why are some sapphires etc so cheap?

[Brightshiny]

I'm looking for a specific shade and cut and I keep coming across some very inexpensive listings. Is there a reason why some vendors on Etsy etc sell natural sapphires for ~$100/carat? They have a lot of good reviews and the stones look fine (not outstanding, but not terrible). I'm not talking about the obviously fake listings, but there are plenty of medium-grade sapphires for sale at low, low prices.

Why are some vendors so inexpensive?

 

[newtojewels]

I don't trust reviews on Etsy, a lot of people don't know what they're looking at -- including me! I bought a signet ring from a well-reviewed Etsy shop and the metal was so thin where the flat engraved part connects to the shank part that resizing it caused it to break there and required a laser welder to fix. I would have never known had I not attempted the resize.

Sapphires can be pretty heavily treated and images can be manipulated, so I assume that's playing into it.

 

[Rfisher]

I'm looking for a specific shade and cut and I keep coming across some very inexpensive listings. Is there a reason why some vendors on Etsy etc sell natural sapphires for ~$100/carat? They have a lot of good reviews and the stones look fine (not outstanding, but not terrible). I'm not talking about the obviously fake listings, but there are plenty of medium-grade sapphires for sale at low, low prices.

Why are some vendors so inexpensive?

If you are willing to hear some specific opinions - post some examples.

 

[Brightshiny]

here's one:

Hazzy Silky Dark Purple Sapphire. 1.26ct, Pear Shape. Silky Deep Purple Color, No Heat No Treatment. Fluorescent in UV Light. CD389 - Etsy

This Gemstones item by GEMSDEPOSIT has 50 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Thailand. Listed on Jun 23, 2025

www.etsy.com

 

[Brightshiny]

and another:

1.00 Ct Natural Purple Silky Sapphire Viet Nam, Opalescent Sapphire, Pear Shape, Unheat Sapphire Luc Yen - Etsy

This Gemstones item by NancyGemsVN has 21 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Vietnam. Listed on May 25, 2025

www.etsy.com

 

[Brightshiny]

This one is spinel, but I really like it:

2.9cts, Lavender Spinel, Spinel, Natural Spinel, Spinel Vietnam - Etsy

This Gemstones item by Milksapphire has 24 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Vietnam. Listed on May 15, 2025

www.etsy.com

 

[Lentibulariaceae]

here's one:

Hazzy Silky Dark Purple Sapphire. 1.26ct, Pear Shape. Silky Deep Purple Color, No Heat No Treatment. Fluorescent in UV Light. CD389 - Etsy

This Gemstones item by GEMSDEPOSIT has 50 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Thailand. Listed on Jun 23, 2025

www.etsy.com

This one is included, both with “silk” and actual inclusions, to the point that unless it is in perfect lighting it will look how it is in the video: dull and lifeless. The cut is also overly deep, making it face up much smaller than it actually is.

and another:

1.00 Ct Natural Purple Silky Sapphire Viet Nam, Opalescent Sapphire, Pear Shape, Unheat Sapphire Luc Yen - Etsy

This Gemstones item by NancyGemsVN has 21 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Vietnam. Listed on May 25, 2025

www.etsy.com

This one is heavily windowed and fairly included, it also looks to have a few surface reaching (and therefore structural) cracks throughout it. You can also sort of tell it’s under very very bright and somewhat warm lighting in the video and pictures, and will likely be lifeless and drab in regular light.

This one is spinel, but I really like it:

2.9cts, Lavender Spinel, Spinel, Natural Spinel, Spinel Vietnam - Etsy

This Gemstones item by Milksapphire has 24 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Vietnam. Listed on May 15, 2025

www.etsy.com

This one is actually a fairly ok price. It’s cut deep and windowed, the color is not a sought after one, and it has a massive fingerprint inclusion across the entire stone. It’s important to note that in this listing, the inclusion is clearly shown and the stone appears to be taken in more realistic lighting.

Also, unless it’s a structural concern, these are not *bad* stones. They’re certainly not ideal, but ideal isn’t what everyone likes. I’m being critical of the sellers here, specifically for trying to sell something as something it isn’t, and for hiding potential structural concerns of the stone. But if you like these stones, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!

 

[Rfisher]

Along with what’s already been said - be mindful of the vendors latitude compared to where you reside. Closer to the equator the stones color are likely to appear more vivid with their natural lighting, so if you aren’t on latitude par to Vietnam…..be prepared for some desaturation across the board in your area’s best natural lighting, and even more so in non ideal lighting.

And beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So if you like them just fine with tempered expectations of less color saturation - the listings are plainly showing (at least some of?) the windows, the inclusions, the deep, the shallow, the nicks/chips/ naturals
and when a vendor calls a stone’s color deep and dark- they mean it.

I wouldn’t expect a return to Thailand to be a super easy process, but that also will depend where you live at.

 

[Avondale]

Is there a reason why some vendors on Etsy etc sell natural sapphires for ~$100/carat?

Desirability. Just because it's a sapphire doesn't mean it's going to be expensive. The fine attractive blues cost a lot - because everyone wants one. That's not going to be the case with many other colours, and it definitely won't be the case with stones with low clarity.

here's one:

Hazzy Silky Dark Purple Sapphire. 1.26ct, Pear Shape. Silky Deep Purple Color, No Heat No Treatment. Fluorescent in UV Light. CD389 - Etsy

This Gemstones item by GEMSDEPOSIT has 50 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Thailand. Listed on Jun 23, 2025

www.etsy.com

I have bought from this vendor, and so have others on PS. Their colour representation is actually very accurate, and they send extra photos and videos. If there's one thing I would trust them with, it would be to show you the real colour to the best of their abilities.

You can see even in the listing photos the stone looks really nice in sunlight but changes drastically when it loses it. That lowers the price. The purple isn't very saturated and the stone looks dark in regular light - another reason for the low price. Most importantly, the clarity is very low. You won't know just how included until you receive it because not everything can be seen in photos, and the vendor will (based on previous experiences) downplay the presence of inclusions. And that isn't specific to them, mind you, it's how many in the region do business.

and another:

1.00 Ct Natural Purple Silky Sapphire Viet Nam, Opalescent Sapphire, Pear Shape, Unheat Sapphire Luc Yen - Etsy

This Gemstones item by NancyGemsVN has 21 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Vietnam. Listed on May 25, 2025

www.etsy.com

Biiig window, colour zoning, and overboosted saturation. You just know the colour won't deliver in person.

This one is spinel, but I really like it:

2.9cts, Lavender Spinel, Spinel, Natural Spinel, Spinel Vietnam - Etsy

This Gemstones item by Milksapphire has 24 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Vietnam. Listed on May 15, 2025

www.etsy.com

I know this vendor, too, discovered them through PS. People seemed to be happy with them.

So, this stone has major clarity issues (very well photographed and displayed by the vendor, I must say), it's again windowed, the tone is deep and the colour isn't very saturated. Considering it's spinel and they tend to shift, in indoor light it probably looks more grey than purple.

There's also the element that all of these vendors are based locally - Thailand, Vietnam. A western dealer will have a larger markup even on commercial quality stones such as these.

But most of all, the reason these gems are on the cheap side is because very few people want them. They're very difficult to move. If they were move expensive, it would be impossible to sell them.

It's also why we're drowning in an endless instagram feed of manipulated photos - many vendors have to resort to attention grabbing in order to find buyers. The third vendor in your examples also does that in a small way - they always have that 50% off deal going on.

Fundamentally there's nothing wrong with buying one of these stones. Sometimes they're just what one wants. The problem only comes when buyers are misguided and think they're buying something crazy expensive at a bargain price.

 

[Autumn in New England]

I have bought from this vendor, and so have others on PS. Their colour representation is actually very accurate, and they send extra photos and videos. If there's one thing I would trust them with, it would be to show you the real colour to the best of their abilities.

Gemsdeposit is one of my favorite int'l sellers. Very transparent, eager to please, super communicative and fast to respond, and if they don't have what you want, they will find it. I bought my hot pink rubellite from them, and it was even more vivid in person.

 

[Gloria27]

The closer to the source (mines and local cutters) the cheaper the stones, it switches fewer hands thus the price stays lower. Some of these Etsy sellers are locals, they live in these mining towns.

 

[Saphir]

Cost all to much for what u get

 

[Brightshiny]

Thanks, everyone. this is so helpful for me as a newbie. what you say makes sense and I can see the issues when you point them out.

How about this one? I actually really like this gem and it's the color and size I'm looking for, but it may not be quite the quality I want:

Lavender Spinel Loose Gemstone, Perfect Cushion Fine Cut Lavender Colour Spinel for Jewellery Making 3.30 - Etsy

This Gemstones item by GemstonesTown has 4 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Pakistan. Listed on Mar 27, 2025

www.etsy.com

 

[Rfisher]

Cost all to much for what u get

Can you link more economical store option for the examples given?

Or will it be IG no catalog/no listed prices, must shop in person?

 

[Rfisher]

How about this one?

The area circled is a window. It will have very little of the lavender color that the perimeter shows. It will show very little scintillation /facets/sparkle that the perimeter shows. It will show the ring metal/your finger underneath it, pretty well.
Tilt it, and that window may well go even larger.

 

[VividRed]

Thanks, everyone. this is so helpful for me as a newbie. what you say makes sense and I can see the issues when you point them out.

How about this one? I actually really like this gem and it's the color and size I'm looking for, but it may not be quite the quality I want:

Lavender Spinel Loose Gemstone, Perfect Cushion Fine Cut Lavender Colour Spinel for Jewellery Making 3.30 - Etsy

This Gemstones item by GemstonesTown has 4 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Pakistan. Listed on Mar 27, 2025

www.etsy.com

I think you would be wasting 450$

Very large window, poor cut, low saturation. It is very hard to give a fair price to such a stone. I would not even take it for free, while some would be happy to pay the price. Personal taste aside, I find it very expensive

 

[Avondale]

I'll join the others in saying this window is big enough to fall through. If you don't notice it now simply due to inexperience, chances you start noticing it once your eyes get accustomed to recognising a good cut are pretty significant, and once that happens you'll never be happy with it again.

Let's start with the basics.
What do you want (including what is more important to you in terms of stone quality, for example "good cut and colour but can compromise on clarity")?
How much do you want to spend?

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

That stone is very hard to price and the window is dreadful. As Avondale has already stated, once you become more familiar with coloured gems, and if it becomes a full blown obsession, that window will niggle at your soul.

I don’t actually think the stone is that cheap considering the massive window.

What colours do you like and what are you looking to add to your collection?

 

[Saphir]

Look for smaller or other stones with cut without window. All stones with window are a weight cut most stones are to flat. When the cut would be excellent the stone would be lost 50-70% percent of this stones u showed us (not the fo
first one) Thats why this stones are "so cheap" Color is a matter of taste.
Good stones for cheaper prices are from the beryl group Heliodor yellow, Morganite rose orangy pink, Aquamarine light green blue, light blue, mint beryl (one of my favorites but hard to get)
Zirkon most colors,
Tourmaline green (not chrome), yellow, indicolite,, rubellite but mostly has a lot of bigger inclusions, Garnet (red, yellow, reddish-purple, purplish-red, orangy-red etc )

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

The area circled is a window. It will have very little of the lavender color that the perimeter shows. It will show very little scintillation /facets/sparkle that the perimeter shows. It will show the ring metal/your finger underneath it, pretty well.
Tilt it, and that window may well go even larger.

Windows anoy me so much but each to their own
In Victorian times when ladies wore do many clothes and arms and legs were covered windows were very sexy and desirable as you could see the skin underneath
Fsdhions change
Also I guess they probably didn't cut gemstones as well as they do now then then
But food for thought

 

[Rfisher]

but each to their own

Of course

And beauty is in the eye of the beholder

 

[fredflintstone]

here's one:

Hazzy Silky Dark Purple Sapphire. 1.26ct, Pear Shape. Silky Deep Purple Color, No Heat No Treatment. Fluorescent in UV Light. CD389 - Etsy

This Gemstones item by GEMSDEPOSIT has 50 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Thailand. Listed on Jun 23, 2025

www.etsy.com

To be honest, I wouldn't pay $300 for this stone. I would not buy it at any price.

Bottom of the barrel. Pass go and collect $50.

I have not looked at the other stones. Just don't have the time, but if they are all in the same ballpark, you have your answer.

 

[fredflintstone]

This one is spinel, but I really like it:

2.9cts, Lavender Spinel, Spinel, Natural Spinel, Spinel Vietnam - Etsy

This Gemstones item by Milksapphire has 24 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Vietnam. Listed on May 15, 2025

www.etsy.com

Ok, just one more. Huge window. Looks like many octahedral negative crystals in the stone and under the worse place to see them, the table. But all considered, if you can live with little light return (little brilliance) because of window and visible to the eye inclusions under the table, you could do worse.