Settings for a heavily flawed Umba Saphire

[Taravangian]

This Saphire has a lot of character, and I just fell in love with the colour.
I'm looking to turn this into an engagement ring, but I'm wondering what kinds of settings would work best to protect the stone without compromising light return too much.

No one is sure about how sturdy it will be due to the number of inclusions.
At the moment, I'm thinking a thin bezel cathedral setting if I can get away with it.
She will have a more sturdy ring for regular use, so I suspect this would mostly be worn for special occasions or in situations where the stone is unlikely to experience damage.

The cut is Tesselation 13 by Arya Akhavan.
Stats: Umba Saphire, 1.42 diamond equivilent carats 7.5Lx4.5Wx4Dmm.
Inclusions are extremely prominent, I assume they are mostly fractures but I haven't had a chance to inspect it too closely.


I was advised to ask over here, has anyone worked with stones this included before?
Thanks for your help.

 

[Bron357]

Inclusions can at best just affect visual appearance, at worst they can significantly impact gem stability.
When setting gems, a significant pressure is usually applied to press down on claws / bezel rim to hold the gem. The issue being pressure in the wrong spot can cause an actual fracture / split.
I would suggest that you’d need an experienced gem setter to view the gem and offer his/her opinion.
I had an opal bezel set, I had to go “up to” 22kt gold to provide enough malleability in the bezel. Opal is a softer gem and my opal had some thin spots on the edge.
Your sapphire Looks beautiful. Looking forward to more photos when you have it in hand.

 

[T L]

And also tell your jeweler not to put it in an ultrasonic cleaner, as that can adversely affect an included stone. I’ve set many included stones, and at least sapphire is a durable material. My gems were softer, like my emeralds. A good jeweler should know how to set that properly.

 

[Taravangian]

Inclusions can at best just affect visual appearance, at worst they can significantly impact gem stability.
When setting gems, a significant pressure is usually applied to press down on claws / bezel rim to hold the gem. The issue being pressure in the wrong spot can cause an actual fracture / split.
I would suggest that you’d need an experienced gem setter to view the gem and offer his/her opinion.
I had an opal bezel set, I had to go “up to” 22kt gold to provide enough malleability in the bezel. Opal is a softer gem and my opal had some thin spots on the edge.
Your sapphire Looks beautiful. Looking forward to more photos when you have it in hand.

Yes, i have a number of candidate stones to pick from. This one is my favorite though. I love how unusual it looks when light passes through it. I also really like that it is obviously a natural stone.

Good idea about the gold content of the bezel, that should help matters. They guy who faceted it said it would definitely be settable, I'll take it into the jewellers next week to see what he thinks.

Thanks

 

[Taravangian]

And also tell your jeweler not to put it in an ultrasonic cleaner, as that can adversely affect an included stone. I’ve set many included stones, and at least sapphire is a durable material. My gems were softer, like my emeralds. A good jeweler should know how to set that properly.

Yes, ultrasonic and high temps are definitely out

 

[Arkteia]

When it comes to bezels, I like Janish Jewels from Etsy. She uses 22 ct gold and sometimes, silver foil as the backing. Just wanted to mention her as I am not a bezel person but her bezels are something else!

 

[tkyasx78]

I would do a necklace with it.