Need help on choosing a Unheated Yellow Sapphire

[bpnyey]

Friends,
I am a newbie to this community and impressed by the knowledge and helpfulness. I am looking to buy my first gemstone, a natural unheated Yellow Sapphire and was wondering if you could share some knowledge to help me. Below are my main requirements and some initial selection, I have done.

1. 3 carats or more
2. Bright yellow and unheated
3. No defects in cut
4. Around $3,000

After some initial research, I have following list for you to look at.
1. http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_yellow_orange.html (3.18 carat, bright yellow one)

2. http://www.gemsny.com/loose-sapphires/3.28-Carat-Cushion-Sapphire-YSU89545ACU/

3. http://www.litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=9564
(The specifications read good, but for the size, the price looks really low. Is it because of cut? which doesn't look above notch to me)

4. http://www.ajsgem.com/sapphire/yellow-sapphire/yellow-sapphire-4.22-carats.html

5. http://www.astrologicalgem.com/jyotish-yellow-sapphire.php

Which of the above you think is a good choice? Or what could be other better choices in your opinion?

Thanks and look forward to hear from experts.

 

[endless_summer]

Hope you can still edit, but if you like the stones - just post the pictures and the specs, instead of the links, if you'd like to avoid lurkers making purchases among your choices...

 

[endless_summer]

There is a sale pending on both of the Gemfix 3.18 carat stones, but if you reserved both - the very first one that appears has a very nice color lighter, soft yellow, which I like. The second one looks to have some greenish undertones (maybe it translated to your screen as bright, but I saw lime-ish).

The gemsny stone doesn't have an IRL picture, so I can't comment or help you out.

The unheated one from AGS looks like it might have a bow-tie or something wonky going on, judging from the video - when the stone faces forward, it is very dark/shadowed in the center, running north-south - you'd need to see it in person to judge if that's just the video or the stone.

The one from Litnon definitely has a bow-tie from the picture.

I'm not sure which one you're considering from astrological gem - the link is to the full page of yellow sapphires.

Not sure if that helps, but good luck!

 

[minousbijoux]

endless provided a good summary. I'll add a few things - check out the vendors carefully, as there have been a few less than savory comments about GemsNY and astrologicalgems. I would also suggest you might want to take a bit more time and decide which color you want, as the Gemfix stone's color is very different than the pale yellows you seem drawn to in the other links.

 

[bpnyey]

many thanks to both of you! I haven't reserved the ones on Gemfix

Considering it is just a week for me into gemstones research, I definitely want to give it more time. I was going through the posts on PS, regarding ebay sellers. Do you think it is a good idea to explore that route? I found a few good ones from an Indian seller.

PS: I am in NYC area, and am considering to go down to Diamond district stores to just explore the options. Get a first hand feel of stones and options. Not rushing to buy, at this point.

Thanks!

 

[innerkitten]

I don't know I'd go the Ebay route if it was my first big purchase and a yellow sapphire. What country are you in? If it's coming from abroad you will have to pay more to return it, and worry about the local postal service ( depending on the country). I know there are some very good Ebay sellers. I just used one myself and was very happy with my purchase. But there are also some not very good sellers too. Some use photo shop to make their stones look better, or sell lab stones instead of the real thing. Plus with a yellow sapphire you have to worry about coated stones and things. I would go with a known seller with a good rep.

I love yellow sapphires and look forward to seeing what you wind up with! I purchased one myself a while back from mastercut gems.

 

[endless_summer]

I don't have any experience buying on eBay, but in the world of colored stones, make sure you have a liberal (as in, NO questions asked) return policy, as these little guys are hard to photograph and color registers differently on different peoples screens.

Beyond just color, I have learned that some photos hide cutting flaws very, very well (I'm not speaking of any of the PS vetted vendors) - for instance, a white background or the angle of a stone can hide potentially gaping windows that would be quite obvious in hand. I've gotten better with time seeing potential windows in pics, but when I posted my first couple attempts - I didn't know what to look for in a vendor pics, and windows upon more windows it was This is all just to say - Yay return policy!

(Caveat - if you can get hand shots from a vendor, or camera phone pics, those tend to be very, very spot on, and if its a more inexpensive stone, sometimes it's worth the gamble - assuming you get a number of pics prior to purchase)

 

[swissmiss]

Friends,
I am a newbie to this community and impressed by the knowledge and helpfulness. I am looking to buy my first gemstone, a natural unheated Yellow Sapphire and was wondering if you could share some knowledge to help me. Below are my main requirements and some initial selection, I have done.

1. 3 carats or more
2. Bright yellow and unheated
3. No defects in cut
4. Around $3,000

After some initial research, I have following list for you to look at.
1. http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_yellow_orange.html (3.18 carat, bright yellow one)

Thanks and look forward to hear from experts.

The 3.18ct is "sale pending" because my SO bought it about a week or so ago to inspect it for our sapphire hunt. We will not be keeping the stone, but since Andrew is at Tucson, we also will not be able to return it until Feb 13th or so.

I have a few pictures of the stone on my home computer, and if you are seriously interested after I post those, I can get my SO to take a few more pictures. Having seen the stone in real life, I can tell you that it is not very saturated. If you prefer super light lemon stones, then you may like that one.

 

[chrono]

Quite a few stones you posted have "defects" in cut. Almost all of them are also rather pale, which doesn't jive with your description of "bright yellow". Do you have any inspiration pictures of the yellow you'd like to have?

 

[swissmiss]

3.18 from Gemfix:

This is in outdoor light (I believe in the shade). The gemfix 3.18 is the farthest stone on the left. Are you sure that it's going to be yellow enough for you?



Another angle, taken in the sun. Again, the 3.18 is the farthest stone on the left.



Unless you are going to a near colorless gem with just the slightest hint of yellow, I don't think this will be up your alley. Also, it has a window and, if I recall correctly, it was not the most symmetric.

Did you look at the Montana sapphires on Gemfix? There are some that are a really bright yellow, though they likely will have substantial (but interesting) green undertones.

http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_montana.html
Montana Sapphire Round "Portuguese" Cut
Weight: 2.51cts

 

[innerkitten]

3.18 from Gemfix:

This is in outdoor light (I believe in the shade). The gemfix 3.18 is the farthest stone on the left. Are you sure that it's going to be yellow enough for you?



Another angle, taken in the sun. Again, the 3.18 is the farthest stone on the left.



Unless you are going to a near colorless gem with just the slightest hint of yellow, I don't think this will be up your alley. Also, it has a window and, if I recall correctly, it was not the most symmetric.

Did you look at the Montana sapphires on Gemfix? There are some that are a really bright yellow, though they likely will have substantial (but interesting) green undertones.

http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_montana.html
Montana Sapphire Round "Portuguese" Cut
Weight: 2.51cts

Very helpful for the OP!