Windowing/extinction new sapphire ring

[Herbie]

Hi all, we have just made a sapphire halo engagement ring with a very reputable hand made jeweller. On picking it up we were over the moon, he got the brief perfectly. i soon noticed a dark area in the centre of the stone. It's very noticible to me in most lights, it wasn't noticible under the shop lights or even in my kitchen. But in every other room in my house and most natural light settings it's all i can see. A quick Google led me to believe it was extinction and windowing. When i then held it up i could see the window. The window itself doesn't bother me so much, it's the dark area. We contacted the jeweller to ask about finding another stone as it is the only thing stopping me from loving it. He seemed to think this was an amazing stone and that if i found fault with that one he didn't think he could get another that i would like. He's happy to refund the whole thing if I'm not happy. I don't think it's unreasonable to try to find a stone without these issues , but obviously we are new to this and we do trust this jeweller. I've attached some photos of what it looks like when it's noticible, so not the most flattering. In the right lights its actually a stunning stone. I just find that it detracts from the rest of the stone and we've spent a lot of money for it to not be right. Any suggestions or feedback welcome.

 

[Arcadian]

The stone likely wasn't precision cut, which can mean sometimes you can get a stone with less than perfect proportions and not so great light return. It may be ok for some, but I agree with what you're seeing.

The other thing about light is that, as you probably realized, some lights will make a stone dazzle, and other's not so much.

IMO you should look at the stones prior to being set. I think it can give you a sense of the stone and coloring. Yes sometimes windows can close after the set, but that also depends on how well the stone is cut. If they're able to show you other stones, do look, and if they can bring stones in for you, even better.

If the jeweler is open to remaking the ring, the other question is will they also make it with an outside stone? That may be your best bet to getting what you want. Depending on where you are in the world, you might want to look at precision cut stones.

 

[marymm]

I see what you're saying about the stone and agree it is due to non-precision cutting. As it seems to bother you quite a bit, I'd recommend returning the ring for the full refund your jeweler offered, and then starting over.

First, browse these two threads:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-to-coloured-gemstone-buying-read-this-first.174284/

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/list-of-vendors-for-reference.208782/

Maybe take a look at the GemFix and FinewaterGems websites and browse through the Sapphire offerings so you can get a sense of what is available.

Then, decide whether you want to hunt for a loose Sapphire yourself, or look again at completed rings and be more informed and critical about the center stone's performance.

If you want to find your own Sapphire, you could start a new thread with the criteria for the stone (budget, shape, preferred color) and ask PSers to post links of Sapphires for you to consider.

 

[CaraMish]

I wonder if recutting the stone using concave faceting would spare the girdle? When my sapphire was recut, I am not positive, but it seems like very little or no stone was taken from the girdle. Just a thought.