Yellow sapphire seems to wash out in dim lighting

[swissmiss]

I said I wasn't going to buy new stones in 2015 (that did not last long...). I'm currently evaluating this 7.78ct light yellow sapphire for a ring. It looks great in outdoors light and in bright indoors light, but I'm concerned that it "washes out" in dim lighting & the cut seems to generate tilt windows.

Photos next to my light pink sapphire e-ring:




Next to a window. I set the white balance on my camera to reflect the conditions, but you can see the color is not accurate (look at the white of the gem box)



Outside, with lotion schmutz on the back:


What do you think? Will setting it address the tilt-window/ dim lighting issues?

 

[pregcurious]

I think you should love it at this price, and you don't love it. How accurate is the outside picture? I see some brown in your outdoor picture.

 

[minousbijoux]

If your photos are accurate, then the sapphire looks as brown as it does yellow, unfortunately. It is a very light toned stone and agree that your heart should leap when you see it - especially if it was expensive.

 

[swissmiss]

It does not seem to have much brown in real life in the box, but every time I photograph it on my hend, it seems to come out brownish (I was wearing a purple top last night and my camera is blue colored).

Let me try to get some more accurate photos in the box.

 

[swissmiss]

Here are more accurate pictures of the color in fairly bright lighting conditions (not direct sunlight, but not dim). The interior walls of this room are beige, FYI. I used a better camera too, hoping that the color rendering would be more accurate.

 

[T L]

You will always have tilt windows, especially in large stones like that. The cutting is nice otherwise. I take it you're on the fence about it.

Maybe a yellow gold head will help the color a bit. Do you have a gold chain you can set it upon to see?

 

[swissmiss]

You will always have tilt windows, especially in large stones like that. The cutting is nice otherwise. I take it you're on the fence about it.

Maybe a yellow gold head will help the color a bit. Do you have a gold chain you can set it upon to see?

The cut is truly exceptional and it looks fabulous in moderate-bright lighting conditions, but the low-light performance is not blowing me away.

Let me dig out a yellow gold chain to set it upon.

 

[swissmiss]

OK. Here are my attempts at placing the stone in a yellow-gold-ish environment:

On an earring:



On a necklace:

 

[pregcurious]

I think it looks nice on yellow gold. Does it help the indoor color also? The high crown is great.

 

[T L]

In this picture, it looks very dull in color, despite being placed on some yellow gold. I think maybe a heavy yellow gold head and gallery, with a white metal shank. The disparity in color between the two will help the color a bit. There's a bit too much yellow gold going on in these shots. Think of how they sometimes set yellow diamonds, with a yellow gold basket, and white diamonds or metal surrounding it.

 

[VapidLapid]

It will never behave like that yellow diamond.
It is a pretty stone with a light tone and saturation,
It looks nice in your better photos with better camera, but it will never be vivid, if that is your complaint with it. If you love it for what it is, a very pretty light yellow, and are ok with the fact that it will not perform so well in artificial light, then great. If you were hoping for that more vivid saturation and tone then you will be disappointed often. a rich buttery high carat gold bezel might help with the perception of tone.

 

[Siameseroo]

I think it's a beautiful light toned sapphire. But if you're not 100% happy with it, I think you should return it and keep searching. If you are in dim, artificial light conditions most of the time, and you don't like the way the sapphire performs in these conditions, it's probably not the stone for you. Good luck!!

 

[T L]

It will never behave like that yellow diamond.
It is a pretty stone with a light tone and saturation,
It looks nice in your better photos with better camera, but it will never be vivid, if that is your complaint with it. If you love it for what it is, a very pretty light yellow, and are ok with the fact that it will not perform so well in artificial light, then great. If you were hoping for that more vivid saturation and tone then you will be disappointed often. a rich buttery high carat gold bezel might help with the perception of tone.

It won't, but I just posted that as an example of how to set it.

 

[ElleK]

It looks really pretty on the gold, but you have to love it!

 

[PieAreSquared]

It will never behave like that yellow diamond.
It is a pretty stone with a light tone and saturation,
It looks nice in your better photos with better camera, but it will never be vivid, if that is your complaint with it. If you love it for what it is, a very pretty light yellow, and are ok with the fact that it will not perform so well in artificial light, then great. If you were hoping for that more vivid saturation and tone then you will be disappointed often. a rich buttery high carat gold bezel might help with the perception of tone.

This. Exactly. It is a pretty sapphire, it will never have the refractive index of a diamond, which may make it seem a little 'dull' by comparison.
And FWIW, the "tilt window" is a phenom of photography, you are not going to set it at a 45 degree angle, right?

 

[LoversKites]

I don't think it looks dull because it's not a diamond but because the tone and saturation are light. I think it's very pretty in most of your shots.

Swissmiss, how about that yellow one you considered for your e-ring from Africagems? Or do you want something light in tone and saturation? If so, I don't know if that dullness can be avoided.

 

[swissmiss]

I never intended it to be a diamond , thankfully! I think LoversKite and VL nailed it. The stone does not have the saturation I desire. BTW, the yellow asscher from AfricaGems sold a while ago, and I was on the fence on that one too. Maybe I should quit while I'm behind and stop trying to find a yellow sapphire that is "perfect".

PieAreSquared, you're right, I will not set it at 45 degrees , but it's a large stone with a high crown and I will not always see it from the top (nor will other people always see it from the top). I was planning to set it in a ring, not a pendant, where the problem would be less noticeable: if my hand is on a table in front of me, I will be looking at the ring from the side. I don't know if I agree that tilt windows are a photography phenomenon, as I can see them without going through the lens of a camera.

Maybe TL is right that it is too big... I guess I was thinking of the 5ct+ Jeff Davies yellow cushion sapphire and I was at a gem show recently and saw a number of 6ct+ yellow cushion and oval sapphires, but they were more saturated and some had a darker tone, so the tilt windows did not bother me that much.

pregcurious, I tried the yellow gold thing in indoors low light conditions and it did not seem to have much of an effect.

THANK YOU everyone for your help in bouncing ideas around with me. It really helped me. I am going to return the stone... I love the cut, but I need something more saturated.

 

[ElleK]

Tilt windowing is not a phenomenon of the camera, it is a factor of optics, light, reflection and physics.

One last point on "windows" - pretty much any stone, commercial or bespoke cut will, when tilted or viewed at an angle, exhibit some degree of windowing through the side of the pavilion. Certain stones and designs are more prone to this then others. This is normal and for the most part unavoidable. What we are concerned with is the windowing effect when we are viewing the gemstone directly straight down. - Doug Menadue
http://www.bespoke-gems.com/SacredGeometrics_Page_WhatToLookFor.php

Tilt windowing is less noticeable once a stone is set.

 

[PieAreSquared]

Tilt windowing is not a phenomenon of the camera, it is a factor of optics, light, reflection and physics.

One last point on "windows" - pretty much any stone, commercial or bespoke cut will, when tilted or viewed at an angle, exhibit some degree of windowing through the side of the pavilion. Certain stones and designs are more prone to this then others. This is normal and for the most part unavoidable. What we are concerned with is the windowing effect when we are viewing the gemstone directly straight down. - Doug Menadue
http://www.bespoke-gems.com/SacredGeometrics_Page_WhatToLookFor.php

Tilt windowing is less noticeable once a stone is set.

Maybe what I should have said... is that "tilt windowing" is not the same as "a window". I may be mistaken but I believe the term was actually coined here on PS?
i.e., You will never see a Tino Hammid photo taken from the wonky angles we post here!
I didn't mean to make it sound that photography causes this visual phenomenon. It documents it. Loud and clear. Sometimes makes it look worse than it is too.
My point is, simply, a diamond or colored gem is cut to be viewed straight down, through the table, for maximum optics, light, and reflection. Viewed straight on, this stone had no window. I don't think it is dull either, just less flashy than a diamond, or sphene, for example. That's all. I will be quiet now.

Of course, if you don't love it, by all means keep looking!

 

[T L]

Some tilt windows are worse than others though. I know Barry Bridgestock incorporates a different cut for lower RI stones so that the tilt window isn't as pronounced. It's more of a factor on lower RI stones, although all gemstones have them. The only gem I've ever seen without a noticeable tilt window are very small high RI stones like diamonds, and some very well cut sphalerite.