Novice asking for help: Green sapphire purchase

[Bjohn]

Dear jewelry community,


I am writing to ask you for advice about a recent purchase I made - It is a ring that carries a .5 crt natural sapphire in light green flanked by a number of point diamonds:



However, I really am new to the field of green sapphires, so I cannot decide how to feel about this look, because I clearly can see some yellow coloring. I know this can occur in natural sapphires, but I wonder if it isn't a bit too much.

Now, the gem was advertised as an AAA quality green sapphire, not as a bicolor gem. See a picture here of the advertised look:




So I wanted to ask you for your opinion, would this be acceptable coloring for a green sapphire advertised as green sapphire of AAA grading?

I am really also unsure, how common are green sapphires that do not have such yellow secondary colorings? Would it make sense to ask for a replacement?



Thanks so much for your help! Looking forward to hearing from you!


/bjohn

 

[Ionysis]

Wow. If that was what you were expecting I’m not surprised if you’re disappointed. Did you ask for photos and videos in different lightings before purchase? What’s the return policy?

 

[lovedogs]

I would return. That wouldn't be acceptable to me

 

[T L]

I would avoid trusting in-house grading to determine quality. Nothing prevents me from taking a piece of charcoal and saying it’s an AAA stone, even though that’s a stretch. Before purchasing any colored gem, do your own research in the true best qualities about that gem, and make an educated decision. It’s also important to view in different lighting and positions.

 

[Bjohn]

Hi! Thank you all for your quick replies and sharing your impression. I have the option to return, and I immediately felt uncomfortable with this gem. I trusted the webpage because it had consistently good reviews, but I was really surprised with what I got.

From your experience, are there even green sapphires looking in a way as advertised, with little to no yellow colors? Does it make sense to have a second go elsewhere?

 

[MjK1]

To me, that looks like a window in the stone, but pictures can be deceiving...

 

[Ionysis]

Yes. You can get lovely green sapphires with a good blended colour. They aren’t easy to find but they are available.

I’ve got four currently. They are various hues of apple green, teal green, sage green and yellowish green - which is bicolour depending on the angle. None were very expensive. all from the natural sapphire company - which is not my preferred supplier but they are good for very unusual colours as they have a wide stock. and excellent customer service.

Sorry about the dreadful picture quality and fingerprints everywhere - it’s nighttime in my time zone.

 

[glitterata]

That is clearly not what you thought you were buying, and you are clearly not happy with it, so send it back!

The yellow you're seeing in the middle is probably the yellow gold setting showing through a transparent window in the middle of the sapphire because it's badly cut. I wouldn't trust that company to replace it with something you're happy with, given the huge disparity between the advertised image and the ring you actually got. I would start again with a different vendor, if I were you.

 

[LilAlex]

Looks nothing like the vendor photo and is very mediocre. Poor color saturation, yellowish, and very windowed.

Green sapphire is almost never attractive -- green hue devalues blue sapphire dramatically. It tends to be reasonably inexpensive. Lots of pretty green stones: emerald, chrysoberyl, tsavorite and demantoid garnet, jadeite, even some tourmalines.

Run from any ad that mentions "AAA quality" -- means nothing whatsoever (except scam). Screams eBay special. Is it AAA on a scale 1 to 100 As? This reminds me of how used camera equipment is "graded" on eBay: "like new" means lots of evidence of wear; "excellent" means it was dragged behind a truck...

EDIT: There is no way that is the same stone that is in the vendor photo.

 

[voce]

Apart from teal sapphires (not sure if you'd consider that green), all green sapphires have some secondary yellow. Both the green and the yellow colors in sapphire are caused by iron impurities, depending on the isotope, (as opposed to titanium for blue sapphire and chromium for pink sapphire and ruby), so based on chemistry alone it's very easy for the green to veer into yellow. I've also seen a fair share of yellow sapphires with a secondary green.

If you want a natural green stone without yellow, then you should consider other gemstone species, and if you want durability without the priceyness, you should look into YAG, which is 9.5 and between sapphire and diamond in hardness.

 

[Starstruck8]

Voce: '...depending on the isotope…' Did you mean ‘oxidation state’? Here is a recent GIA article on chromophores in sapphire. It is more complex that I had thought. https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/spring-2020-corundum-chromophores

Bjohn: I second everything other posters have said. Especially, vendor AAA gradings are a red flag.

Sapphires can have excellent blue and yellow, and good teal. But they just don’t come in vibrant saturated greens. At least, I have never seen one. Green sapphires can be attractive in their own way - I own one. But if ‘green’ green is what you want, Voce’s advice is good.

 

[Bron357]

As others have said, send it back if you aren’t in love with it. It’s not a good example of a green sapphire.
There is no such thing as “AAA” grading in sapphires other than a vendor making that up! Sapphires are graded by colour and hue, clarity and treatment.
Green sapphires aren’t too common and the colour is usually yellowish and not so attractive. Green hue in a blue sapphire is a lot nicer but again, it’s not considered a premium colour in sapphire.
Better examples for a proper green gemstone include tourmaline, emerald and some garnet types. Peridot is also green but often to the yellow tone and Prasolite or green amethyst is another attractive but pale tone green gem.
Sapphire though is a good gemstone, hardness of 9, for a ring.

 

[voce]

Voce: '...depending on the isotope…' Did you mean ‘oxidation state’? Here is a recent GIA article on chromophores in sapphire. It is more complex that I had thought. https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/spring-2020-corundum-chromophores

Bjohn: I second everything other posters have said. Especially, vendor AAA gradings are a red flag.

Sapphires can have excellent blue and yellow, and good teal. But they just don’t come in vibrant saturated greens. At least, I have never seen one. Green sapphires can be attractive in their own way - I own one. But if ‘green’ green is what you want, Voce’s advice is good.

Yes, thank you. I knew iron came in +2 or +3 forms, and that's what I meant when I said isotopes in my earlier post.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Dear jewelry community,


I am writing to ask you for advice about a recent purchase I made - It is a ring that carries a .5 crt natural sapphire in light green flanked by a number of point diamonds:



However, I really am new to the field of green sapphires, so I cannot decide how to feel about this look, because I clearly can see some yellow coloring. I know this can occur in natural sapphires, but I wonder if it isn't a bit too much.

Now, the gem was advertised as an AAA quality green sapphire, not as a bicolor gem. See a picture here of the advertised look:




So I wanted to ask you for your opinion, would this be acceptable coloring for a green sapphire advertised as green sapphire of AAA grading?

I am really also unsure, how common are green sapphires that do not have such yellow secondary colorings? Would it make sense to ask for a replacement?



Thanks so much for your help! Looking forward to hearing from you!


/bjohn

Looking at that i feel disappointed for you
I have long wanted a green saphire after seeing a ring years ago at the jewlers
I have one nowdays and the colour is a murky green but not yellow
The one you posted looks way too pale (maybe its the window) but it looks more like some really disapiinting praisorlite i once briefly thought i wanted

there are much nicer green sapphires out there
send that one back and find one with more colour