No heat Burmese ruby advice and comparison

[froufroutofu]

I'm being offered a 1ct no heat Burmese Mogok "pigeon's blood" ruby (GRS, also certified by SSEF but "red of strong saturation" without the pigeon's blood designation), set in platinum, for under $4K USD.

From seller:


From GRS cert:

I'm inclined to think that the color is gorgeous and that this is quite the deal! My main hesitations are

• I'd be buying it pre owned from an individual, I would buy it sight unseen and without a return policy (but through a large platform so not worried about getting completely scammed). I realize this is quite dangerous for colored gemstones where color is EVERYTHING, but also feel some reassurance from the certs. I feel I could probably resell it if needed.
• There's also a significant chip that isn't covered at all in the current setting. You can see it on the right side in the photo.
• There's a dark band across the center which is persistent in all the seller photos

Thoughts?

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As an aside, I was previously offered the following 1.74ct no heat Burma "red" 18K ring (GIA certified), also with a significant chip in the corner but hidden well by the prong. Would this have been the better deal? (I passed on it a few months ago and it was purchased by someone else already.)

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Nonono not with that chip! That’s very noticeable and the ring is no bargain if it’s got that chip. It is likely to be worth a lot less or at the very best has the chip built into the price already.

 

[Saphir]

Do you know the ruby measurents of the 2nd one?
Has it the same.price tag?
U can ask a cutter for recut the second stone and how much he think weight it will lost. I think when the stone is not to deep than u will lost on recut not more than 30-40% than u will get a little bit over 1ct ruby. Or look for an east African Ruby from Mozambique or Tanzania, than you get a little bit bigher stone woth better clarity but not so rare. Mozambique Ruby is an good Imvestment stone.

 

[froufroutofu]

Do you know the ruby measurents of the 2nd one?
Has it the same.price tag?

Sorry, I meant to include this information! The measurements were 7.75 x 6.90 x 3.55 mm so not too deep. I was offered the ring for ~$7000 USD.

Thanks for sharing your insights.

 

[LilAlex]

Not crazy, gotta say. Looks quite nice apart from the chip -- which I could probably live with. Would cost me > $2K just to make the ring without the ruby. Are the sides natural diamonds..?

Would be nice to get a lapidary's opinion on how conservatively that could (eventually) be re-cut -- like losing 0.1 vs 0.3 cts just for future planning. Not saying I would re-cut now but just back-of-the-mind stuff.

And does "1 ct ruby" mean 0.85 or 1.2 cts, for example?

EDIT: I am confusing my chips. Then first one also has a chip, seemingly, and that's what I was referring to.

 

[froufroutofu]

And does "1 ct ruby" mean 0.85 or 1.2 cts, for example?

It is 1.012ct so pretty close to exact.

Are the sides natural diamonds..?

Yes, for both rings these are claimed to be natural diamonds but I don't have weight or grading on them.

For the top one - I will check about a recut. I figured though it would be easy enough to reset into a bezel and not recut. But recutting is good to think about for future / reselling, though I feel the weight loss will likely make it not worth it, especially since it's on the skinny side of an oval.