Hi! Would you look at a sapphire with me?

[Pandora II]

Run fast from the eBay one - far, far too good to be true. A stone that size, unheated and with that good a colour change will be $thousands.

Regarding the PO Box number, I don't know about the US, but here it is very common for security reasons. A lot of gem dealers who mainly work in the trade and probably only sell to the general public via the Internet are probably running a business from home and don't want to give such information out to all and sundry for fear of being robbed.

 

[MontageCreations]

can't comment on the stone due to forum rules. but in all transactions, read the descriptions very carefully and be aware of what they don't say, as well as what they do say.

As far as the PO Box, I have one of those too, due to bad people doing bad things to good people, we have to protect ourselves.

 

[chloeishere]

No worries on the ebay sapphire, like I said, I knew it was too good to be true (especially at 4.5+ carats).

I do get at what you are saying, MontageCreations. They say it's untreated, but they don't say that it's, ahem, from the earth.

I am hoping for someone who has experience with gemresources and can vouch for them in either direction-- I want a stone that is well cut, and they have a lot of the style of cut that I really like (Portuguese cut) but I'm wary of purchasing from them with out anyone able to vouch for them-- the pictures are not very good, but they may just be really bad at taking pictures (and at least I'm sure they haven't enhanced them in photoshop!)

 

[MontageCreations]

Hi chloe,

you mentioned "portuguese cut", BTW also my favorite cutting style, so let me tell you some things to consider. Glenn Vargas didn't invent the portuguese cut, but he is probably the first to describe it in a modern context and give instructions on how to perform the cutting without using jamb-peg tooling, what we would term a precision cut. By his definition that cut requires at least 10 tier of facets with at least 16 fold symmetry, 5 tiers in the pavilion and 5 tiers in the crown, plus the girdle facets. So 10 tiers times 16 fold symmetry = 160 facets + 16 more on the girdle for a total of 176 facets, plus a table facet, so 177 facets. There are some variants, like the portuguese trilliant, portuguese oval, portuguese cushion, etc., but you get the idea, 10 tiers of facets and many fold symmetry.

In smaller stones there is a practical limit as to the number of facets you can crowd onto a gem and not overwhelm the eye of the beholder. What that limit is, is kind of arbitrary, there is no set rule, I feel comfortable cutting portuguese rounds to about 8 mm. Below that you will usually see fewer tiers and/or less symmetry, to give nearly the same effect.

Sorry if I am rambling, I just had an outpatient surgery, and can't cut or work due to pain meds.

Hope this info helps.

 

[chloeishere]

It is very interesting, thanks for posting it! My left ring finger is a size 5, and I am left handed and would like to wear my ring as much as possible, so I've tried to keep the stone relatively small while still keeping a nice presence... I was thinking at or under 7mm for a max, so I probably can't get a "full" Portuguese cut, but it's the general style that I love, not the specific number of facets. That does explain why some of the bigger stones I've seen seem even more sensational, though!

 

[chrono]

Very suspect about the cc stone - probably a synthetic for the colour change noted, size, cleanliness and price.

W/regards to Portuguese cuts - they seem better suited to larger stones. As it is a busier cut with more facets, it adds interest to a larger stone but in small stone, it can possibly make it appear less attractive.

 

[minousbijoux]

Wow, Montage, that was great! Pain meds all around!