Opinions on this Pailin sapphire?

[pierreone]

I''m looking for a sapphire for my 20th anniversary replacement ering. I''ve contacted a few PS vendors about finding a stone, but I also came across this one in my search. It''s a 3.29ct, unheated, color change Pailin sapphire with an AIGS certification. Because I''m a sapphire newbie, I was hoping to get some opinions on it.

How dark will this be IRL? I contacted the vendor and he said the areas that look black in the pics are really a nice deep blue, and that it still shows good color when not in direct light. Any other problems that you can see? Do you think it''s not worth considering? Thanks.

 

[chrono]

It looks to be lively and has a nice blue but the picture is also showing quite a bit of extinction. I presume the colour change is to purple? The 2nd colour also needs to be evaluated for purity of hue. If the return policy is good, I'd give the stone a chance to view it in person to decide if it's the right one - confirm accuracy of colour and extinction. I am concerned to see so much darkness in the stone even in the upside down picture.

 

[marcy]

I am only guessing based on the sapphires I have had over the years I think you would see both the pretty royal blue and some extinction in this stone. Sapphires are kind of notorious for that. In some lights you will see mostly blue, in sunlight you would probably see mostly navy blue.

 

[ma re]

No major objections from me. It looks to have quite a lovely color and outline, and a decent cut precision for a native cut sapphire. Check it out.

 

[T L]

If you're getting it from ebay, make sure it specifies only gentle heat treatment and no diffusion. If you see something on the cert as to "further analysis is required to indicate if there is a foreign substance" or something akin to that - run away. I don't know where you're getting it from, but Gem-Earth on ebay, sells Pallin sapphires with what I think is very possible diffusion treatment, but doesn't disclose it. This dealer kind of tricks people into security by offerring a cert, but the cert doesn't tell the whole story.

Also use toolhaus.org to checkout feedback on an ebay seller. The minimal feedback stored on ebay does not tell the whole story.

 

[LD]

The Seller doesn''t have much in the way of feedback - that can be a positive and a negative though. It''s a lot of money to pay to a relatively new Ebay seller. Although he does say that he accepts returns, to have to return it in 14 days and if you wanted to be ultra sure you were spending money wisely you''d have to have it assessed independently by a lab to ensure that it hasn''t been heated/treated in any way - that would probably take you over the 14 days. If you buy it with the proviso that you''re going to do that and would expect to be allowed to return within 30 days that might be more reasonable.

The AIGS report is only a brief report - that concerns me.

The sapphire itself is pretty but like the others, I think this may have too many areas of extinction.

Having said all of that ............ if it''s calling you, then get it for a look.

 

[pierreone]

Thanks for all the replies and good advice. I did go ahead and buy it, but was able to negotiate a 30-day return instead of just 14, so I can get it checked out if I like it (thanks for that tip, LovingDiamonds). I did have three quick questions, based on all your feedback:
1. It comes with an AIGS Gemstone Brief Report that states that the sapphire is unheated. Is this reliable or not? I did check out the report number on the AIGS website, and it came back as a valid report.
2. Even with the AIGS report, should I get this tested? If so, where?
3. From what I''ve read, extinction is due to the way a gem is faceted. Does that mean this has a poor cut?

 

[Michael_E]

Author: pierreone
3. From what I''ve read, extinction is due to the way a gem is faceted. Does that mean this has a poor cut?

Not really. Extinction is often a combination of a dark toned body color, (the color of the stone when viewed without any pavilion reflections), combined with a lack of light in the stone caused by your head and upper body blocking the light,("head shadow"). Any stone having a corner in it''s perimeter shape has an automatic disadvantage in this regard as those corners tend to show greater head shadow as well as having any light entering them getting bounced around in strange ways...and not usually back to your eyes. This is why sharp cornered cushions often show a dark diagonal cross, even in bright diffuse lighting. It''s also why most pears in dark materials have very dark tips. The only way around this is to cut these shapes in the "barion" style, since it merges the shape of the stone to a brilliant pavilion, which has no corners.

The stone that you''ve shown has had all of it''s pictures taken under artificial lighting and all you can see are the colors of the reflections. In order to get a good idea of the "real life" color of the stone, it''s always a good idea to have the seller provide pictures that have been taken outside on a cloudy day, or in the shade, preferably on a white background and especially upside down. As Chrono has mentioned, the color when the stone is upside down gives a very good idea of the actual body color of the stone IRL. Dark is not necessarily bad, but you should get as good an idea of what you''re buying as possible prior to making a commitment.