Tiffany Legacy aquamarine treated?

[joy2theworld]

When I purchased some earrings at Tiffany''s last year, they gave me a little booklet that described how their color stones are treated. I am curious if anyone knows if this is true of the aquamarines in the Legacy ring. I adore this ring, but don''t know if I can even convince myself to spend that much on something that has been treated. I''m also looking at the replica on Excel diamonds, but can''t find a stone that comes close in color to the one at Tiffany''s. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Sagebrush]

Joy,

Aquamarine is universally heat treated, prices and grading assumes treatment. Just out of the ground, aqua has a distinct green secondary hue, hence the name, derived from the Latin for "sea water." Occasionally there is a mine (a few in Nova Era, Brazil) that produces pure blue stones without treatment, but it is best to assume that your stone has been heated to about 6-700 degrees C. Aquamarine contains two types of iron, ferris and ferric. This low temperature heating drives off the ferric iron leaving behind the ferris which is responsible for the blue (Secrets of The Gem Trade, Ch.10).

Best,

 

[neatfreak]

I would assume it''s treated unless Tiffany''s explicitly provides documentation that it isn''t.

 

[T L]

Date: 11/24/2008 7:33:06 AM
Author:joy2theworld
When I purchased some earrings at Tiffany's last year, they gave me a little booklet that described how their color stones are treated. I am curious if anyone knows if this is true of the aquamarines in the Legacy ring. I adore this ring, but don't know if I can even convince myself to spend that much on something that has been treated. I'm also looking at the replica on Excel diamonds, but can't find a stone that comes close in color to the one at Tiffany's. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

When you buy Tiffany merchandise, much of the cost is due to the name. If you were to buy an exact replica of that ring somewhere else, it would be much less. I'm really shocked at how much they charge for a small platinum ring with less than half a carat of melee with a small aqua (aquas themselves are not expensive in such small sizes and the Tiffany one is only 1.4 carats). Therefore, if you're really worried about spending that much simply because of the heat treatment, I would go elsewhere to get a nice replica made. I personally would get a setting, and look to source an aqua from one of the vendors here on PS to fit in it. I don't think the aqua in the Tiffany setting is the greatest aqua I've ever seen, and I'm sure someone can source you one of that color, even in its rough stage, and you can get it custom cut to fit a replica setting. If you're not stuck on platinum, you can even save a bit more. Also remember that this aqua is bezel set, which darkens it's appearance.

Unfortunately Tiffany does use treated stones often, and that's a bit disconcerting to me due to the high prices they charge and the prestige associated with the name.

Here's a cheapo legacy replica with a small aqua I paid $30 for. It really darkens up in this setting, and part of the reason is due to the cutting on the stone, and the closed up nature of the bezel. I'm not comparing this to a Tiffany, but I just want you to know that there are options out there.

 

[T L]

Here it is.

 

[joy2theworld]

Thank you. I thought it was heated, but wanted to be sure. I can''t justify the price for a heated stone

as much as I love the ring. I may try to find a replica if someone could help point me to some nice aquamarine stones that could be bezel set. I''m also looking at a sophia fiori ring I saw in Alaska and Nassau that has an enhanced blue diamond center. I''d rather have an enhanced colored diamond than aquamarine I think This ring is about a third of the price too.

 

[T L]

Date: 11/24/2008 9:01:23 PM
Author: joy2theworld
Thank you. I thought it was heated, but wanted to be sure. I can't justify the price for a heated stone

as much as I love the ring. I may try to find a replica if someone could help point me to some nice aquamarine stones that could be bezel set. I'm also looking at a sophia fiori ring I saw in Alaska and Nassau that has an enhanced blue diamond center. I'd rather have an enhanced colored diamond than aquamarine I think This ring is about a third of the price too.

Even if the 1.4 carat aqua was unheated, deep blue and the finest aqua the world has ever seen, I still couldn't justify the price. You're really paying for the name and the lifetime customer service that Tiffany provides on their pieces. Check out precisiongem.com, acstones.com, and I know there are some other cutters that I'm missing here that can find you a piece of high quality rough and cut it to your exact specifications.

 

[loriken214]

I found my Tiffany Aqua Legacy on eBay and paid a fraction of what the retail price would be. It is a beauty and I sent it off to Tiffany''s in New York to be sized. They will provide documentation on the ring to me also since I don''t have any of the original paperwork. I took a chance on purchasing this ring, but am very happy with what I received.

As soon as my new digital camera arrives, I''ll post lots of photos....oh, and as soon as my ring comes back, too!

Lori