Sorry but here''s another request for help locating sapphire

[secondhandnews]

I know, you are tired of answering questions about sapphires. I thought it would be a really easy thing to do but I was wrong. I picked a diamond easier than this! First there''s color saturation, then there are the pesky windows, cut, zoning and on and on. I have had one sent to be by NCS and wasn''t overly thrilled with it so back it went. I had a promising one sent to a jeweler and it had a window so big you could drive a truck through it. The supplier promised it was special!!! I have looked at sapphires on the list at the top of the colored stones page till I am crosseyed. I have found one at simply sapphires and I sent an email to them asking about this one as well as others and they actually preferred the same one I do from the list I sent them. Here is the link.
sapphire link

Please tell me what you think. I know most of the photos are from the back of the stone but there weren''t any photos of the side when I asked about this stone in the past so he took a bunch and now that''s mostly what you see when you look at the link.

Please feel free to give me other suggestions for any other sapphires as well. I guess after 2 bad stones I don''t trust my judgment any more.

Thanks for any help!

 

[brendaman]

I''m not an expert, but I have been looking for a sapphire also for an e-ring for the past 4 months. The color seems nice. There seems to be some zoning, and some of the pics look like there is some extinction, but this may just the angle of the photos. A greater concern is that it is quite a deep stone at 71% (5mm/7mm). I''ve always been taught that unheated sapphires need to be a little deeper than heated in order for the color to be deeper, have less/no window, etc. But I''m not sure it''s such a good thing for a heated sapphire. Then again, it does not look like it has a window from the photos and perhaps the stone was cut deep with this in mind.

I hear the Tucson gem show will be in February, so you can have one of the PS vendors source a stone for you at this show if you can wait that long.

 

[beaujolais]

It looks kinda dark in the photos but photos can be deceiving. My sapphire is darker than it looked in the Simply Sapphires photo. What shade of sapphire do you want?

I recently got a sapphire from Simply Sapphires. I told John what I was looking for, he suggested one, sent it and it was really nice.

I take it you are looking for a cushion?

Keep us updated.

 

[LD]

What''s the return policy from Simply Sapphires? If it''s good then I''d get the Sapphire to look at. If you like a darker sapphire with lighter flashes then this may fit the bill for you. The only thing I would mention is that the culet isn''t quite centered. It may be more or less apparent when you see it in real life. It certainly doesn''t look to have a window - so no truck driving this time!

 

[cushioncutnut]

Any nice gemstone is so much harder to find than a diamond. I looked at several sapphires before I ended up with my gorgeous Sapphire from Simply Sapphires. John is great to work with. He will stare you in the right direction concerning a sapphire. Tell him what you want/ are looking for. Color ranks first as far as what you are looking for in a sapphire. I think there is nothing wrong with a stone that has a little depth to it as long is the color is nice and even and it has a nice facet pattern. I do remember that SS offers free shipping and they do have a return policy ....(7 days?)
The stone you are looking at looks quite velvety. I would pick from 3 stones on the SS website and have John narrow it down for you...or do what he had suggested to me, Have him send you a few stones to view. I have been where you are at in choosing a sapphire....and it can be brain racking....but you will know when you see the right one. It will SING to you!!!

 

[secondhandnews]

Thanks everyone! I too feel the stone is a little dark for my taste. That''s what bothers me about it. I even told John I didn''t want anything too dark. Yes, I am hoping for a cushion but it seems they are difficult to locate with my requirements. Ovals apear to be more abundant but then I get to add the "what about a bow tie" to the list of no window, no zoning, good color, etc. to my list of desired requirements. LOL!
There are some nice ovals on the All That Glitters site. The pictures are rather small and I won''t be able to get more/larger photos till the 1st of the year. There are two that I am interest in - a 1.85 oval near the bottom of the sapphire page and a 1.53 oval about 3/4 down the page. The site will not let me save the photos or do anything other than view them. I guess that is to hamper people from stealing their photos to use elsewhere. Anyway, here''s the link if you want to look an see what you think about their stones. Anyone have any experience with them?

ATG sapphires

 

[beaujolais]

Honestly, I''d wait for a cushion if that is what you really want. (O.K., I''m biased, I''m SO not an oval person.)

And John said it''s a med. blue? Really?

 

[secondhandnews]

Sonoma, yeah I know what you mean about waiting for a cushion. It''s just that patience has not always been one of my better virtues.

John didn''t exactly say it was a medium blue. I listed 4 stones that I felt had promise and gave him my criteria (including not being too dark) and he said to view the 1.89 cushion. I guess that''s why I am confused.

 

[beaujolais]

Why don't you give master cutters Dan Stair (Custom Gemstones) or Barry Bridgestock (Art Cut Stones) a call and tell him what you want. They are not that expensive, actually. I really should have done that but did find a cushion that fit my needs at Simply. One of my favorite cuts is Barry's barion cut cushion.

I think you'll be glad you did.

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 12/27/2008 9:19:02 PM
Author:secondhandnews
I know, you are tired of answering questions about sapphires. I thought it would be a really easy thing to do but I was wrong. I picked a diamond easier than this! First there''s color saturation, then there are the pesky windows, cut, zoning and on and on. I have had one sent to be by NCS and wasn''t overly thrilled with it so back it went. I had a promising one sent to a jeweler and it had a window so big you could drive a truck through it. The supplier promised it was special!!! I have looked at sapphires on the list at the top of the colored stones page till I am crosseyed. I have found one at simply sapphires and I sent an email to them asking about this one as well as others and they actually preferred the same one I do from the list I sent them. Here is the link.
sapphire link

Please tell me what you think. I know most of the photos are from the back of the stone but there weren''t any photos of the side when I asked about this stone in the past so he took a bunch and now that''s mostly what you see when you look at the link.

Please feel free to give me other suggestions for any other sapphires as well. I guess after 2 bad stones I don''t trust my judgment any more.

Thanks for any help!

i''ve been saying this for a long time!

movie zombie

 

[mariedtiger]

I think All That Glitters has great service and gorgeous stones. I bought an aqua from them that I adore. They also have a lot of stones they don''t have listed on the website, so I would think they could find you a cushion. I would also think that staying true to the shape you love could be important.

If you want a great cut you would be well off to contact the cutters already mentioned. Best of luck

 

[secondhandnews]

I have sent emails to some of the cutters and already received a response from one of them! It seems that I would need to find a stone in need of recutting to get the color I want. He said that the best color rough never makes it to the USA. Recutting is not a bad idea if we can locate the right stone. I sent an email to ATG and have also heard from them today. Wow, talk about quick service! They are going to try and pull some stones from their inventory and send me photos. He does have a cushion that he believes will meet my requirements. I am more hopeful now and trying not to be excited but feel like I am no longer spinning my wheels.

Thanks for the help and I''ll let you know how things turn out.

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 12/28/2008 8:28:10 PM
Author: secondhandnews
I have sent emails to some of the cutters and already received a response from one of them! It seems that I would need to find a stone in need of recutting to get the color I want. He said that the best color rough never makes it to the USA. Recutting is not a bad idea if we can locate the right stone. I sent an email to ATG and have also heard from them today. Wow, talk about quick service! They are going to try and pull some stones from their inventory and send me photos. He does have a cushion that he believes will meet my requirements. I am more hopeful now and trying not to be excited but feel like I am no longer spinning my wheels.

Thanks for the help and I''ll let you know how things turn out.

That sounds like a great plan. Mine was a recut by Jeff White. The difference before the recut, and after, was phenomenal.

Good luck!

LS

 

[elmo]

You want an unheated cushion just under 2 carats? I think this one on ROM's site may have a lot of potential, worth a call for more info.