Peach sapphire- help! Is this a smudge or a photography fail?

[mrsthirdcharms]

Hello PS-res!
I have purchased my first custom cut lab sapphire from Stag & Finch. It will be set into a molume gane bezel ring, in a “fire” color palette, with red & yellow gold, and oxidized sterling silver. I think it’s going to look wicked cool.

I got the sapphire today. It’s cut in the storm light pattern. It looks good to my eyes, but when I zoom in for pictures, there’s a weird circular smudge. Is this my camera, lack of photo skills/ good light, or do you think something is off with the stone?

My pictures, and screenshots of the metal color palette it’s going into.

Thanks in advance for your response!

 

[LilAlex]

I got the sapphire today. It’s cut in the storm light pattern. It looks good to my eyes, but when I zoom in for pictures, there’s a weird circular smudge. Is this my camera, lack of photo skills/ good light, or do you think something is off with the stone?

Do you see it with your eye (i.e., with a loupe) or just in the picture?

I don't see why a lab sapphire would not be flawless or at least pretty close. It's cheap material.

 

[icy_jade]

If you wipe it clean do you still see it with a loupe or magnifying glass? Also do you have the vendor pics?

 

[Ionysis]

I’ve only ever bought lab sapphire once and it was 100% clean. This doesn’t look right to me at all.

 

[mrsthirdcharms]

I only see this in the pictures. This is why I’m wondering if it’s the camera/light? I didn’t get pictures from the vendor. They only have glamour shots of a sample in this color online.

 

[ForteKitty]

That weird frosty thing is only on one side of the gem and it's not consistently on the same side of the photo, which means it's most likely a cut or inclusion issue.

 

[MeowMeow]

Hmm that does look kind of strange. I have a lab sapphire from them as well and the worst thing it does in pictures is some facets create a heart usually. Can you clean it well and then only handle it with a cloth and see if it still turns up in pictures? If it does maybe ask them about it.

 

[mrsthirdcharms]

I made the mistake of sending this off to the jeweler already. It looked fine to my eyes, and I didn’t have time to closely examine the pictures- and I figured it was my own lack of skill in getting it properly photographed. I’ve only got an iPhone 8 camera. The circular frosted smudge one side looks a bit like it wasn’t polished enough or something.

I am going to ask the jeweler to look at it once the receive it, with better tools. If they have concerns, I’ll contact the vendor.

 

[MeowMeow]

I made the mistake of sending this off to the jeweler already. It looked fine to my eyes, and I didn’t have time to closely examine the pictures- and I figured it was my own lack of skill in getting it properly photographed. I’ve only got an iPhone 8 camera. The circular frosted smudge one side looks a bit like it wasn’t polished enough or something.

I am going to ask the jeweler to look at it once the receive it, with better tools. If they have concerns, I’ll contact the vendor.

Ah got it. Good plan! Maybe whatever it is can be cleaned off

 

[JackTrick]

You may want to message Stag and Finch too. They’re good people, and I believe they’d be happy to help.

 

[Polyhex]

Does it show up only in one spot or does it moved as the stone is tilted to another side? It looks like the fish eye effect in shallow diamonds, where the girdle is visible as a reflection in some angles creating an unsightly circular shape especially when the girdle is frosted. I have seen diamonds where the fish eye only shows upon tilt on one side (but if you tilt it in another direction it will show up on the other side.)

 

[voce]

Have you tried cleaning it? Lab sapphires can be made to look more "natural" with inclusions grown in on purpose.

Also, CS forums is for natural CS only, this might be an issue that folks on the Fabulous Fashion Jewelry forum know more about. There's multiple lab CS threads over there.

 

[GliderPoss]

Definitely can see the frosted circle on it! Sorta looks unpolished in a way? Would call & flag it before getting it set.

 

[qubitasaurus]

Try cleaning, then take the torch function on your phone and shine it straight down through the table. If there is a big inclusion it will show right up. However I would be guessing at cut issues and optical interferance as well like forte kitty.

Can try submerging in glass of water, this will change the angle at which the light refracts and also the critical angles for total internal reflection so should change optical paths in the stone (whether it will be enough to see the pattern change I dont know). Also flip the stone over and see whether there is a sudden change at that point in the inclination of the facets.

 

[mrsthirdcharms]

Thanks everyone for your input & ideas.

If the jeweler can see the issue with the spot, I’ll definitely message S&F. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum. I didn’t realize that lab gems were separated.

 

[OoohShiny]

Mokume setting will be awesome!

 

[mrsthirdcharms]

You may want to message Stag and Finch too. They’re good people, and I believe they’d be happy to help.

Thanks- I did message Bryan, to ask if there were any issues and if it’s possibly just me taking bad photos.

Try cleaning, then take the torch function on your phone and shine it straight down through the table. If there is a big inclusion it will show right up. However I would be guessing at cut issues and optical interferance as well like forte kitty.

Can try submerging in glass of water, this will change the angle at which the light refracts and also the critical angles for total internal reflection so should change optical paths in the stone (whether it will be enough to see the pattern change I dont know). Also flip the stone over and see whether there is a sudden change at that point in the inclination of the facets.

Thanks for the feedback. I should have held onto it a little longer before mailing it, but am trying to make a deadline. Definitely filing this away for future reference!

Mokume setting will be awesome!

Thank You! I’m so excited about this project. This metalwork is so beautiful and different, and I’ve been fascinated since I first saw examples. I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished ring!

 

[mrsthirdcharms]

Big thanks to everyone who replied & for your suggestions. Since this is in the wrong forum, an admin can move it if necessary- I will post a review of the finished ring in the correct place once it’s complete. I just wanted to follow up on this issue.

I reached out to Bryan at S&F. He thought that the stone might have epoxy residue on it, which my jeweler could easily remove. He said that if there was any other flaw, they’d cut another stone right away. My jeweler got the sapphire, and confirmed it was epoxy. He got it off, and reassures me that it’s a beautiful, flawless stone.

Good customer service experience!

 

[JackTrick]

Yay! So happy it ended well

 

[Polyhex]

Yaaaay! Great outcome!!