What to do with my star sapphires?

[gailrmv]

hi!
I am a woman, but have recently come to possess two 1970s style mens rings with blue star sapphires. It is a long story, our family''s store closed like 15 years ago and my grandpa gave a few odds and ends to me (not sure exactly why but hey!).
The rings are not my taste at all. I will try to post a picture. Suffice it to say my husband calls them my pimp rings. I can picture them as pinky rings on men stylishly dressed in their polyester suits in the 1970s.
My question is, can you think of anything cool I can do with the blue star sapphires? They are not the same size, so earrings are out. Both are pretty substantial - not sure how you measure star sapphires but they seem to be 2-3 times the size of my 1 ct engagement ring.
I had thought about having one of them made into a pendant, and maybe the other into a matching ring - but is there any way these stones can look feminine in any way? I was thinking about half bezels, but would this be weird?
It would seem like an idea to have one made into something my husband could wear, but he is not a ring guy nor is he liking the star sapphires at all.
My taste is simple and modern, and all the jewelry that I wear currently is white metals. I love the color blue and LOVE regular sapphires.

I would love to see pics of any star sapphire women''s jewelry and all your ideas are welcome.
thanks!
Gail

 

[Mimikins24]

Hi gailrmv!

I love the analogy you use to describe the rings --- hilarious!

I adore star sapphires, and I have a ring and pendant set that I recieved as a graduation gift back in the day. They are set in white gold and have a small diamond in each case. The sapphires are smaller so I''m not sure if they would give any inspiration for your larger stones. My camera is currently in for repairs, but I will try to post some pictures if I can get ahold of one in the mean time.

Do you have any pics of the two rings as they are now?

 

[Edward Bristol]

Gail,
If the stars are similar in quality, movement and position you might set them both in one (!) broshe or a pendant, but that only works if they really harmonize in their movements (not to speak of color...).
I have done necklaces that I had cut from the same piece of rough and it always turned out to be terrific because they had the same hue and the rays were moving in the same way. Magic!
If you put them next to one another and circle with a strong torchlight, you should immediately ''feel'' whether they fit to be set together.


Edward Bristol
www.wildfishgems.com

 

[gailrmv]

Thank you both for the opinions so far! I have also been looking at other pics on PS and seen some really neat rings people have. But I read of one person''s experience where they were told their star sapphire was a fake. What are the signs of fake star sapphires? Or do I need to take it to a gemologist?
Thanks!

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/12/2005 12:00:25 PM
Author: gailrmv


What are the signs of fake star sapphires?

Good synthetics exist and there are also natural sapphire stones on which a star effect was induced with some treatment. The second type is quite obvious - they are opaque stones with very strong, perfect stars: there''s a certain look about them. Other than by price, there''s not much chance to Id anything online

as far as I can tell.


Or do I need to take it to a gemologist?

A jeweler could help too. There isn''t much to do with pictures than admire them and hypothesise... With the stones at hand, it should be relatively easy to tell what they are.

My 2c... hoping to see the pictures, whatever the stones might turn out to be.

 

[Edward Bristol]

Other than facetted synthetic sapphire (which can be very imperfect), man-made star sapphires are rather easy to indentify:

They are too good to be true. At least, all fake stars that I have seen were all just simply too perfect.

But of course, to be very sure you need a gemologist to see the stone.

Edward Bristol
www.wildfishgems.com