Sapphire hunt in LA

[London]

Hello all,

I have been non stop looking through PS trying to gather as much information as I can about sapphires. What I've gathered is that I have an easier time wrapping my head around diamonds and how they are priced. Everything in the sapphire world as it pertains to price seems somewhat subjective to me. Honestly my head is spinning! The only thing I know for sure is that I would like a true royal blue color in a round shape and it has to measure in the 8.6x8.6 range to fit a current setting.

I will be visiting downtown LA this Saturday in hopes of gathering more information about price and hopefully looking at as many options as possible. I will be walking around just randomly going from booth to booth but I did want to ask here and see if there is anyone trustworthy I should make sure to visit?

 

[chrono]

I would drop by Joe Escobar. They have a good selection of blue sapphires at reasonable prices.
Joe Escobar - http://www.escobardiamonds.com

Can you please define what Royal Blue is? Any pictures showing a sapphire with this colour? The reason I am asking is that the term "Royal Blue" is subjective. Colour, in the CS world, is broken down into hue, tone and saturation and there is less room for error and misunderstanding when categorized as such. Have you given any thought as to what level of treatment is acceptable to you?

A few threads about others' search for their blue sapphire which you might find useful:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-a-blue-sapphire-start-here.185711/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/looking-for-a-blue-sapphire-start-here.185711/[/URL]

 

[marymm]

fyi: Joe Escobar is in Northern California, in Campbell - definitely not close to the LA area.

 

[chrono]

fyi: Joe Escobar is in Northern California, in Campbell - definitely not close to the LA area.

Well, that's not good. I would still contact them even if you can't drop by.

 

[minousbijoux]

Would the San Diego area be too far to go? That's where Gemfix is located and I know they have a ton of blue sapphires that are not on their website.

 

[London]

Thank you for the responses! I will get in touch Joe Escabar and gemfix. Any other suggestions in the LA area?

Currently I have a setting that has a 8.6x8.6 round diamond with half carat asscher side stones. I would like to change out the stones and have a sapphire center with emerald side stones. I think this pic is the color range I am looking for in the sapphire and the emeralds would need to be a little greener. I saw two rings with this color combo at Cartier in BH last week and they looked AMAZING. I wish I had taken a picture but I was afraid to ask if I could. I would love unheated but I would consider heat only if everything else like cut, color and sparkle is great.

 

[RedSpinel]

Thank you for the responses! I will get in touch Joe Escabar and gemfix. Any other suggestions in the LA area?

Currently I have a setting that has a 8.6x8.6 round diamond with half carat asscher side stones. I would like to change out the stones and have a sapphire center with emerald side stones. I think this pic is the color range I am looking for in the sapphire and the emeralds would need to be a little greener. I saw two rings with this color combo at Cartier in BH last week and they looked AMAZING. I wish I had taken a picture but I was afraid to ask if I could. I would love unheated but I would consider heat only if everything else like cut, color and sparkle is great.

That looks more like a cornflower blue sapphire. The good news is that cornflower blue sapphires SHOULD be cheaper than royal blue ones. I personally like cornflower sapphires a lot. Dont have one yet though, although I did order one but was sent the wrong stone and by the time I returned it, the one I wanted was gone!

 

[London]

Thank you for the responses! I will get in touch Joe Escabar and gemfix. Any other suggestions in the LA area?

Currently I have a setting that has a 8.6x8.6 round diamond with half carat asscher side stones. I would like to change out the stones and have a sapphire center with emerald side stones. I think this pic is the color range I am looking for in the sapphire and the emeralds would need to be a little greener. I saw two rings with this color combo at Cartier in BH last week and they looked AMAZING. I wish I had taken a picture but I was afraid to ask if I could. I would love unheated but I would consider heat only if everything else like cut, color and sparkle is great.

That looks more like a cornflower blue sapphire. The good news is that cornflower blue sapphires SHOULD be cheaper than royal blue ones. I personally like cornflower sapphires a lot. Dont have one yet though, although I did order one but was sent the wrong stone and by the time I returned it, the one I wanted was gone!

Eeeks! that sux that the one you wanted was gone! Hopefully something similar turns up soon.
Thank you, good to know the term I am looking for is cornflower blue

 

[chrono]

That is a gorgeous blue and not what I would consider Royal blue at all. This is the biggest reason why I dislike using terms like Royal blue, cornflower blue, Kashmir blue and the like because it means different things to different people. I see it as a strongly saturated medium blue sapphire with a slight violet modifier.

If the setting is for a 8.6 mm round, that means the square sapphire you need has to have a LxW measurement of 6.2 to 6.5 mm to fit the current setting. If you go smaller, you will see the underside of the basket. If you go larger to cover the underside of the basket, the prongs may not be long enough to handle the "bulge". The safest solution is to change out the basket, which also gives you more leeway as to a larger/smaller sapphire.

 

[London]

That is a gorgeous blue and not what I would consider Royal blue at all. This is the biggest reason why I dislike using terms like Royal blue, cornflower blue, Kashmir blue and the like because it means different things to different people. I see it as a strongly saturated medium blue sapphire with a slight violet modifier.

If the setting is for a 8.6 mm round, that means the square sapphire you need has to have a LxW measurement of 6.2 to 6.5 mm to fit the current setting. If you go smaller, you will see the underside of the basket. If you go larger to cover the underside of the basket, the prongs may not be long enough to handle the "bulge". The safest solution is to change out the basket, which also gives you more leeway as to a larger/smaller sapphire.

Thank you! This is great info. But if I got a round colored gem it could measure same as my diamond and I'm guessing that would be fine.

Do you know if a jeweler would be able to turn regular round prongs into claw style prongs?

 

[chrono]

But if I got a round colored gem it could measure same as my diamond and I'm guessing that would be fine. Do you know if a jeweler would be able to turn regular round prongs into claw style prongs?

Yes, if you stay with a round stone, as long as the depth isn't too deep, something around 8.5 mm thereabouts will fit without any modifications. Prong tips are something a bench can address during the setting process.

 

[minousbijoux]

That is a gorgeous blue and not what I would consider Royal blue at all. This is the biggest reason why I dislike using terms like Royal blue, cornflower blue, Kashmir blue and the like because it means different things to different people. I see it as a strongly saturated medium blue sapphire with a slight violet modifier.

If the setting is for a 8.6 mm round, that means the square sapphire you need has to have a LxW measurement of 6.2 to 6.5 mm to fit the current setting. If you go smaller, you will see the underside of the basket. If you go larger to cover the underside of the basket, the prongs may not be long enough to handle the "bulge". The safest solution is to change out the basket, which also gives you more leeway as to a larger/smaller sapphire.

Thank you! This is great info. But if I got a round colored gem it could measure same as my diamond and I'm guessing that would be fine.

Do you know if a jeweler would be able to turn regular round prongs into claw style prongs?

Do keep in mind that most colored stones are cut deeper than diamonds, so you would have to measure the depth of the setting to know for certain that you have the depth to carry off an 8.6mm (or thereabouts) colored stone.