Tiffany's Aquamarine

[0-0-0]

I have decided on an aquamarine for my fiancee's pendant, partly due to the really nicely colored ones that have been referenced here lately, such as faegrace's [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/sos-aqua-setting-help.162461/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/sos-aqua-setting-help.162461/[/URL] and the one Barry sold last week http://www.acstones.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=139&idproduct=3829 . Thank you for sharing and hopefully this will be helpful to others as well.

To get a better idea of what good quality aquamarine looks like in a pendant, I went to Tiffany's. I did not take pictures and it is not in their catalog, but they sell an aquamarine pendant in a diamond halo setting in platinum similar to the Legacy Collection Aquamarine ring http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/19/dsc05795smallcloseup.jpg/ . The pendant comes with a platinum necklace.

I got quotes for the pendant with 2 different center stone sizes.

1.05 carat aquamarine: USD5,500



1.71 carat aquamarine: USD7,200



In other words, they are charging USD1,700 for a 0.66 carat increase in size.



The colors of the stones are pretty similar, and if faegrace's and Barry's pictures are accurate for color on my monitor, then I would say the ones I saw in the store are more grey.

I didn't expect to be more shocked about their markup on aquamarine than their markup on diamonds.

 

[T L]

I'm always very underimpressed when I go in Tiffany. I feel like it's an overpriced Zales. Their aquas are nothing special either. They photoshop the color for their website to make them look better than they really are too.

 

[0-0-0]

I admit I was tricked by their pictures, as well as the pictures of cherry picked Tiffany aquas that others have posted online. Hopefully my visit to Gemfix next week will be less disappointing. Any suggestions on what to look out for?

 

[chrono]

I think you've got the basics down - the bluer and darker the blue is, the more prized and expensive the aquamarine will be.

 

[pregcurious]

Some people prefer natural aquamarines with a slight green tint, but others want blue without a green modifier. Because aqua is usually a lighter colored stone, cuts like emerald and asscher can look really nice because you can see the different facets very clearly, and the cutting can give a depth to the stone that is mesmerizing.