Help/ advice for light toned sapphire setting

[Siggy]

Hi all,

First of all, let me preface this question by saying I’m really new to all this and still learning about gemstones, so please excuse my ignorance.
I’m on the hunt for an oval cut peach-pink sapphire or spinel, of light to med tone (similar colour to morganite). I would plan to set in a custom rose gold engagement ring.
Most of the peach-pink rings I can find online (for inspiration) are set in a halo of diamonds. Although I can see that this sets of the sapphire beautifully, I’m more attracted to a solitaire style with an open (prong) setting, with the band (and perhaps the basket) set in diamonds. I can’t find many examples of sapphires/ spinels in these open solitaire settings and I’m wondering why.
Is it because the gemstone needs to be relatively big and near flawless to pull off an open, solitaire setting? Do paler stones need some contrast with skin tone? Or is it simply because halos are trending at the moment?
I’d be really ecstatic if I could find something in the range of 10 x 7mm, which I understand is quite big, however, please let me know if this is unrealistic. The colour is more important if I have to compromise between the two.
I’m completely new to this and based in Australia, so it’s not economical for me to order a ton of gems freely to inspect and return, but I’m trying to research to ultimately buy something online.

Has anyone done a similar setting with a lighter toned sapphire or am I on a fruitless search? What do I need to be aware of when ordering lighter toned sapphires or spinels?

I’m not on any timeframe to find the right stone and my budget is fairly flexible, although I will steer clear of any certified pad prices. Heated stones are fine. Thanks in advance for any advice/ tips you might have

 

[chrono]

There are several reasons for the halo:
1. Creates contrast between the center stone and finger, otherwise it might all blend in together and the stone "disappears".
2. More sparkle or fancier design
3. Want more finger coverage
4. Deepens the colour of the stone a little

10 x 7 mm is not a calibrated size and would require a custom setting. What is your budget? 10 x 8 mm is fairly large and could be in the 3 to 4 carat range.

 

[RealEmotionalTrash]

Here is a Cushion Cut "Peach Pink" (Looks mostly pink to me though) Sapphire that is 10.60 x 9.98 in a setting similar to what you described.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/238288...a-certified-huge-peach?ref=shop_home_active_9

I worked with this seller on a custom ring. She went and found me a stone I described to her and build the setting to my specifications. I am expecting to have the ring next week so can't speak for the quality yet, but I can tell she cares about about her customers and is passionate about her work, so i'm expecting a nice ring. All of her stones are GIA certified as well.

Her prices are probably bit high, but I working with a tight deadline and was unable to find a similar stone cheaper online.

 

[chrono]

That sapphire might be specially cut in Bangkok, but it has a good sized window, that takes up half the of the stone.

 

[RealEmotionalTrash]

That sapphire might be specially cut in Bangkok, but it has a good sized window, that takes up half the of the stone.

Yeah, not a fan of the stone, but came across it and thought it was similar style to what the OP was looking for.

 

[distracts]

Gemfix has a few - 452, for instance. http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_pink.html

 

[Siggy]

Thanks for all your replies and advice.

I haven't really set a strict budget, although I don't really wish to spend more than 6 grand in total, less if possible. Gemfix does have some lovely stones, it seems like they don't export anything over 999USD which really limits my choice, although they seem to have some nice spinels too. If anyone cares to check out spinel 299, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that one.

RealEmotionalTrash - I'd really love to see your ring when you receive it. Make sure you post some pics!

Good point about losing the colour of the gemstone against your skintone Chrono, I guess what I would take from that is that it would be better to get a really brilliant stone to make the setting work well?

 

[chrono]

Spinel 299 is predominantly pink and looks very well cut. Unfortunately, brilliancy will do little when the stone is almost the same colour as one's skin. The only thing to be done is do add contrast, which is what a halo does. Either that, or set it with some sort of accents surrounding it, be it some other CS or decorative metal.

 

[Arcadian]

You may consider a bezel if you don't want to go the halo route. But word of warning, whomever sets your stone should really be good at doing bezels.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

You may consider a bezel if you don't want to go the halo route. But word of warning, whomever sets your stone should really be good at doing bezels.

Ditto Arcadian's point about bezels. And not all halos have to be diamonds. 299 looks lovely, by the way!