Purple Sapphire Question

[LD]

A quick question for coloured gemstone experts!

Is unheated purple sapphire (the colour of amethyst - not lavender) really rare?

 

[lavenderlill]

Maybe people who have been around the industry longer than I have can chime in but I haven''t really seen much naturally occurring pure purple sapphire out there. It almost always seems to have a strong secondary hue mixed in like bluish purple or reddish berry-like purple.

 

[Pandora II]

I saw a fair number in Sri Lanka - I''d say that 70% of them were unheated (I bought ''unheated'' blue sapphires from the vendors and they were confirmed as unheated by the labs).

I was particularly looking for a top tanzanite purple blue, which I found 2 stones - but I was shown the amethyst coloured ones in the process.

They weren''t as common, but they weren''t rare in the way that some other stones I wanted to see were.

They appeared to be becoming more popular than they used to be judging by the prices I would have had to pay.

 

[Sagebrush]

As Pandora points out from her Sri Lankan experience, fine quality unenhanced purple sapphire is rare because fine gems in general are rare. In the US it seems that heated stones are more available than unheated.


Best,

 

[LD]

Thank you all for your responses.

Whilst I thought that purple unheated sapphires (of excellent colour and clarity) were not as common as other colours, it was good to have clarification. I have therefore gone ahead and purchased the one I had my eye on!

I''ll post pictures when it arrives IF it''s nice!!!

 

[T L]

Date: 12/3/2008 2:59:15 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds
Thank you all for your responses.

Whilst I thought that purple unheated sapphires (of excellent colour and clarity) were not as common as other colours, it was good to have clarification. I have therefore gone ahead and purchased the one I had my eye on!

I''ll post pictures when it arrives IF it''s nice!!!

I think I read somewhere that purple sapphires are rarer than blue sapphires. Well, enjoy!! I can''t wait to see the pics! Where is it from (Madagascar, Ceylon, etc. . . .)

 

[Sagebrush]

Tourmaline Lover,

Which is rarer, purple or blue. Always a difficult question and one I am constantly being asked. Guess you would have to gather up all the sapphire in the world to say for sure, but I would say that purple is rarer in the market. It has an element of chromium and chromium is rare particularly in Sri Lanka and Madagascar where most of the purples come from.

In the realm of gem quality, I have seen very few "gemmy" purples which I would define as slightly reddish purple rPur as opposed to pinkish purple pR. The red secondary pumps up the primary purple hue. I have a couple. What is truly rare is a color-change that will change from gem purple in incandescent to gem blue in daylight. I have only seen two.

Fine purple is a good choice for the collector, it really does not command a price commensurate with its rarity and is, in my opinion undervalued in the market.

Best,

 

[LD]

Date: 12/5/2008 6:50:42 AM
Author: Richard W. Wise
Tourmaline Lover,

Which is rarer, purple or blue. Always a difficult question and one I am constantly being asked. Guess you would have to gather up all the sapphire in the world to say for sure, but I would say that purple is rarer in the market. It has an element of chromium and chromium is rare particularly in Sri Lanka and Madagascar where most of the purples come from.

In the realm of gem quality, I have seen very few ''gemmy'' purples which I would define as slightly reddish purple rPur as opposed to pinkish purple pR. The red secondary pumps up the primary purple hue. I have a couple. What is truly rare is a color-change that will change from gem purple in incandescent to gem blue in daylight. I have only seen two.

Fine purple is a good choice for the collector, it really does not command a price commensurate with its rarity and is, in my opinion undervalued in the market.

Best,

Oh my goodness, I have a 2.5ct unheated (certified) kite shape colour change sapphire that is royal/navy blue and changes to a deep purple! I can''t photograph the true colour change to save my life but I''ll have a go this weekend and post pictures if I manage to get anything that resembles what I''m seeing!

 

[LD]

I've just found the vendor's pictures which are pretty realistic to what I see and my own terrible previous attempt at photographing the colour change! It's 2.25ct not 2.5ct as I previously said. Please ignore the dreadful setting. It's on the list of gemstones to be reset (into a pendant)!

 

[Sagebrush]

All,

Neither image shows "gem" or top color gem though that is a nice change.

Best,

 

[innerkitten]

Cherrypicked.com has a few nice purples.