Gypsy
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2005
- Messages
- 40,225
So hubby volunteered me to buy a ring for one of his friends ladies. She likes blue and he wanted a three stone. And the budget was 800 dollars (after I got through expanding it up from the original 500 dollars the two guys had decided might be okay 
). The Groom-to-Be wanted a sapphire that was the size of a one carat diamond and basically a perfect ceylon blue.
So I thought-- Heated sapphire with tiny freaking diamonds on each side. Searched ebay for LOTR and Lan Bo. Found a Lan Bo three stone for 260. Great... now the center... Emailed a few vendors. Everyone was very responsive but only one could work withthe budget and the size (shape was negotiable the setting could be adjusted). So we purchased a lovely oval from Simply Sapphires. I order the setting 5 minutes later with the oval's exact measurements.
Go to sleep happy. Next day John emails me apologizing and saying that the stone I'd bought was purchases just a new minutes before by someone else, and that the system hadn't had time to block my transaction-- so it had double sold the stone. He offered me a replacement stone of higher value for the same price as the one I had bought, but it wasn't the right shade of blue and just didn't sing to me. We exchanged multiple emails about nearly ANY stone that was vaguely 8x6 and cornflower to royal blue. He was extremely candid, knew his stock and was patient.
He did discount the final stone I picked, a gorgeous 'perfect ceylon' blue... UNHEATED stone with fabulous cut. I got it in the mail 2 days later and OMG. Just a stunning sapphire. Lan Bo was being difficult about the setting (or maybe I was, two sides to every story) so I ended up cancelling it and getting a stuller from a local jeweler (Heller Jewelers in San Ramon) who rushed a setting in for me (it's being set tomorrow) and when I took the sapphire to them... they were flabbergasted.
They have some lovely sapphires in their store, the owner is a particular fan of sapphires. And the SS stone easily held it's own with their best stones and was unheated to boot and at a much (much, much, much) lower cost. The jeweler looked it over, held it up, louped it, and was generally just checking it over like a mother hen with it's egg.
John followed up with me to make sure I liked the stone, ready to assist if I didn't, and I really appreciated the great customer service and of course, the gorgeous stone.
Will have pics, I promise. If nothing else I will get John's pics for the close ups, but the groom has promised me photos to post (he is picking up the ring tomorrow himself as I am out of town).
And yes, I've added a sapphire to my want list. It's my birthstone, but honestly... until I'd held this one I was waffling. Now I really need a sapphire man. It was a hard thing to let go of. I wanted to keep that puppy!
The groom will be getting the stone appraised by Nancy in Walnut Creek, but not for a couple of months. But I'm not worried. Even if there was an issue. I know John would be on top of resolving it.
). The Groom-to-Be wanted a sapphire that was the size of a one carat diamond and basically a perfect ceylon blue. So I thought-- Heated sapphire with tiny freaking diamonds on each side. Searched ebay for LOTR and Lan Bo. Found a Lan Bo three stone for 260. Great... now the center... Emailed a few vendors. Everyone was very responsive but only one could work withthe budget and the size (shape was negotiable the setting could be adjusted). So we purchased a lovely oval from Simply Sapphires. I order the setting 5 minutes later with the oval's exact measurements.
Go to sleep happy. Next day John emails me apologizing and saying that the stone I'd bought was purchases just a new minutes before by someone else, and that the system hadn't had time to block my transaction-- so it had double sold the stone. He offered me a replacement stone of higher value for the same price as the one I had bought, but it wasn't the right shade of blue and just didn't sing to me. We exchanged multiple emails about nearly ANY stone that was vaguely 8x6 and cornflower to royal blue. He was extremely candid, knew his stock and was patient.
He did discount the final stone I picked, a gorgeous 'perfect ceylon' blue... UNHEATED stone with fabulous cut. I got it in the mail 2 days later and OMG. Just a stunning sapphire. Lan Bo was being difficult about the setting (or maybe I was, two sides to every story) so I ended up cancelling it and getting a stuller from a local jeweler (Heller Jewelers in San Ramon) who rushed a setting in for me (it's being set tomorrow) and when I took the sapphire to them... they were flabbergasted.
They have some lovely sapphires in their store, the owner is a particular fan of sapphires. And the SS stone easily held it's own with their best stones and was unheated to boot and at a much (much, much, much) lower cost. The jeweler looked it over, held it up, louped it, and was generally just checking it over like a mother hen with it's egg.
John followed up with me to make sure I liked the stone, ready to assist if I didn't, and I really appreciated the great customer service and of course, the gorgeous stone.
Will have pics, I promise. If nothing else I will get John's pics for the close ups, but the groom has promised me photos to post (he is picking up the ring tomorrow himself as I am out of town).
And yes, I've added a sapphire to my want list. It's my birthstone, but honestly... until I'd held this one I was waffling. Now I really need a sapphire man. It was a hard thing to let go of. I wanted to keep that puppy!
The groom will be getting the stone appraised by Nancy in Walnut Creek, but not for a couple of months. But I'm not worried. Even if there was an issue. I know John would be on top of resolving it.
Thanks for the write up on SS as well since we rarely get one. How close/accurate is SS's picture of the stone compared to the real thing?
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