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Help me find a precision-cut sapphire

missyc

missyc

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Mar 27, 2020
Messages
126
Hi everyone!

Does anyone have any vendor recommendations for a precision-cut opalescent sapphire? Bonus points for sapphires from Luc Yen region in Vietnam.

Colour-wise, looking for lavender/purple without a gray cast. Looking for a stone under 2ct and not picky with shape.

I've asked Inken but she refused the gem hunt because she doesn't deal with these types of sapphires. Lots of Instagram/Etsy vendors all have windowed stones.

TIA :bigsmile:
 
I don’t know if there is much even fit to a precision cut for opalescent since the point is a very silky stone where the faceting would be obscured? A nicely cut stone without windowing would seem sufficient.
 
toomuchB said:
You could ask this seller, though I've never used or communicated with him, and I assume you've come across him. Some of his sapphires, like these, are advertised as precision cut. Like these (wrong color, I know).

Click to expand...
Yes, I have come across them, thank you! Their stones are on the larger side for me, unfortunately.

Dreamer_D said:
I don’t know if there is much even fit to a precision cut for opalescent since the point is a very silky stone where the faceting would be obscured? A nicely cut stone without windowing would seem sufficient.
Click to expand...
Yes, you are quite right. A stone without windowing would suffice.
 
missyc said:
Yes, I have come across them, thank you! Their stones are on the larger side for me, unfortunately.


Yes, you are quite right. A stone without windowing would suffice.
Click to expand...

Okay, just no windowing is easier. Hopefully others have better suggestions but here's mine.
This is the second time I'm suggesting this vendor recently for sapphires - promise I'm not getting kickbacks! - but no, he's genuinely had some nice offers on a variety of smaller sapphires including opalescent ones here and there. Almost all his inventory is unlisted.

He recently had this windowed pink one. He just might have a non windowed one in the color and size you prefer - gotta email him.

1.54 ct. Vietnamese Opalescent Sapphire - The Gem Trader Rare Gems — The Gem Trader

www.thegemtrader.com www.thegemtrader.com
 
Desert Rose on IG often has them.

The Gem Trader is well known on PS for having great stuff so worth a call.
 
toomuchB said:
Okay, just no windowing is easier. Hopefully others have better suggestions but here's mine.
This is the second time I'm suggesting this vendor recently for sapphires - promise I'm not getting kickbacks! - but no, he's genuinely had some nice offers on a variety of smaller sapphires including opalescent ones here and there. Almost all his inventory is unlisted.

He recently had this windowed pink one. He just might have a non windowed one in the color and size you prefer - gotta email him.

1.54 ct. Vietnamese Opalescent Sapphire - The Gem Trader Rare Gems — The Gem Trader

www.thegemtrader.com www.thegemtrader.com
Click to expand...


Dreamer_D said:
Desert Rose on IG often has them.

The Gem Trader is well known on PS for having great stuff so worth a call.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll check them out and give them a message.

ItsMainelyYou said:
Haven't talked to this vendor personally (but I do follow) but they have many and you could reach out and see if they could source want you want.

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www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
Click to expand...

I've bought from them before but a lot of their stones are windowed and they are first come first serve. Also, their English isn't great, so it's hard to communicate with them.
 
Yvonne Raley of Cecile Raley Designs can source whatever you want, too. I’d message her.
 
missyc said:
Does anyone have any vendor recommendations for a precision-cut opalescent sapphire?
Click to expand...

These are tough, imo -- almost a "so bad it's good" scenario. Really hard to source for someone else. One person's "glowy" is another person's hopelessly included/translucent. As hard as it is to accurately represent sapphire online, accurately capturing the subtle milkiness is so totally a function of illumination intensity and directionality. I have seen this description applied to a near-Kashmir-like look and also to a barely translucent/nearly opaque "gem."
 
I don't have any helpful suggestions, but I'm following along, as I love to see these unicorn type stones!
 
LilAlex said:
These are tough, imo -- almost a "so bad it's good" scenario. Really hard to source for someone else. One person's "glowy" is another person's hopelessly included/translucent. As hard as it is to accurately represent sapphire online, accurately capturing the subtle milkiness is so totally a function of illumination intensity and directionality. I have seen this description applied to a near-Kashmir-like look and also to a barely translucent/nearly opaque "gem."
Click to expand...

Great insight. For example, to me this is too much bordering on opaque for my tastes:
stagheaddesigns.com

1.77ct 8.6x6.8x3.5mm OVAL BRILLIANT CUT OPALESCENT PINK SAPPHIRE

Welcome to the Staghead Mine! The Mine is home to our hand-selected collection of ethically sourced, extremely unique, and rare gemstones. These stones were curated because they possess unique and outstanding qualities that deserve to be highlighted by truly custom rings! HEATED PINK SAPPHIRE...
stagheaddesigns.com stagheaddesigns.com

But this more translucent one is more appealing:
stagheaddesigns.com

1.52ct 7.36x4.89x4.06mm Cushion Brilliant Sapphire 25839-01

Unheated Natural Sapphire Opalescent Pink/Purple Cushion Brilliant Origin: Sri Lanka Download pictures and videos
stagheaddesigns.com stagheaddesigns.com

(limited by the accuracy of the images and videos)

To OP, esp if you are tied to a modest budget, multicolour.com has relatively fair pricing and may be worth contacting for better guidance on their inventory (listed or not). They have milky/silky sapphires (and spinels), but you'd have to ask if any are actually opalescent per your expectations. These caught my eye in a quick search:

Maybe more just silky than opalescent -

Loose gemstones, rare colored stones, pearls and certified diamonds.

Buy loose gemstones and certified diamonds direct. Choose from over 10.000 real time gemstone inventory, including alexandrite, sapphire, ruby, tanzanite, tsavorite, spinel and tourmaline.
www.multicolour.com www.multicolour.com

Appears more opalescent-lookng to me, 1.46ct just 300 bucks, small window which may close up when set, heated:

perhaps the border between silky-in-a-good-way and opalescent (A trendy term I'm not 100% understanding compared to just silky - my problem) escapes me.

@Lexililac - this poster has a far better understanding of opalescence than I, and absolutely beautiful pieces with the effect, tagging her in case she has the time to weigh in.
 
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toomuchB said:
perhaps the border between silky-in-a-good-way and opalescent (A trendy term I'm not 100% understanding compared to just silky - my problem) escapes me.
Click to expand...

The way I understand it, what distinguishes the two (and in essence defines opalescence) is the colour flashes that are distinctly different to the main body colour.

A stone that's simply silky will have, say, blue body tone and blue flashes, like this one:

1743454601072.webp


Where an opalescent stone will have blue body tone with pink flashes, like this one:

1743454618726.webp
 
Thanks for everyone's input! I have noticed the different appearances of stones that are being labelled as opalescent, which is why I have a preference for ones that come from Luc Yen - they have the glow and secondary colour flashes that I am looking for, as opposed to just being milky or hazy.

I think another difficulty for me is that I want a small stone (read: under 1ct) because I'm just on the hunt for an everyday, stacking ring. My issue is that the opalescent sapphires I do have kind of overpower my engagement ring and I feel really conscious wearing it in particular environments.

For this particular stone, I would rather spend more on a smaller, "higher" quality stone (I know clarity is very subjective for an opalescent stone) that I would feel comfortable wearing alongside my ER everyday.

N.B. My 0.93ct MRB is considered a very big stone in my friendship circle
 
Avondale said:
The way I understand it, what distinguishes the two (and in essence defines opalescence) is the colour flashes that are distinctly different to the main body colour.

A stone that's simply silky will have, say, blue body tone and blue flashes, like this one:

1743454601072.webp


Where an opalescent stone will have blue body tone with pink flashes, like this one:

1743454618726.webp
Click to expand...

I appreciate the explanation! This was my general understanding but you made it clearer. This leads me to being unsure about how opposing the colors have to be.

Kind of analogous to color shift (adjacent on the color wheel) vs color change (opposite or near opposite ends of the color wheel) - and where the line is drawn.

But based on what I've seen, it appears to not be such a particular distinction in the case of opalescence. :)
 
Avondale said:
The way I understand it, what distinguishes the two (and in essence defines opalescence) is the colour flashes that are distinctly different to the main body colour.

A stone that's simply silky will have, say, blue body tone and blue flashes, like this one:

1743454601072.webp


Where an opalescent stone will have blue body tone with pink flashes, like this one:

1743454618726.webp
Click to expand...

This may not help you much, @missyc, but it's fascinating to me...

@Avondale, that's what I'd thought too. The pictures are an excellent demonstration.

I noticed the same effect in a cheapo piece of chalcedony:
ChalcedonyScattering.jpg
(3 photos, composited)

See how it's bluer than the white reference toward the lit edge and more orange toward the unlit edge. (I've photographed both top and bottom to show that there is no cheating - the material is much the same grey right across the stone.)

This shows the Tyndall effect, caused by scattering from inclusions with sizes about the wavelength of light or smaller. The inclusions scatter shorter wavelengths more strongly. So the scattered light is bluer, the transmitted light is more orange. On the lit side you see the bluer scattered light. On the unlit side you see the more orange transmitted light reflected from the back of the stone.

For cleaner, more transparent faceted stones, the effect is similar. The scattered light is bluer, the facer reflections are more orange. The colours are modified by the base colour of the stone.

Cool fact: A similar story explains why the sky is blue and the setting sun is orange/red. This is called Rayleigh scattering (as opposed to Tyndall scattering) because the scattering particles (air molecules) are much smaller that the wavelength of light. But the physics is similar.
 
For precision cutting, I would normally recommend Jeff White. However, I have not come across opalescence Sapphires or any other CSs cut by him.

DK :))
 
Avondale said:
The way I understand it, what distinguishes the two (and in essence defines opalescence) is the colour flashes that are distinctly different to the main body colour.

A stone that's simply silky will have, say, blue body tone and blue flashes, like this one:

1743454601072.webp


Where an opalescent stone will have blue body tone with pink flashes, like this one:

1743454618726.webp
Click to expand...

Okay, I finally found an example of what I meant when is said this because I think I wasn't clear:

toomuchB said:
I appreciate the explanation! This was my general understanding but you made it clearer. This leads me to being unsure about how opposing the colors have to be.

Kind of analogous to color shift (adjacent on the color wheel) vs color change (opposite or near opposite ends of the color wheel) - and where the line is drawn.

But based on what I've seen, it appears to not be such a particular distinction in the case of opalescence.
Click to expand...

Below the pink/purple body-color is approximately on the opposite side of the color wheel of the yellow/orange glow. I at first thought maybe only this was opalescence. But, I understand that a blue with purple glow/flash, like what you posted is also considered opalescent :)
If I was looking for an opalescent stone this opposite relationship between colors would be my preference, I think.


opalescent (2).pngopalescent (1).png
 
toomuchB said:
Okay, I finally found an example of what I meant when is said this because I think I wasn't clear:



Below the pink/purple body-color is approximately on the opposite side of the color wheel of the yellow/orange glow. I at first thought maybe only this was opalescence. But, I understand that a blue with purple glow/flash, like what you posted is also considered opalescent :)
If I was looking for an opalescent stone this opposite relationship between colors would be my preference, I think.


opalescent (2).pngopalescent (1).png
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that @Avondale's example is actually opalescent. A bit silky maybe. But look at these pictures from the website:
SapphireGroup.jpg

If I'm reading these correctly, what look like bright flashes are actually reflections of white clouds in blue sky. You can see the edges of the clouds in some of the facet reflections. Some of these reflections look a bit pink, especially in the top left picture, but I think that's because of an overall pink cast - note the skin colour.

The stone you showed is a splendid example of opalescence (and an interesting decagon cut). Note that it's not just opposite sides of the colour wheel, it's always blueish body (the scattered light) and yellowish flashes (the transmitted light). But these can be modified by the base colour of the stone.

Here's a fascinating example:
OpalescentSapphire.jpg

Blue window, pink edge reflections, orange-yellow flashes. This was on The Gem Trader's site, but it seems to have been sold.
 
Starstruck8 said:
I'm not sure that @Avondale's example is actually opalescent. A bit silky maybe. But look at these pictures from the website:
SapphireGroup.jpg

If I'm reading these correctly, what look like bright flashes are actually reflections of white clouds in blue sky. You can see the edges of the clouds in some of the facet reflections. Some of these reflections look a bit pink, especially in the top left picture, but I think that's because of an overall pink cast - note the skin colour.

The stone you showed is a splendid example of opalescence (and an interesting decagon cut). Note that it's not just opposite sides of the colour wheel, it's always blueish body (the scattered light) and yellowish flashes (the transmitted light). But these can be modified by the base colour of the stone.

Here's a fascinating example:
OpalescentSapphire.jpg

Blue window, pink edge reflections, orange-yellow flashes. This was on The Gem Trader's site, but it seems to have been sold.
Click to expand...

Appreciate the additional discussion/insight. And yep I linked the TGT stone earlier in this thread too (quoted below)! It is perfect in terms of the effect... OP is looking for a non windowed one, so even if it was available, it would not fit the bill unfortunately. With all the different meanings opalescent is getting in sapphires, its unclear to me if OP means something like these two we've posted or a general silky one with analogous hues in the glow/flash.
toomuchB said:
He recently had this windowed pink one. He just might have a non windowed one in the color and size you prefer - gotta email him.

1.54 ct. Vietnamese Opalescent Sapphire - The Gem Trader Rare Gems — The Gem Trader

www.thegemtrader.com www.thegemtrader.com
Click to expand...



I swear there was a PSer with a large (4+ct?) opalescent sapphire, similar look to these (pink/blue elements yellow flash). I cannot find it at all. I just remember AGL even gave it an 'opalescent' moniker on the AGL brief report. I think it was a broach originally turned ring.
 
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