Thoughts on this teal sapphire?

[viridian]

Hi all! How's August going?
I think I've posted a thread before, but I really LOVE blue and green colors (you can kinda tell from my nickname lol) and this applies to gemstones. I have several green tourmalines and a chubby heart cut apple green sapphire at home which I love, but I've always wanted a bluish green, teal colored sapphire too


(this is my chubby heart sapphire )

I think those are sometimes called peacock or mermaid colors? Not so sure but anyways, I've been on a hunt for bluish-green for some time and I found it VERY difficult to find teal sapphires that don't get "muddy" or greyish under diff lighting conditions as they are so moody.
Recently I found a sapphire that caught my eye- it weighs 1.05ct and is in a cushion cut, well polished and unheated. I asked the vendor to send me videos in different lighting conditions, in normal indoor lighting and in a darker outdoor environment. Here are screenshots from the videos he sent me:



To me, it does seems to change color but not as drastically as the ones I've seen over the years. If I get this, I'm thinking about setting it in a three stone ring with moissanites or a victorian rose cut halo design!

Any opinion would be very much appreciated! I'm always so grateful for all the comments here, they really help me a lot!
Thanks!

 

[Timor]

Love your chubby heart! In my own experience with teal sapphire, they are very moody indeed. I think the photos look somewhat similar to a stone I have and yes it does show that color (blueish green outdoors and more green indoors), but not every second when you look at it Mine goes primarily dark in the evening in indoor lighting, but when you move it you can see flashes of green. It looks beautiful when the sun hits it right though.
If it has a good return policy you could see for yourself in person how this particular stone behaves.

 

[Timor]

Oh and mine never showed that intensity of blue as in the second pic. The others look more similar.

 

[viridian]

Love your chubby heart! In my own experience with teal sapphire, they are very moody indeed. I think the photos look somewhat similar to a stone I have and yes it does show that color (blueish green outdoors and more green indoors), but not every second when you look at it Mine goes primarily dark in the evening in indoor lighting, but when you move it you can see flashes of green. It looks beautiful when the sun hits it right though.
If it has a good return policy you could see for yourself in person how this particular stone behaves.

Thanks for sharing your experience Timor!
I think it's so interesting how teal sapphires in particular are very moody (maybe because of their iron content? idk). I'm curious, does your stone show grey/brownish tones under some lighting? I think a lot of teals do that and I want to know if it applies to all teals!

 

[Starstruck8]

I've been on a hunt for bluish-green for some time and I found it VERY difficult to find teal sapphires that don't get "muddy" or greyish under diff lighting conditions as they are so moody.

I've seen many Aussie teal sapphires. Many were very attractive, 'in their own way'. But all were shifty, none were fully saturated, and all went muddy or greyish in some lighting. Most photographed better than they looked. (Be warned!) I don't think this was deliberate misrepresentation by the dealers, just the way cameras 'see' the colours.

The most saturated teal sapphire I've seen was from Madagascar. This was truly exceptional, but too big (not to say too expensive) for me at the time.

I have a half-baked theory that the green and teal colours of most 'volcanic' sapphires (like Aussies) come from a mix of basic blue and yellow colours (as in 'blue and yellow make green') - there isn't an actual green or teal chromophore. This is why they are never highly saturated. Or so my story goes... At least some of the Madagascar sapphires aren't volcanic, and I suspect that they may have a different set of chromophores. Take this for what it's worth. But Madagascar sapphires certainly have a different range of colours and a different 'look'.

 

[viridian]

I've seen many Aussie teal sapphires. Many were very attractive, 'in their own way'. But all were shifty, none were fully saturated, and all went muddy or greyish in some lighting. Most photographed better than they looked. (Be warned!) I don't think this was deliberate misrepresentation by the dealers, just the way cameras 'see' the colours.

The most saturated teal sapphire I've seen was from Madagascar. This was truly exceptional, but too big (not to say too expensive) for me at the time.

I have a half-baked theory that the green and teal colours of most 'volcanic' sapphires (like Aussies) come from a mix of basic blue and yellow colours (as in 'blue and yellow make green') - there isn't an actual green or teal chromophore. This is why they are never highly saturated. Or so my story goes... At least some of the Madagascar sapphires aren't volcanic, and I suspect that they may have a different set of chromophores. Take this for what it's worth. But Madagascar sapphires certainly have a different range of colours and a different 'look'.

That's an interesting point, Starstruck! I think I've read before that there are largely two types of sapphire formation: basalt-related(volcanic) and metamorphic. The darker blues and yellow hues are found prominently in basalt-related sources, which is why most teal or bicoloured gems have basalt-related origins, such as Australia, Cambodia, northern Madagascar and Thailand. Southeastern Madagascan and Sri Lankan sapphires are metamorphic, and they have lower iron and magnesium content, which I believe tends to make their blues lighter and brighter in color.

Here's an GIA article that talks mainly about comparing blue sapphire sources, but I think it also links to teal sapphires as blue and yellow make green
It's so interesting how different rock formations lead to different hues in a stone!

 

[Timor]

Thanks for sharing your experience Timor!
I think it's so interesting how teal sapphires in particular are very moody (maybe because of their iron content? idk). I'm curious, does your stone show grey/brownish tones under some lighting? I think a lot of teals do that and I want to know if it applies to all teals!

It’s not full saturation (like some royal blues) so I guess yes to some grey tones. I don’t think it goes brownish, just dark. It might also have something to do with the stone being silky.

 

[landscape]

apple green sapphire VS teal sapphire
teal sapphire is greener under fluorescent or LED light, and bluer under natural light

 

[viridian]

apple green sapphire VS teal sapphire
teal sapphire is greener under fluorescent or LED light, and bluer under natural light

Wow! Thank you so much for sharing!
I have to say that I'm a huge fan and I admire your collection sooo much! Especially your breathtakingly beautiful jedi spinels
The teal tone of your sapphire is gorgeous and I'm loving that glowy color shift!

 

[viridian]

*UPDATE*
Thank you all so much for your helpful comments! Unfortunately the cushion cut sapphire was sold out so he showed me some other options from a new stock.

The first option was another cushion (left on in the first photo), but it seemed to have more extinction in color/cut and not that bright. The second option which I ended up getting was an oval cut 1ct sapphire. It's an unheated, flawless stone from Madagascar and I think it has a better teal, peacock blue which I love!

Here are photos of it outdoors and in normal lighting indoors:


I think the indoors color also resembles the blue-green cresent from the bird Teal, from where the name of the color originates from


(image source)

+ Will update again when it gets here! For now I'm thinking about ring designs, any suggestions are welcome!

 

[empliau]

Wow. Just wow. What a lovely stone.

 

[viridian]

Wow. Just wow. What a lovely stone.

Thank you! But I'll have to see it myself to confirm, as I heard from many that teal stones tend to be very shifty in color Happy to hear that you like it!

 

[jenzgemz]

What a beatiful stone! Can't wait to see your pictures. These are some of my favorite tones for sapphires, are you able to share the name of the vendor?