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Opinion for this Pad?

soramimi

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Jul 4, 2020
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My fiance and I are looking for a good quality colored gemstone for her engagement ring. We came across this pad on ajsgem:


She liked its color and clarity. But we also noticed some orange coloration on one side of the stone. We are new to colored gemstones so would like some opinions from more experienced people. Is it worth the money? Is the coloration a major flaw for a stone at this price level? Thanks!
 

LilAlex

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Looks pretty! Decent lab, imo.

A little shallow and I think there is a window. i did not see the orange that you referred to,

Suboptimal shape for a lifetime of daily wear, imo -- with that one pointy end.

The whole video is shifted to the "pink" end of the spectrum. Even the white (?) cushion underneath looks fairly bright pink to my eye and monitor. So I think it will less saturated IRL.
 

soramimi

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Looks pretty! Decent lab, imo.

A little shallow and I think there is a window. i did not see the orange that you referred to,

Suboptimal shape for a lifetime of daily wear, imo -- with that one pointy end.

The whole video is shifted to the "pink" end of the spectrum. Even the white (?) cushion underneath looks fairly bright pink to my eye and monitor. So I think it will less saturated IRL.

Thanks for your response!

The orange I was referring to was on the round end (bottom) of the stone. Can you see it?

How bad daily wear could be for a sapphire? One of the reason that we picked it (against emerald and jade) was because of its hardness. We thought it wouldn't be a concern but it looks like we might be wrong.

You brought up a good point that the whole video is shifted to the pink end of the spectrum. We didn't notice it before and will take it into account.

We didn't expect the stone to be perfect given the rareness of an unheated pad with this size and clarity. However do you think $6800 ($8500 with 20% off 7/4 sale) is a reasonable price for it?
 

lovedogs

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Sapphires are a great choice for daily wear bc of their hardness. I think the other poster was concerned about the shape, because a pear has the pointy part that you'll need to make sure is well protected in the setting to avoid chipping.

Is this your GFs preferred color? My impression is that it's more pink than pink/orange but it's very pretty.

I also like these ones from gemfix but they arent as big.

 

elizat

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I see the orange. It's kind of concentrated in areas in the photo. That could just be the photo. I would ask for video that's not basically flat on a surface. It looks like it will be more pink toned rather than pink orange. Is that ok?

Pears are fine if set appropriately too. I think they are very flattering on the hand.
 

soramimi

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Sapphires are a great choice for daily wear bc of their hardness. I think the other poster was concerned about the shape, because a pear has the pointy part that you'll need to make sure is well protected in the setting to avoid chipping.

Is this your GFs preferred color? My impression is that it's more pink than pink/orange but it's very pretty.

I also like these ones from gemfix but they arent as big.


Make sense. What kind of settings protect pear shaped gems better? We saw that most pear shaped gem settings have a leg around the pointy part of the gem. Does it offer enough protection for the gem?

Thanks for the suggestions. I think she might prefer a little bit more pink color. I'll show her the these two gems you recommended.
 

soramimi

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I see the orange. It's kind of concentrated in areas in the photo. That could just be the photo. I would ask for video that's not basically flat on a surface. It looks like it will be more pink toned rather than pink orange. Is that ok?

Pears are fine if set appropriately too. I think they are very flattering on the hand.

I think she prefers a little bit more pink. Do you have any suggestion on what kind of settings could offer more protection to the pears?
 

elizat

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I think she prefers a little bit more pink. Do you have any suggestion on what kind of settings could offer more protection to the pears?

A bezel or a faux bezel.

CvB does very good faux bezels. So does David Klass. Basically you are looking for something that looks like a bezel and it encases the stone but it has prongs.

Bezels don't have to be bulky either. They can be slimmer and it can give protection to the stone. You can also have the back completely open, but it will protect the point of the stone. I do not care for the traditional pair settings with the v prong on the point, so on my own personal pears, I go for decorative bezels.

Here is an example.



The stone is protected but it's not a true bezel setting because it's held in place by prongs.

A true but finely done non bulky bezel:

 

lovedogs

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Make sense. What kind of settings protect pear shaped gems better? We saw that most pear shaped gem settings have a leg around the pointy part of the gem. Does it offer enough protection for the gem?

Thanks for the suggestions. I think she might prefer a little bit more pink color. I'll show her the these two gems you recommended.

I second what @elizat Said. Cvb and DK do amazing faux bezels with prongs which will protect the tip of the pear.
 

elizat

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This is my pear diamond in a full decorative bezel. The stone is from the Georgian time frame, so very old and it's well protected. CvB did the diamond three stone bezel. IMG_20200619_101733.jpg
 

lilmosun

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It's a very pretty stone and nice size. But if she finds the "orange" coloration distracting, will she learn to love it long term or will it continue to bother her?

Does she have her heart set on a padparadscha -or- a soft pink sapphire? (There are also some gorgeous pink spinels out there btw).

I ask because you mentioned she would prefer a stone that was "more pink" and to qualify as a pad, a stone should be orangish-pink or pinkish-orange. Perhaps one who knows more about pads can correct me, but I the orangish-pink ends are are more what I think of as pad coloring than the center.

You are paying a premium for the pad designation...and if that is what she has her heart set on, it seems like a very good price for a almost 3ct stone with a pad designation from a lab.
 
Last edited:

chrono

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You will find that almost all gemstones will sort of shift and blend a bit as it is moved around on the hand and also when the type and strength of the light source changes. In a way, this is the appeal of coloured stones. How much it shifts is where personal tolerance lies. The less the shift, the pricier it will be, unless the shift is so strong as to be considered a colour changer.

Pears and certain other shapes tend to have colour concentrated at the tip. Point ends are typically protected by a type of prong called chevron or V prongs.
 

soramimi

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If you're interested in a more pink leaning pad, what do you think of this one? 2.59ct, unheated, slightly included....for under USD3000

mmexport1593956744509.jpg

Do you have a link or more details of this pad? Is it lab certified?
 

LilAlex

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If you're interested in a more pink leaning pad, what do you think of this one? 2.59ct, unheated, slightly included....for under USD3000

Looks like a huge window there. Not sure why it's been left in the gutter :mrgreen2: I think it's to distract from the window...
 

LilAlex

Ideal_Rock
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The orange I was referring to was on the round end (bottom) of the stone. Can you see it?

Oh, I bet you will not see that IRL -- I think it's an artifact of the oversaturation where subtle regional differences in color become much more pronounced. Meaning it's probably truly more "orange" there but only slightly. My main concern is that the whole stone will be a lot paler. But as long as there is a good return policy...
 

soramimi

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We decided to buy it and it was delivered to us today. The color is indeed slightly less intense than the picture/video online but not too bad. We also noticed two things:

1. There are a few very thin, almost parallel colorless lines inside the stone which doesn't look like cracks. I did some research and they might be growth lines/silk?
2. The orange color inside is like a small facet that you can only see from certain angles. By looking very closely I feel like I can see a very thin crack on the side along the direction of the facet but I'm not sure because it's quite unnoticeable.

Are these inclusions/defects problematic? Especially for the second one, would it affect the durability of the gem?
 

LilAlex

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Can't tell from that description. The colorless lines sound like color-zoning and you may just be seeing absence of color. The texture should be the same if that's the case (i.e., there is no "thing" there and only the color is absent in those thin bands, which are actually layers). Not a big deal, imo, unless you can see it from the crown or you find it very conspicuous and/or bothersome.

The fracture at the "south pole" would be right at the girdle (?). I would have your jeweler look at it right away (before the return window closes) and make sure there are no integrity issues that could affect mounting it.
 
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