IF I were to consider a blue sapphire . . .

[kenny]

... which vendor has the nicest goods, as in cut, color, clarity and certainty about freedom from enhancements?

. . . oh and green grabs me too.

Emerald or asscher cut is my preference.

Is GIA the only lab to trust in these stones?

I will be search, lurk and read, but wondered if there are WF and GOG-equivalents favorites for sapphires.

 

[Harriet]

There's always Palagems, for one. No, there are other labs like Gubelin.

 

[vinkalmann]

There was some discussion about labs in this recent thread:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-to-read-a-lab-report-question-about-a-sapphire.145774/

 

[VapidLapid]

I dont know if there is a vendor who meets all those criteria all the time. For me since I''d be only buying one stone it would be a stone by stone basis. They could sell treated stones (but not to me) if they wanted and disclosed it up front without being asked (a peeve of mine). wildfish, richard wise,, jeff white, roger derry are good places to start. But Kenny if you consider a sapphire INSTEAD of a blue diamond the balance of the universe will be upset and armageddon will rain down upon us.

 

[kenny]

Date: 7/1/2010 6:06:41 PM
Author: VapidLapid
But Kenny if you consider a sapphire INSTEAD of a blue diamond the balance of the universe will be upset and armageddon will rain down upon us.

Oh gosh!
I must be one super duper powerful guy.

 

[Indylady]

Hmnn..for a really fine sapphire, I''d talk to Richard Wise, check out Cherry Picked and Pala.

But since you''re thinking asscher or emerald, I''d talk to Jeff White. Dan Stair had a gorgeous round brilliant sapphire recently, but it was only like .3 carats and 4.6mm. I wanted it badly, but I had vowed my next gem purchase would be larger than 5mm (I love small stones, but I need to break out of my shell!). I''m still kicking my butt for not getting it. He might have more as well.

How kind of size are you looking for?

 

[kenny]

Date: 7/1/2010 9:34:59 PM
Author: IndyLady

How kind of size are you looking for?

I really won''t know till I start looking.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi Kenny,

Funny, I just bought a blue sapphire tonight, quite unexpectedly.
Pala, I think has the "best gems around. I myself, am partial to the blue sapphires of Wild Fish gems. He only carries untreated gems and the colors on his stones leave me breathless. But too expensive for me.

I took the plunge and went to the gemburionline for the first time. I see he values royal blue sapphires more than cornflower blue. I don''t know if all dealers value the same, but i bought a 2.39 ct cornflower blue for a very nice price, which was why I grabbed it. In fact I keep thinking the pictures probably aren''t accurate, in which case it will be returned.
Mine is heat treated. They have another I am considering which is larger and untreated, but of course is more expensive.

You must look at many websites and talk to the dealers before you buy. You will develope your own eye and of course as you already know, there are many people here who wish to share their opinions.

I would post a picture but don''t know how. Learnring to do so is on my bucket list. My son wants a larger blue sapphire. Tomorrow I will decide on the larger one.

Most of all have fun looking. Tis better than your other proposal, in my opinion.

Thanks,

Annette

 

[delayedreaction]

An asscher sapphire is going to be a bit lighter than a top quality sapphire if you want to be able to see the windmill effect. (But hey, that saves money.) I'm planning on getting one from Jeff White next year, myself. (8mm or so for me, but I'm leaving room for a colored gemstone halo.) Hope you get one so I can live vicariously through you!

He can have his source look for heated or unheated if you want completely untreated. You'll still want to have it certified.

Here's a thread with a nice one. https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/its-here-my-2-15-jeff-white-asscher-sapphire-set-in-a-ring.77729/

 

[T L]

Date: 7/1/2010 5:26:33 PM
Author:kenny
... which vendor has the nicest goods, as in cut, color, clarity and certainty about freedom from enhancements?


. . . oh and green grabs me too.


Emerald or asscher cut is my preference.


Is GIA the only lab to trust in these stones?

I will be search, lurk and read, but wondered if there are WF and GOG-equivalents favorites for sapphires.

GIA, GRS, SSEF, GIT, and AGL are reputable labs for colored gems, and these labs have the more sophisticated equipment to rule out diffusion. If the sapphire is very costly, I would personally get the top notch Prestige lab certificate from the AGL. What is your budget? Sapphires come in so many different price ranges, anywhere from $6 to $60,000/ct.

 

[kenny]

I don't really have a budget.
I really have to learn a lot to understand what affects price before deciding what I want.
Kinda hard to describe.
I'm very tight with money, except when I'm not.

 

[chrono]

It all depends on who has what at the moment. Unfortunately, unlike diamonds, searching for the right coloured gemstone takes a lot longer as it is difficult to get all the correct criteria in a single stone. I would never do an asscher cut in a blue sapphire unless you are willing to go with a less than ideal colour because the rich medium dark blue will overpower the cutting.

It is a pity this blue sapphire is probably too small for you, but the colour has always attracted me to it, plus it is a step cut emerald stone.
http://www.steveperrygems.com/gems/ceylon.htm
http://www.steveperrygems.com/gems/cs23.jpg

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 7/2/2010 8:11:23 AM
Author: Chrono

It all depends on who has what at the moment. Unfortunately, unlike diamonds, searching for the right coloured gemstone takes a lot longer as it is difficult to get all the correct criteria in a single stone. I would never do an asscher cut in a blue sapphire unless you are willing to go with a less than ideal colour because the rich medium dark blue will overpower the cutting.

It is a pity this blue sapphire is probably too small for you, but the colour has always attracted me to it, plus it is a step cut emerald stone.
http://www.steveperrygems.com/gems/ceylon.htm
http://www.steveperrygems.com/gems/cs23.jpg

Holy moly Chrono! CS23 made my eyes get big.

Not sure what you''re after color, cost, or shapewise kenny but I found this one at multicolour. Overall I was disappointed with their selection of blues though.

http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?705829092

 

[packrat]

Oh wow Chrono-that sapph is gorgeous!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Kenny, I have the love for asschers like you, and because of that, I have bought several asschers cut by many different vendors.

The colour you're looking for may not work with an asscher cut, and the emerald cut that Chrono posted has me nearly pulling out my wallet - WOW!

My top picks for asscher cutting purposes are Gene of Precision, Gary Braun of Finewater, and Jeff White - in that order. Doug at Bespoke also cuts a very lovely asscher (though I have a colourless topaz from him), as does Peter Torraca, but because I know you're as much of a cut nut as you are a colour fiend, I just wanted to give you my opinions on who I suspect will cut an asscher up to your admirably high standards.

I don't own one by Rogery Derry, but I have seen one of his stones in person and it was impeccable IMO. I just need to save up for a large one from him.

 

[movie zombie]

kenny, i envy you your gem budget once again!

you''re in LaLa Land, right? you''re close enough to Pala to go for a visit....and that''s what i recommend. go see what they''ve got. i don''t think you could go wrong.

mz

 

[T L]

Kenny this site sells nice sapphires. I have not purchased from them, but I heard good things from others that have. With any sapphire vendor, make sure it comes with a reputable laboratory certificate from GIA, GIT, GRS, AGTA, SSEF, or AGL and that it lists all possible treatments. Never accept an in house appraisal, lab certificate.

http://www.kashmirblue.com/

 

[LD]

I was just coming across to link you to the vendor that TL has posted elsewhere and can see she''s done it already. Let me tell you, before you open the link, you''ll have a few heart-stopping, breathtaking moments. There are some STUNNING gemstones!

 

[T L]

LD,
Well, since he said he had no budget, I thought I'd show him the best of the best, Kashmir sapphires. They sell stones from other origins too, but the silk and color of the Kashmir sapphires are considered to be the best in the world, if you have a very very healthy budget, that is.

In order of top quality, the finest locales are.
1) Kashmir
2) Burma
3) Ceylon (which I think can tie with Madagascar for some qualities)

There are some very nice sapphires from Africa, and some pretty ones that were recently discovered in Winza, Tanzania. Of course you can find bad examples of sapphires in any of the above top regions, but a premium is paid on the first three above. Montana also has some nice gems, although they tend to be more greyish. I don't think they're for you.

The most important thing to note about sapphires is treatment though. You really need to be careful about that.

If you really want top top top quality, scope out some auctions from Christies or Sotheby's from time to time, as they may have some old material mined from Burma or Kashmir. Of course it should have an accompanying lab certificate that provides the origin as well.

 

[T L]

Date: 7/2/2010 2:14:59 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds
I was just coming across to link you to the vendor that TL has posted elsewhere and can see she''s done it already. Let me tell you, before you open the link, you''ll have a few heart-stopping, breathtaking moments. There are some STUNNING gemstones!

I also like the fact that their gems come with a reputable lab cert, and in some cases, from more than one lab. They offer a very good return policy (see link) and I saw some of their prices, which seem fair. They also don''t talk about color in a romantic way or make up vivid saturation remarks, but discuss the information on the lab reports, which I is extremely impressive to me. I would also ask if they have material that is not online. Many vendors do not show all their merchandise online. Someone just bought a ring from them and showed it off on another website that I cannot link to. They were very happy with their purchase.

http://www.kashmirblue.com/Guarantee/guarantee.html

 

[kenny]

Thank you guys; I'm soaking this all in.

 

[chrono]

I am loving what I''m seeing on KashmirBlue. At first glance, sure they seem expensive, but their prices are in line for the quality offered.