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True cornflower blue sapphire finds. Post here.
- Thread starter whitewave
- Start date
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Yes it has ‘signs of heating’, which was no problem for me
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The more I see your sapphire, the more of a ‘soul stone’ I think it is. It’s got such eternal mystery and beauty.
Here is mine. From Ceylon according to the report. Not sure what the colour code would be. It holds it colour well in all lighting conditions. Except when it’s very dark. And even then you can detect some velvet richness
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Mine is shifty, sparkly and pretty. It’s VERY hard to photograph.
I didn’t want to wait for “trade ideal with a lotus report” nor did I want to spend the money that would require either.
It’s going to be the center stone with 2 Crafted by Infinity diamonds aside it to make a 3 stone ring. Hopefully I’ll have it by the end of September.
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Mine is shifty, sparkly and pretty. It’s VERY hard to photograph.
I didn’t want to wait for “trade ideal with a lotus report” nor did I want to spend the money that would require either.
It’s going to be the center stone with 2 Crafted by Infinity diamonds aside it to make a 3 stone ring. Hopefully I’ll have it by the end of September.
You go, gurl!
It's sparkly and well cut. I LIKE IT!
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This is new to me. WOW. I seldom see the likes of this beauty here!
voce
Ideal_Rock
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- May 13, 2018
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The color in this photo is gorgeous. I look forward to seeing the completed 3 stone in September.
Mine is shifty, sparkly and pretty. It’s VERY hard to photograph.
I didn’t want to wait for “trade ideal with a lotus report” nor did I want to spend the money that would require either.
It’s going to be the center stone with 2 Crafted by Infinity diamonds aside it to make a 3 stone ring. Hopefully I’ll have it by the end of September.
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- Jun 8, 2008
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- 54,123
Thank you @Bluegemz!
Close ups, pretty pretty please?
OK I will take some but just give me some time to do that. Running around like crazy this week but will try to take a few pics as I think I will wear them today...
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Here is mine. From Ceylon according to the report. Not sure what the colour code would be. It holds it colour well in all lighting conditions. Except when it’s very dark. And even then you can detect some velvet richness
Gosh what a surreal blue. So bright and so luxuriously blue.
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- Jun 8, 2008
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Mine is shifty, sparkly and pretty. It’s VERY hard to photograph.
I didn’t want to wait for “trade ideal with a lotus report” nor did I want to spend the money that would require either.
It’s going to be the center stone with 2 Crafted by Infinity diamonds aside it to make a 3 stone ring. Hopefully I’ll have it by the end of September.
Beautiful! Very sparkly and lovely blue.
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- Jun 8, 2008
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- 54,123
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- Mar 10, 2017
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Here’s mine, a heated bright blue from Sri Lanka cut by Gene at Precision Gem. I think this color is truly cornflower blue. It is pretty in every light and never goes overly dark. Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself to be sure it is real.
I need to try again with the photos. Mine are in bright sun so this is about as light as it goes.
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- Apr 22, 2017
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I agree with you, your sapphire IS a cornflower blue! I love it! The slight sleepiness makes it even more like cornflower because that color just glows . That is a magic stone!
Here’s mine, a heated bright blue from Sri Lanka cut by Gene at Precision Gem. I think this color is truly cornflower blue. It is pretty in every light and never goes overly dark. Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself to be sure it is real.
I need to try again with the photos. Mine are in bright sun so this is about as light as it goes.
Last edited:
voce
Ideal_Rock
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- May 13, 2018
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I agree, your sapphire from Gene is a true cornflower blue! What a beautiful setting to wear it in, too! You've got a treasure.
Here’s mine, a heated bright blue from Sri Lanka cut by Gene at Precision Gem. I think this color is truly cornflower blue. It is pretty in every light and never goes overly dark. Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself to be sure it is real.
I need to try again with the photos. Mine are in bright sun so this is about as light as it goes.
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- Mar 10, 2017
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- 1,124
@Bluegemz @voce Thanks so much for your kind words! This was the perfect “bluebird of happiness” blue for me. I’m so happy that Gene found this stone and I was able to get it.
I’m glad you like the setting, @voce ! I was so undecided, but when I saw this setting at my local jeweler’s I knew right away it was the one! This ring is my most classic one.
I’m glad you like the setting, @voce ! I was so undecided, but when I saw this setting at my local jeweler’s I knew right away it was the one! This ring is my most classic one.
Since there seems to be a lot of confusion around it, I just wanted to point out that from a trade perspective cornflower blue often doesn't have too much to do with the actual color of cornflower.
It's more of a trade name than anything else (just like pigeon blood, flame red, canary yellow)... The trade is very fond of terms that sound nice but don't have much to do with reality.
This is what most gem dealers/trade members in general would agree on for high quality cornflower blue:
Tone
A medium toned blue. Tones range a bit, but generally speaking it's in the medium range. Within that range there are stones ranging from "medium-light" to "almost medium-dark but not quite there". Personally, I'd use the term for at least medium but preferably for those halfway to medium-dark.
Medium-dark stones can sometimes also be called cornflower but it's really up to personal opinion; for some people and labs these will be light royal blue, for others it will be cornflower. There's no real price difference so it's more what you call it than anything else.
Hue
The hue should be as pure blue as possible. It definitely shouldn't contain green or grey. A very small purple/violet modifier is considered passable but is generally undesirable unless the saturation is off the charts, in which case it won't be very visible to begin with (looking at Google search results, one might be forgiven thinking that violet is almost a necessity - when in fact it's pretty much the opposite). Purple/violet modified ones are much, much easier to find than pure blues - for every 200-300 greenish or violetish sapphires of that particular tone/saturation, you'll find a handful of pure hues. And that's after heating to try and make the colors as pure and vivid as possible.
Saturation
Intense to vivid - with vivid obviously being preferable.
Overall
Overall, it's a bright but not light vividly saturated blue. If it has a bit of silk to give it a glow, all the better (some labs in fact take this as a prerequisite to write cornflower on a report). Too much silk isn't good though since it makes it dim and dead-ish.
Darken the entire thing by a full tone or so to medium-dark, possibly but not necessarily add +2-5% purple into the mix, and you have royal blue.
Looking at the cornflower (the flower) photos above, if you remove the purple tint, add saturation to the blue that remains and then darken it, you get "trade ideal" cornflower blue. Like most other terms, it has less to do with real life and more to do with rare and strong colors in the minerals themselves.
Acinom's blue, for example, looks like a trade ideal cornflower in most photos, but goes almost royal blue in others (light royal blue).
Searching Google for "cornflower blue sapphire" might give some wrong impressions - most of the stones in the image results are way, way too pale, desaturated or violetish to qualify. I think it's a bit misleading, or at the very least outdated.
A few random examples from Google in no particular order except going by the image results:
Cornflower-royal mix:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hssAAOSwvKtY9x~i/s-l300.jpg
Dark cornflower, or light royal:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/attachments/_5153-jpeg.471175/
https://www.pricescope.com/community/attachments/_5154-jpeg.471176/
https://www.pricescope.com/community/attachments/_5156-jpeg.471178/
Classic high quality cornflower:
https://www.williamnoble.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/7-21.jpg
Cornflower but potentially zoned:
https://img.etsystatic.com/il/32ad9a/608335909/il_570xN.608335909_6v5l.jpg?version=1
It's more of a trade name than anything else (just like pigeon blood, flame red, canary yellow)... The trade is very fond of terms that sound nice but don't have much to do with reality.
This is what most gem dealers/trade members in general would agree on for high quality cornflower blue:
Tone
A medium toned blue. Tones range a bit, but generally speaking it's in the medium range. Within that range there are stones ranging from "medium-light" to "almost medium-dark but not quite there". Personally, I'd use the term for at least medium but preferably for those halfway to medium-dark.
Medium-dark stones can sometimes also be called cornflower but it's really up to personal opinion; for some people and labs these will be light royal blue, for others it will be cornflower. There's no real price difference so it's more what you call it than anything else.
Hue
The hue should be as pure blue as possible. It definitely shouldn't contain green or grey. A very small purple/violet modifier is considered passable but is generally undesirable unless the saturation is off the charts, in which case it won't be very visible to begin with (looking at Google search results, one might be forgiven thinking that violet is almost a necessity - when in fact it's pretty much the opposite). Purple/violet modified ones are much, much easier to find than pure blues - for every 200-300 greenish or violetish sapphires of that particular tone/saturation, you'll find a handful of pure hues. And that's after heating to try and make the colors as pure and vivid as possible.
Saturation
Intense to vivid - with vivid obviously being preferable.
Overall
Overall, it's a bright but not light vividly saturated blue. If it has a bit of silk to give it a glow, all the better (some labs in fact take this as a prerequisite to write cornflower on a report). Too much silk isn't good though since it makes it dim and dead-ish.
Darken the entire thing by a full tone or so to medium-dark, possibly but not necessarily add +2-5% purple into the mix, and you have royal blue.
Looking at the cornflower (the flower) photos above, if you remove the purple tint, add saturation to the blue that remains and then darken it, you get "trade ideal" cornflower blue. Like most other terms, it has less to do with real life and more to do with rare and strong colors in the minerals themselves.
Acinom's blue, for example, looks like a trade ideal cornflower in most photos, but goes almost royal blue in others (light royal blue).
Searching Google for "cornflower blue sapphire" might give some wrong impressions - most of the stones in the image results are way, way too pale, desaturated or violetish to qualify. I think it's a bit misleading, or at the very least outdated.
A few random examples from Google in no particular order except going by the image results:
Cornflower-royal mix:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hssAAOSwvKtY9x~i/s-l300.jpg
Dark cornflower, or light royal:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/attachments/_5153-jpeg.471175/
https://www.pricescope.com/community/attachments/_5154-jpeg.471176/
https://www.pricescope.com/community/attachments/_5156-jpeg.471178/
Classic high quality cornflower:
https://www.williamnoble.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/7-21.jpg
Cornflower but potentially zoned:
https://img.etsystatic.com/il/32ad9a/608335909/il_570xN.608335909_6v5l.jpg?version=1
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- Jan 22, 2014
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Stop it right now, I am now imagining “one” of mine in such a beautiful setting.
Here’s mine, a heated bright blue from Sri Lanka cut by Gene at Precision Gem. I think this color is truly cornflower blue. It is pretty in every light and never goes overly dark. Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself to be sure it is real.
I need to try again with the photos. Mine are in bright sun so this is about as light as it goes.
Aaarrrgggghhhh
Must keep as a pair, must keep as a pair, must keep as a pair.
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- May 15, 2013
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- 10,535
What about a suite to keep them together: a ring and matching pendant!
voce
Ideal_Rock
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- May 13, 2018
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- 5,161
I would call most of those indigo blue and not royal. I like the red ring to the right of the bright blue one. Did the jeweler intentionally plant the good blue ring among inferior ones to be able to sell for higher?At the fair, one cornflower amongst lotsa of royal blues
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- Mar 10, 2017
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Thank you for the compliment, Bron! You made me so happy today!
You are so lucky to have a beautiful pair! Keep the twins together.
711heather
Rough_Rock
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- May 2, 2017
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Not sure where this lies on the color spectrum, but it too is close. maybe a bit more lavender to it, from Ceylon.
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- Apr 22, 2004
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One person’s royal might be another oerson’s Cornflower, which is why I dislike using these trade names.
My blue dream:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-7-stone-emerald-cut-blue-sapphire-ring.175313/
My blue dream:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-7-stone-emerald-cut-blue-sapphire-ring.175313/
- Joined
- May 15, 2013
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- 10,535
- Joined
- May 15, 2013
- Messages
- 10,535
What a stunning and mesmerzing blue!Hi everyone! I have been lurking on this forum for years (!!) and this is my first time posting. I have to say I am enjoying seeing photos of all your beautiful sapphires! Here's a pic of mine in natural sunlight. Not cornflower blue though
And welcome to PS! Your ring deserves its own thread with lots of pics
Thanks so much!
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