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Opinions on gems for my Fiancee's engagment ring

J

JaredWA

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 26, 2016
Messages
9
So I'm getting a custom made engagement ring made. I'm incorporating portions of my grandmother's ring from 1946 into it. Unfortunately the 1946 ring has been worn down so much that only the small (2.5mm) round diamond can be salvaged and some crosses from the shoulders will be transplanted to the new ring. My Fiancee really likes dark cushion cut sapphires so I'm going with a 3 stone set.

The ring i'm going to have made locally is going to be a 3 stone set with a 5-6mm center stone cushion sapphire and then 2 round 2.5mm (1 my grandmother's stone) on the side and then the crosses lifted from the original ring. I know it would be cheaper to go with completely original, but I feel like the continuation is somewhat sentimental. So i'm looking for a 5-6mm cushion cut darker (not pitch black) sapphire to use on my wring. The local jeweler's price for .85 ct stones 5mm stones is $1300 and $2500 for a 1 ct 6mm. They seemed nice, but not outstanding stones from what I could see. I would like to get the best stone for the $ that I can for my Fiancee. My budget is up to 1500, but that is stretching it.

I have educated my self as much I can in a short period of time. Prior all I knew about sapphires were they were pretty and hard stones ;). So any advise/ info would be great! Thanks!




I hear good things about Andrew Gulij This one seems a little less saturated then what i fell is optimal, but the darkness is about right for what we want. I think the B value was about 114 for this stone. I'm little concerned on 2 things about this stone. The H/depth ratio is .61 which is on the edge of the optimal .85-.6 ratio to avoid windowing, However from this brief picture it, my untrained eye doesn't see any windowing and the brilliance looks pretty good. Also I haven't seen many Portuguese cuts before, so wondering about opinions on the smaller facets.
gem1.png
http://gemfix.com/gems/sapphire-blue-1206-cushion-portuguese-style-1-11-cts

We kind of liked this stone from GemsNY. I'm a little leery about these as I'm not sure on the cuts or if there is windowing. Is there color zoning on these stones too? Seems like this one is a bit on the other end of the scale of ratio with a .86 width/height ratio.

gem2top_0.pnggem2side_0.png
http://www.gemsny.com/loose-sapphires/1.22-Carat-Cushion-Sapphire-SU43349KCU/


I'm also looking at James Allen's stones. I wish they gave you a little more information such as grading and origin.

This stone looks pretty well cut to my eye and decent proportions
http://www.jamesallen.com/gemstones/blue-sapphire/1.00-carat-cushion-sku-15871

This one has nice color, but seems a tad shallow at 6.2, 5.4/ 3.3. But seems to flash quite a bit which is nice
http://www.jamesallen.com/gemstones/blue-sapphire/1.02-carat-cushion-sku-17453


These ones I'm considering due to the increased size but i'm a little leery to to things the my uneducated eye detects:

This one has a bit more size. But is the middle windowed? Also am I right detecting some chips or something in the cuts?
http://www.jamesallen.com/gemstones/blue-sapphire/1.58-carat-cushion-sku-16570

Decent size and cuts, but maybe an occlusion in the upper right? and the bottom right crown there is some weird pattern on the surface. Not sure what that is about.
http://www.jamesallen.com/gemstones/blue-sapphire/1.48-carat-cushion-sku-16569

This stone totally scares me... Does this have a large crack on the bottom right? Would make me wonder if the stone is unstable
http://www.jamesallen.com/gemstones/blue-sapphire/1.16-carat-cushion-sku-16861
 
What a sweet idea!

Will you be bezeling the diamonds? I suggest this becuase sounds like your grandmother's ring lived a hard life, and i d want to protect and chips it might have experienced.

I'm not one to want to buy a sapphire from James Allen. They don't really come with a certificate and the color usually doesn't wow. The convenience of JA is that you can get the setting all in one place. But you're not doing that.

The other two you posted look a tad gray. You can get darker without sacrificing saturation. However, if she likes grey, ignore the next bit.

Here's a nice one

I love the idea of rounds with a cushion. One of my favorite sapphire rings is that combo.

picsart_02-26-07.jpg

_36513.jpg
 
Thanks for Weighting in Niel!
The diamond in the ring looks like it weathered things pretty well. It was in a bezeled mount with quite a bit of metal around it and was mounted almost flush so it didn't seem to get to much wear itself. My fiancee kinda wanted a prong mount, but then she says " it looks to flimsy" on the pure prongs so we might kinda go with hybrid mount that is a bezel with the rocks sticking out and held by prongs( does that make sense?) I just looked up Bezeled when you asked me that ;).

I do like the rock you posted and would love more saturation if it is in my $ range. Seems I have to make some concessions on either size/color/cut/ since i'm running at 1500 for a budget. Is that sapphire for sale somewhere?

Thanks!
Jared
 
Youll have to elaborate a bit on what you mean about the setting she wants. I'm not sure I can picture what you mean.

As for that sapphire, yes, its for sale, but above your budget. Let's see if we can't find one within the budget.
 
Thanks Niel.

This is kinda what she would like for both stones ( the main sapphire setting). It is pronged. but lower on the stone it also has a Bezel. She wants that on both the main and side stones. I do like the saturated one. However, its a bit small.... I know I kinda want everything. trying to get 5.5mm to 6mm if possible with as much quality as possible. Have to head to dinner, Thanks for looking.

http://www.jewelryexpert.com/catalog/Sapphire-Delight-Ring.htm
 
JaredWA|1456543192|3996408 said:
Thanks Niel.

This is kinda what she would like for both stones ( the main sapphire setting). It is pronged. but lower on the stone it also has a Bezel. She wants that on both the main and side stones. I do like the saturated one. However, its a bit small.... I know I kinda want everything. trying to get 5.5mm to 6mm if possible with as much quality as possible. Have to head to dinner, Thanks for looking.

http://www.jewelryexpert.com/catalog/Sapphire-Delight-Ring.htm
Click to expand...


Oh, ok, so she wants a prong set three stone with a bar in the basket, rather than JUST prongs showing.

Ok, simple. I fear that may not be very noticeable for a 2.5mm stone, thoigh.
 
Arabella, thanks for showing me the sapphire. It is a lovely stone, but I am looking for something a bit darker for sure.

Niel, those are pretty good looking stones, Just wish they were a bit bigger.

I'm thinking of driving to a jeweler in a nearby town tomorrow that says they have a large selection of high quality sapphires ( last 1 went to that claimed the same had 2 blue sapphires total).

What did you think of the 4 possible stones (5th was just a bad stone in my opinion) I posted from James Allen? You were saying the Certificates are kind of funky?

Also what is your opionin on this stone. Seems cheaper then it should and that makes me leery.
https://www.mastercutgems.com/Products-301-ANAGEE_Sri_Lanka_Gems/7048-Natural_Sri_Lanka_Fine_Blue_Sapphire_1_24_carat-Gem.php?FromPage=126974.jpg
 
JaredWA|1456690501|3997062 said:
Arabella, thanks for showing me the sapphire. It is a lovely stone, but I am looking for something a bit darker for sure.

Niel, those are pretty good looking stones, Just wish they were a bit bigger.

I'm thinking of driving to a jeweler in a nearby town tomorrow that says they have a large selection of high quality sapphires ( last 1 went to that claimed the same had 2 blue sapphires total).

What did you think of the 4 possible stones (5th was just a bad stone in my opinion) I posted from James Allen? You were saying the Certificates are kind of funky?

Also what is your opionin on this stone. Seems cheaper then it should and that makes me leery.
https://www.mastercutgems.com/Products-301-ANAGEE_Sri_Lanka_Gems/7048-Natural_Sri_Lanka_Fine_Blue_Sapphire_1_24_carat-Gem.php?FromPage=126974.jpg
Click to expand...


You've got to work with that you got. Is size the most important thing? Is color? Is shape? Becuase you, like everyone , will need to make compromises and prioritize.

The side stones you are using will be very small, a large sapphire may. It be the best idea anyways. Plus, in the long run we all get used to size.

Like I said, I wouldn't buy any of the stones from James Allen.

The gemfix one looks grey, and it don't know enough about the other vendor to recommend them
 
The Gemfix sapphire looks very gray.
The second sapphire is going to end up blackish in person.
I wouldn't buy any CS from JA. Diamonds, yes, but not CS due to the selection and quality.
 
Chrono|1456735824|3997244 said:
The Gemfix sapphire looks very gray.
The second sapphire is going to end up blackish in person.
I wouldn't buy any CS from JA. Diamonds, yes, but not CS due to the selection and quality.
Click to expand...

I second the bolded.
 
I appreciate the advice chrono and Arcadian, I think I will definitely avoid JA for my sapphire. Going to go check out some local places today.
 
JaredWA|1456876955|3998137 said:
So Quick question is www.pearlmansjewelers.com and www.africagems.com the same place? They seem to have the same stones.

http://www.africagems.com/cushion-blue-sapphire-gemstone-40640352.html
=
http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/gemstones/?sku=6403#

and

http://www.africagems.com/cushion-blue-sapphire-gemstone-11718642.html
=
http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/gemstones/?sku=7186
Click to expand...

They are not the same place. They get their stones from the same wholesale vendor, gems2000
 
Thanks Niel, Its always nice to know more about how things work.

I'm definitely thinking of going through Pearman's. Their website says the pricescope discount is not for lose diamonds, but does not say if it applies to loose sapphires or not. I am probably going to order something today if they get back to me. So here are the stones and the ring design I am thinking of.

So to show exactly what I like. I want to try and get the dark blue as shown in gem 1& 2 on this vid. I like #2 better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz-fXc1OLIc

I'm thinking we want to make a ring similar to the Celtic one shown and i'll figure out how to work the crosses in somehow. I want to mix in the basket design from the golden ring with the crossing over and the 4rth ring shows the darkness contrast I am looking for.

ring_copy_0.png

So here are the stones I narrowed it down to. I scaled them so they are comparable size to each other. The smallest is .8cts and 4.9mm/5mm The largest is 1.8 cts and unknown mm's. The 3 sites I'm looking at now are
http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/
http://www.gemsny.com/loose-sapphires
http://jupitergem.com
What does everyone think of these sites/ stones?
gems_copy_0.png
 
I like D.
 
C and D would be my pick.
 
I'm requesting a few more pictures on C or D before I make my decision between the 2. Niel do you know if the 15% price scope discount that pops up when you go to Pearlmans site applies to lose sapphires?
 
JaredWA|1457053876|3999366 said:
I'm requesting a few more pictures on C or D before I make my decision between the 2. Niel do you know if the 15% price scope discount that pops up when you go to Pearlmans site applies to lose sapphires?
Click to expand...
I am not sure. Never hurts to ask!
 
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