystals (such as in heated corundum, for example) or healed fractures can give off the impression of gas bubbles when in fact they're not; so the only way to be able to actually tell is higher magnification.

But then on the other hand, if I saw a glassy looking sapphire with an impossibly even color and a few rounded inclusions inside, and a hint of curved growth lines, that's a different story (and a loupe wouldn't even be needed, though it would be a welcome confirmation).

On topic: yes, most recently a few months back. We bought a small piece of rough, got it cut and were in the process of taking photos when we noticed curved growth lines. Obviously a simple Verneuil synthetic. Got a lab report to prove it to the seller too and got a graceful refund and an apology.

 

[chrono]

Glass or plastic would be classified under simulant in this case.

 

[daneshpastry]

Glass or plastic would be classified under simulant in this case.

Gotcha, thank you.

 

[Frost]

The actual purchase price was $2350 and with the AGL report and shipping to and from it’s up to $2500!

Forgot to mention this part... I’m sorry that this happened to you, but a >3 carat (presumably) clean and well cut royal blue for $2,350? It’s a bit too good to be true even if you’re buying from a miner in the jungle, never mind the setting and diamonds on top of it. Though it does look a bit dark so that would diminish the value (and of course, it’s a secondhand purchase so it could have gone for whatever the owner said).

Makes me wonder though - wouldn’t it be normal and understandable to still ask for a return/refund?

I mean, it’s not like you had a return period expire and couldn’t decide on whether you liked the colour of it; it’s technically a misrepresented item, a fake. Perhaps unknowingly and perhaps with honest intentions, but the stone is what it is, intentions don’t change the end result. I bought a small “natural” piece of rough quite a while back and only recently got it cut. I noticed curved lines and knew what it was, got a report to confirm synthetic to the seller and even though it was already cut and quite a bit of time had elapsed, I still got a refund. At least within the trade, it’s an unspoken rule/code that something can be returned if there’s a real reason for it, and your reason is about as strong as any could be. It’s not a usual situation, or not like you changed your mind about the stone frivolously months after the purchase; the stone isn’t what it was claimed to be.

 

[Bron357]

It’s even more alarming that they are now manufacturing synthetic gems complete with natural looking flaws.
There’s actually nothing “wrong” with synthetics, they wear well and look beautiful BUT you don’t want to be paying the price for a “natural” and actually getting a “man made”.

 

[Bron357]

Forgot to mention this part... I’m sorry that this happened to you, but a >3 carat (presumably) clean and well cut royal blue for $2,350? It’s a bit too good to be true even if you’re buying from a miner in the jungle, never mind the setting and diamonds on top of it. Though it does look a bit dark so that would diminish the value (and of course, it’s a secondhand purchase so it could have gone for whatever the owner said).

Makes me wonder though - wouldn’t it be normal and understandable to still ask for a return/refund?

I mean, it’s not like you had a return period expire and couldn’t decide on whether you liked the colour of it; it’s technically a misrepresented item, a fake. Perhaps unknowingly and perhaps with honest intentions, but the stone is what it is, intentions don’t change the end result. I bought a small “natural” piece of rough quite a while back and only recently got it cut. I noticed curved lines and knew what it was, got a report to confirm synthetic to the seller and even though it was already cut and quite a bit of time had elapsed, I still got a refund. At least within the trade, it’s an unspoken rule/code that something can be returned if there’s a real reason for it, and your reason is about as strong as any could be. It’s not a usual situation, or not like you changed your mind about the stone frivolously months after the purchase; the stone isn’t what it was claimed to be.

It was a private sale so it’s up to the seller to accept it back and refund. And assuming that the seller sold it as natural in good faith, the seller could also argue “how do I know that you (the buyer) haven’t switched gems?”

 

[Frost]

It was a private sale so it’s up to the seller to accept it back and refund. And assuming that the seller sold it as natural in good faith, the seller could also argue “how do I know that you (the buyer) haven’t switched gems?”

That is unfortunately also true. If the dimensions, weight and the photos on the original appraisal and the subsequent report fit though, it would sound very unlikely that a switch could have been made. I mean, it’s possible, but it’d have to be a royal pain in the * to go through that and somehow cut everything to a fraction of a millimetre for that size and price. You could almost argue back that it wouldn’t have been worth it (but then yes, unless no switch can be proven, they can still unfortunately refuse). Or well, maybe they’ll agree and refund you. Best try and see.

 

[2Neezers]

I want to thank @NKOTB for encouraging me to let the seller know that the sapphire ended up being synthetic. I did reach out to the seller, just to let her know about the situation and with no expectations. She was shocked by the lab results and very kindly offered to send me a partial refund. I wasn’t expecting anything at all, but am very appreciative that she was willling to do this. Once I receive the refund, I hope to put that amount toward finding a new and certified sapphire for the setting, hopefully with the help of everyone here .

@Frost that is a fantastic rule/code within the trade and I can see why it would be needed. I am sure if I had purchased the ring from a retailer that things would be different also.

@SparkliesLuver I am curious, was the stone that turned out to be synthetic that you purchased from a PS vendor from one of the precision cutters, or one of the vendors that are more known for stone flipping?

Thanks again everyone for sharing. I’m glad most of you were able to catch it early and ended up getting a full refund. It makes me a little nervous about continuing to collect after reading all of these stories, but I’m sure I will get over it in time and will be back to gem hunting.