Sapphire Pricing

[tessari]

I just don''t get sapphire pricing at all!
Online you see 2ct stones for $695...
Recently I was in a store that had heated 1 ct stones for $10,000. unheated ones were even pricier.
It''s also very difficult for me to compare cut and quality as opposed to diamonds....what gives? are there any guidelines out there for sapphire pricing?

 

[Tropicmaster]

Having just completed a long sapphire search I certainly feel your pain! I am fairly new and uneducated, but I can tell you a couple of things- Do some researching of old posts on here, and listen to the regulars- they know what they are talking about! I doubt there are any retail vendors out there that I didnt either speak with, or e mail with requests and I can tell you that you will NOT find any continuity in pricing! I very highly recommend that you contact some of the American custom cutters and attack your search that way. They will be much more open and honest about pricing to begin with, and they will have much higher quality stones to choose from, or rough to cut from. Besides that you are removing the horrific retailer mark up from the equation and will get that higher quality at a lot lower carat price. I dont know how to link to old posts, but I have several on here from the past 3 weeks and there are a lot of good recommendations in the replys as far as cutters and vendors. I''ll go ahead and throw a plug in as well- my search ended when I contacted Jeff White at Whites gems. He will take very good care of you!

 

[neatfreak]

Colored stones are just a whole different ballgame. Subtle variations in color can lead to price differences in the thousands. If you''re interested in learning you just have to jump in with both feet and start reading. Richard Wise has a great book on gems that is worth reading:

http://www.secretsofthegemtrade.com/

 

[chrono]

As suggested, a quick search on PS about sapphires will tell you more than you ever need to know. Sapphire pricing varies based on so many things:
1. colour (pureness of hue, tone, saturation, zoning)
2. treatment (heated, unheated, BE, etc)
3. clarity
4. cut (windowing, extinction, heavy belly, off centered culet, etc)
5. size