Montana sapphire rough

[ephsea]

Against the advice of many threads on here, I've purchased some rough from Blaze. I have it in my head that I want a 7.5 x 7 ish radiant cut green/blue unheated Montana. The only one I've found is far outside my budget at NSC, hence this route. This is for a man's wedding band for myself. She measures 9x9x8.5, 11.33ct, marked as VS/SI. There is certainly a fuzzy patch on one corner that will need to be cut out, and I can see a couple inclusions with oil/sidelight. I was thinking I'd send it to Jerry Newman, he seems to have cut quite a few Montanas. Thoughts/opinions?

 

[ephsea]

four more

 

[ephsea]

It's actually blue with a yellow core, don't know if that's coming through clearly in the c-axis shot. Here's the only cut stone I was able to find that's close to my vision (it's a very deco vision).

 

[chrono]

You are a brave man and I say this sincerely (no snark or negativity intended). I look forward to the progress of your project.

 

[minousbijoux]

All I can say is that rough is full of surprises, and one of the things for which I rely on lapidaries is to have a better sense than I of the finished color. Please share it as its transformed and I hope the inclusions are workable and the rough yields exactly what you seek.

 

[bobsiv]

Well you picked a very good souce for the rough so there shouldn't be any huge surprises. But that goes both ways, don't get your hopes up for a clean stone if Blaze sold it as VS/Si.

 

[ephsea]

I don't even want a totally clean stone, and I am comfortable with a large range of finished colors, so hopefully this helps me out. If I dislike the finished product, I would hope to be able to sell if for what I have in it but I am okay with a total financial wash if it happens.

 

[Vidalia]

Your stated goal is almost identical to the dream sapphire for which I've been casually shopping around!
I wish you the best of luck in your project and please do keep us posted on your progress. If it works out well, I might follow in your brave footsteps.

 

[Michael_E]

I don't even want a totally clean stone, and I am comfortable with a large range of finished colors, so hopefully this helps me out.

It will help you out a lot since there's no way of telling the exact finished color or clarity until it's been cut. From my experience in cutting these sapphires, your's looks like it will be a good one. There are only two things which bite you with Montana sapphires. The biggest problem is often a cloudy group of micro inclusions right in where your yellow spot is. This is often reflective and so gives an almost moonstone shimmer at certain angles, (sometimes in a distinct hexagon pattern). The other problem, which is common to all stones, is having fractures which don;t show up well until, you're well into cutting the stone. This often necessitates cutting much smaller than you'd want. If you're shining bright light from all angles, as you roll the stone around in your fingers, and see no bright reflective flashes indicating fractures, then you're probably O.K..

As for the color, I think that this will end up more blue than green, probably a deeper teal color.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Anyone who has cut a few Montana sapphires will know exactly what Mike_E has said about that fuzzy spot. It always seems to smack in the middle of the stone too. Pretty typical for Songea sapphires which in the rough look very similar to Montana stones.

I think the finished stone from this rough will be quite a bit darker than the image you posted of the cut stone. It's hard to tell from photos for sure, so I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Should be a pretty stone non the less. I think Montana sapphires are a much under rated stone.

 

[minousbijoux]

I don't even want a totally clean stone, and I am comfortable with a large range of finished colors, so hopefully this helps me out.

It will help you out a lot since there's no way of telling the exact finished color or clarity until it's been cut. From my experience in cutting these sapphires, your's looks like it will be a good one. There are only two things which bite you with Montana sapphires. The biggest problem is often a cloudy group of micro inclusions right in where your yellow spot is. This is often reflective and so gives an almost moonstone shimmer at certain angles, (sometimes in a distinct hexagon pattern). The other problem, which is common to all stones, is having fractures which don;t show up well until, you're well into cutting the stone. This often necessitates cutting much smaller than you'd want. If you're shining bright light from all angles, as you roll the stone around in your fingers, and see no bright reflective flashes indicating fractures, then you're probably O.K..

As for the color, I think that this will end up more blue than green, probably a deeper teal color.

Ooh, I'm rooting for this! I love how well Montanas can so often do the combination of green and blue.

 

[Edward Bristol]

It will be great! Good shape, glassy body, bright colour. I love it.

 

[ephsea]

I'm with Minous, my secret hope is for a dark teal but I tend to love everything between blue and green in Montana's - it's the shape that's got my fingers crossed, not the color.