Sapphires for 3 stone ring, how do I know these are the ones?

[4bugzinarug]

Hello!

Pete at Quest has sent us a pair of Ceylon sapphires to consider for the 3 stone ring he is creating for us (center is 1.02 carat AGS000 G color). The sapphires were described to me as cornflower blue - they appear to me as a sparkly electric blue. The sapphires are each 4 mm for a total carat weight of .74, do you think this is large enough for the sidestones or would 5 mm look better? My ring size is about 8.5, so there is plenty of room for larger stones.

Also, how do I know the quality/etc of the sapphires? They look positively beautiful to me, very sparkly and a rich color, but are there any questions I should ask of him before saying these are the ones?

Thank you!

Jennifer

P.S. Will post pics of the sapphires once I am home from work

 

[belle]

what is the look (proportionally) that you are trying to achieve? these sapphires certainly sound big enough (and beautiful!) unless you are wanting them to be similar in size to the center stone.

can''t wait to see pics!

 

[mrssalvo]

ooo, it sounds lovely. I can''t wait for the pics.

I have had a ring made by Quest and would trust them completely when choosing the stones/sidestones to use. I think the size you choose would be decided by what look you are trying to achieve. I''d probably go for the bigger sides unless they look too close to the center and your wanting more of accent sidestones.

 

[Kaleigh]

I too can't wait for pics. I also had a ring made by Quest and have total faith in them. It depends what look you want to achieve as far as the size of the sidestones are concerned. But that size sounds about right in relation to your center stone.

 

[4bugzinarug]

Thanks for your responses I am fighting with our new digital SLR to get these pictures ... suspecting this darn camera is smarter than me but don''t want to admit it, LOL! As far as the size goes, my first reaction was that I would like something a touch larger for the sidestones. However, I don''t want to overwhelm the center, since that is the focus

The setting is going to be a modified version of this ring: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/and-now-by-popular-demand-my-rings.33762/
Adding pear shaped suprise diamonds and slightly modifying the shank.

So here''s my first try at posting pics of the sapphires ... sorry my ring looks so dirty, now that it is magnified 100x it looks horrendous, LOL!

There''s probably thumbprints on the sapphires too, they are hard to handle without tweezers. Thanks for any feedback, this project is a pretty big deal for us!

 

[4bugzinarug]

Here''s another shot at it!

 

[diamondfan]

I think they are gorgeous and the ring sounds great. you could go bigger on the sapphires if you want, but they are gorgeous. is there a mathematical equation for proportion? I also think the color of them is AMAZING. Cornflower looks a little less vibrant...these are rich and stunning.

 

[Kaleigh]

I think they are a great size. The one on the left looks like it has more life to it than the one one the right?? Could be the pic?? Gorgeous color, well saturated, but I need to see a pic of them face up. Take a pic of just the sapphires side by side. If you can prop them up on something that would be great. Your diamond is gorgeous.

 

[4bugzinarug]

Thanks! I am not sure if there is any kind of mathematical proportion to it ... but that is something we are looking into. Pete did a good job of matching up this pair, they both seem to have similiar sparkle/color ... they really are beautiful! My biggest concern is if they are the right size and if I am missing any questions we should ask him about quality/origin, etc. We have never purchased a sapphire before

I did attach another picture of the sapphires side by side ... the lighting isn''t great, so I will take another shot in the sunlight tomorrow. Thanks so much for all of your help! Best,

Jennifer

 

[4bugzinarug]

And one more just for fun

 

[~*Alexis*~]

ooooohhhh........PRETTY!!!!

Nice...................CONGRATS!!!!

 

[mrssalvo]

those are just beautiful. I LOVE the hue of the blue. as for the size, i think it''s a personal preference.

here is peebles scott kay where the side stones are accents

here is a ring where the stones are more similar in size..

 

[diamondfan]

I only know you want to make sure color is not heat generated or something. I do not know if Ceylon would imply by default that the stones are natural, i do not know enough about them...but they are lovely and the color is so rich.

 

[widget]

Wow....those sapphires are drop dead gorgeous!!!

Actually, DF...heat treatment in sapphs is for clarity improvement, not color altering. It's very commonly done (actually most of the time is). Heat treated sapphires are definitely viewed as "natural".

Unheated sapphires are rarer and therefore more expensive. Usually the people that want them are nut-case collectors (like me)...and even I probably wouldn't seek them out for side stones. A sparkly beautiful well matched round pair of sapphires are hard to find...treated or untreated.

4bugzinarug: they're lovely!!!

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[BeaudryBabe]

My engagement ring is a three stone with a blue sapphire center. My understanding, from all the research and shopping, is that Ceylon is a color description and not indicitive of heat treatment or lack thereof. Widget is correct, the heat treating is done to enhance clarity, not color and is done on 90% of the sapphires available.

Heat treating is not a bad thing, but if the stone is irridated than thats a different story. Correct me if I am wrong, Widget.

BB

 

[widget]

Uh oh....rapidly getting over my head here!

I''m not sure about the term "irradiation" when it comes to sapphires. There are treatments...such as beryllium infusion and fracture filling...which are generally frowned upon, at least if they''re not disclosed at the point of sale.

It is my understanding that heat merely disturbs, breaks up inclusions in natural stones, while the treatments mentioned above actually introduce alien substances into them, making them less "natural".

I''m no expert, though. There''re lots of threads about this over in Colored Gemstones if anyone is interested.

I''m quite confident that any sapphires offered by Quest would be heat treated only.

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[4bugzinarug]

Thanks for your responses! We had requested natural untreated stones ... so I doubt that Pete would send us anything that did not fall into that category. From what I have read about heat treatment, it''s not such a bad thing ... that wouldn''t bother me for sidestones.

Still trying to decide on going up to the 5mm stone, I am thinking of requesting a set to compare side by side with the 4mm stones. Will keep you all posted

 

[dbgaap]

Gorgeous! I think those stones are just beautiful and the size looks very nice!.
But since you seem to want bigger, then do it.
Since you wear an 8.5 I think you''ll be happier in the long run with nice big stones.
Just curious, what are you going to do with the old setting? It looks like a stuller solstice 4 prong.

 

[4bugzinarug]

The original setting was made for us by Pete, he is taking it back for credit towards the new setting

We spoke with Pete yesterday and he had concerns that larger sapphires would overwhelm the diamond. Additionally, the way the ring is designed, the entire band will be the same width as the smallest stone. Once we combine the 5mm 3 stone ring with the matching 5mm band (pictured below), that is a whopping 10mm on my finger! I do prefer a bolder look, but I think it''s best to keep each ring at 4mm wide. The "inspiration ring" for our setting had .25 carat diamonds on either side of a 1 carat, the size of these sapphires seems like the equivalent of a .3 diamond.

Soooo, it looks like we are keeping the sapphires! They are getting sent back to Pete today so he can get started on the CAD & wax model. Will keep you all posted on the status Thanks again for your feedback on this!

 

[mrssalvo]

I''m so glad your keeping them. I think they are just gorgeous and I know the ring is going to be fabulous. I can''t wait to see pictures.