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Likelihood of a sapphire cracking when setting?

Adamo13

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 6, 2019
Messages
49
Hey everyone,

I hope you guys aren't fed up of me lol. I tried to post an update in my other thread but didn't get any traction. I have a couple of questions about the 1.94ct sapphire I received.

How much does eye clean vs not eye clean affect value?

I don't know if I just have a good eye but I see two 'inclusions' one is more noticeable from the back side, like little bubbles and one is another white line like I had mentioned in the last stone I was looking at, this one is less noticeable though. And byy who's eyes is eye clean exactly? Lol. The stone was labeled VSI, eye clean except under 10x magnification. Im just curious if this inclusions that aren't very visible have an impact on the value of the stone?

Now the second question is how risky is it if one of the inclusions, is a line across face of the stone (jeweler said she thinks it's not breaking the surface) it looks like it has little airpockets or voids I guess. The jeweler used the word veil but I don't know if that the right term. The jeweler said she would talk with her gemologist colleague to see if she also thinks theres a possibility of the stone fracturing when setting or not.

Also how risky is this for the future if my fiancee would knock it by accident? Is there a better chance of it cracking now?

Thank you for all your help its been very appreciated!
 

Rfisher

Ideal_Rock
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Oct 19, 2013
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5,485
Good idea to have asked the jeweler on the surface reaching veil. And good for that jeweler to then ask their gemologist.
But they can’t guarantee - nor be held liable if they are wrong.
A stone can chip from wear/knock even if there is no veil /feather.
You are taking a gamble - there’s no guarantee. And how risk adverse you are to that veil being that close to the table (and girdle/crown facets, I don’t know?) is personal. It’s somewhat a trade off (as I see it) in a 5k 2ct round blue sapphire vs one that’s 2-3 ( or more) times as expensive?
You can count on this stone not gaining market value thru the years - and probably also count on not recouping your costs if you ever have to sell.
And don’t take that as a knock towards you. All my stones fall into that category as well!
 

voce

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 13, 2018
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5,161
I saw those two inclusions in the Skyjems photos. I think the best way is to have Skyjems set it and take liability if it gets damaged. I think a prong setting will be very unlikely to lead to damage, since the prongs can be placed to avoid the inclusions.
 

Rfisher

Ideal_Rock
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Oct 19, 2013
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5,485
I saw those two inclusions in the Skyjems photos. I think the best way is to have Skyjems set it and take liability if it gets damaged. I think a prong setting will be very unlikely to lead to damage, since the prongs can be placed to avoid the inclusions.
Good point.
But I would get it in writing that they’d assume liability.
 

Adamo13

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 6, 2019
Messages
49
Good idea to have asked the jeweler on the surface reaching veil. And good for that jeweler to then ask their gemologist.
But they can’t guarantee - nor be held liable if they are wrong.
A stone can chip from wear/knock even if there is no veil /feather.
You are taking a gamble - there’s no guarantee. And how risk adverse you are to that veil being that close to the table (and girdle/crown facets, I don’t know?) is personal. It’s somewhat a trade off (as I see it) in a 5k 2ct round blue sapphire vs one that’s 2-3 ( or more) times as expensive?
You can count on this stone not gaining market value thru the years - and probably also count on not recouping your costs if you ever have to sell.
And don’t take that as a knock towards you. All my stones fall into that category as well!

Hey for the selling I don't plan on selling it so that's not a big concern, it was just more to make sure I'm getting a fair price for the stone with the inclusions and all. Thank you for the nice reply, I don't think it would bother me too much unless it ever breaks of course lol, but like you said I guess it can happen to any stone, I just don't know how much more likely it would be with this veil.
 

Adamo13

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 6, 2019
Messages
49
I saw those two inclusions in the Skyjems photos. I think the best way is to have Skyjems set it and take liability if it gets damaged. I think a prong setting will be very unlikely to lead to damage, since the prongs can be placed to avoid the inclusions.

Hey thanks I messaged David to express my concerns and he is a great to deal with! And he offered to make the ring and set it himself. And he once again made sure to let me know that I can still send it back to him and wait for the next batch in January if I'm in any not comfortable with this stone.

For now I guess I'll wait to see what the other gemologist says about them being worried about setting it or if they are confident they can do it and I'll take it from there I guess.
Thank you guys again for the help!
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
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Jan 22, 2014
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6,532
And I’ll just add, coloured gems aren’t assessed for clarity under x10 magnification like diamonds are. They are assessed with the unaided eye. So a VS Clarity sapphire would be minor inclusions eye visible. Natural Sapphires aren’t usually flawless (a flawless one would be an alert to a possible lab grown) and often have colour zoning and fingerprint veils. These types of inclusions don’t affect value unless they affect visual appeal or are surface reaching.
Any gem can chip or fracture if it is hit hard against something and obviously a surface reaching fissure increases the fracture risk. Sapphires aren’t a brittle gem and with an experienced setter unlikely to chip or fracture during setting. Other gems ie
tanzanite, emerald and opal can be more challenging for a bench to set.
 

Adamo13

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 6, 2019
Messages
49
And I’ll just add, coloured gems aren’t assessed for clarity under x10 magnification like diamonds are. They are assessed with the unaided eye. So a VS Clarity sapphire would be minor inclusions eye visible. Natural Sapphires aren’t usually flawless (a flawless one would be an alert to a possible lab grown) and often have colour zoning and fingerprint veils. These types of inclusions don’t affect value unless they affect visual appeal or are surface reaching.
Any gem can chip or fracture if it is hit hard against something and obviously a surface reaching fissure increases the fracture risk. Sapphires aren’t a brittle gem and with an experienced setter unlikely to chip or fracture during setting. Other gems ie
tanzanite, emerald and opal can be more challenging for a bench to set.

Thank you for the information, I really like the amount of collective knowledge on this site. I feel like I learned so much in so little time. I had done some research before the site of course, but this has helped a lot!

Ok yes I get the grading for the sapphires aren't done under magnification. But just to be clear the two inclusions I saw were not under magnification. They were not very visible so I was looking closely at the gem but ya I saw them, but I also get that that's not something that affects the value too much, I guess not like the other beautiful sapphire I saw with the inclusion right across the middle and fairly visible unfortunately.

For the fracturing the stone I guess she was concerned because the placement of the inclusion was on one side maybe where the prongs may touch. I'll see what her colleague gemologist says. Hopefully it's nothing to worry about really if it's not breaking the surface like you said.
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
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Joined
Jan 22, 2014
Messages
6,532
Coloured gems are normally valued on their colour and any minor inclusions, provided they don’t negatively affect visual appeal don’t really matter.
colour zoning can have a negative or positive impact. Some sapphires are specifically cut to highlight their zoning.
a fissure that is surface reaching, large or reaches the girdle edge can be a problem. When a gem is prong set an amount of pressure has to be applied to push the prong down onto the gem to hold it. A setter would probably not want to be putting a prong over or near a fissure due to an increase risk of damaging the gem.
 

Adamo13

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 6, 2019
Messages
49
Coloured gems are normally valued on their colour and any minor inclusions, provided they don’t negatively affect visual appeal don’t really matter.
colour zoning can have a negative or positive impact. Some sapphires are specifically cut to highlight their zoning.
a fissure that is surface reaching, large or reaches the girdle edge can be a problem. When a gem is prong set an amount of pressure has to be applied to push the prong down onto the gem to hold it. A setter would probably not want to be putting a prong over or near a fissure due to an increase risk of damaging the gem.

Thank you for the reply, I think that was the Jewelers fear because maybe she wasn't sure if putting pressure on that spot was avoidable. To me it seemed as if it went from one side of the girdle to the other side. Not directly in the middle of the stone if you're looking down on it but maybe 1/3 or 1/4 of the way from the side.
 
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