yellow sapphire

[steph94171]

hello!

i absolutely love this site, first of all! i lurked around a lot when i was planning my wedding and now i''m back because i''m starting to develop a true love for jewelry that i never knew i had!

i didn''t expect to start looking for an important piece so soon after my wedding (which was in April), but i turn 30 in march - so my lovely husband wants to commemorate this landmark with a piece of jewelry that i will always have (he really is so wonderful!!) he asked me what i would like, and i have y heart set on a yellow sapphire ring, around 3 carats - i''m thinking a halo/bezel set. i''m been reading all of the sapphire threads on pricescope, and i was hoping you guys could help me out.

i love the natural sapphire company''s website and selection - plus i''ve read some good stuff about them on here...however, i''m actually interested in purchasing a heated sapphire. i know it''s not completely natural, but i don''t mind so long as it sparkles and makes me smile!!

with that in mind, could any of you suggest a reputable website with heated sapphires? i know ajs gems has them, but i''d love to shop around!

thanks so much everyone! you guys are so resourceful and have helped out so many!!

 

[LD]

Hello and Welcome!

What a lovely 30th birthday pressie! I don''t know if you''ve seen Laurenthepartier''s gorgeous yellow sapphire (emerald cut) but that''s one that I lust over!

Anyway, I don''t know if this will help but at the top of this section of the forum there is a thread dedicated to coloured gemstone sellers (link below). If you''re looking for a heated sapphire then it''ll be generally easier and you should have more of a selection to look at.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/sites-selling-colored-gemstones-and-jewelry.94723/

If you find anything, post up because there are tons of knowledgeable people on this site who will give you honest opinions!

 

[T L]

Be very careful about who you puchase yellow sapphires from since many can be diffused, and they won't tell you that. Simply stating that a gem is heated is not adequate IMHO. You should be told what kind of heating (gentle heat is the most accepted treatment). Unfortunatley, yellow sapphires are one of those very highly treated stones (sigh!), and synthetic material is also passed off as au natural. NSC might have some heated yellow material as well, and it just may not be up on their website. Unfortunatley, most of their material is not cut properly, although I hear they will recut stones. AJS has some, and I like that they indicate the true treatment, but purchasing an expensive stone overseas scares me. If it's a very expensive stone, I would get a lab cert from a reputable gemological laboratory like AGTA, AGL.

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 12/22/2008 9:33:28 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Be very careful about who you puchase yellow sapphires from since many can be diffused, and they won''t tell you that. Simply stating that a gem is heated is not adequate IMHO. You should be told what kind of heating (gentle heat is the most accepted treatment). Unfortunatley, yellow sapphires are one of those very highly treated stones (sigh!), and synthetic material is also passed off as au natural. NSC might have some heated yellow material as well, and it just may not be up on their website. Unfortunatley, most of their material is not cut properly, although I hear they will recut stones. AJS has some, and I like that they indicate the true treatment, but purchasing an expensive stone overseas scares me. If it''s a very expensive stone, I would get a lab cert from a reputable gemological laboratory like AGTA, AGL.

great advice!

movie zombie

 

[benell]

My first stone that I bought from overseas was from AJS about 3 years ago and they were great. I picked out a stone on my own and when it arrived I just wasn't entirely happy with it. I wouldn't blame them for that, since I wasn't used to judging sapphires based on pictures. I decided to exchange it and there were absolutely no problems. I emailed them describing the type of sapphire I was looking for and inquired about a certain stone, and from my description they suggested a different stone and I decided to trust their judgement and that stone turned out to be wonderful. They even gave me a small discount for the trouble. They seems to be honest folk and I would buy from them again.

Of course, that's just my opinion and it was several years ago, so definitely keep researching before you decide to buy. Good luck!

 

[steph94171]

thank you guys so much! this is such a help already - tourmaline lover,i didn''t realize there were so many different degrees of heating - I appreciate the advice! I will check out the links that lovingdiamonds posted - also, would you mind posting a link to laurenthepartier''s yellow sapphire? i would love to see it for comparison!

this might be a dumb question, but do heated sapphires have a gem cert? i wasn''t sure how they are categorized compared to unheated. Any enlightenment on what to look for, etc. is GREATLY appreciated!!

 

[LD]

Date: 12/22/2008 12:46:25 PM
Author: steph94171
thank you guys so much! this is such a help already - tourmaline lover,i didn''t realize there were so many different degrees of heating - I appreciate the advice! I will check out the links that lovingdiamonds posted - also, would you mind posting a link to laurenthepartier''s yellow sapphire? i would love to see it for comparison!

this might be a dumb question, but do heated sapphires have a gem cert? i wasn''t sure how they are categorized compared to unheated. Any enlightenment on what to look for, etc. is GREATLY appreciated!!

Steph - TL isn''t talking about a degree of heating. Diffusion is when a yucky (generally) coloured sapphire is heated with Beryllium to produce a yellow (or other) coloured sapphire. Generally speaking purists won''t touch diffused gemstones with a bargepole. Heating is different all together and some people accept it, some don''t. The question you need to ask a seller is "has the gemstone been diffused/latticed".

I don''t have a link to LTP''s sapphire but there was a thread a month or so ago where she showcased her jewellery and it caught my eye. Perhaps if you do a search you can find it.

By the way everybody, somebody I know who works in Thailand refers to diffusion as "new heat" which I find all togther unacceptable. How misleading is that? Apparently this is new terminology over there.

 

[tradergirl]

Always happy to enable.

http://www.evejewelry.com/store/product?productID=139

 

[T L]

My big thing with heat treatment is that some unscrupulous sellers will tell you a stone is heat treated without further disclosure of the kind of heat treatment. If it's berillym treated, they're not really lying, because the stone is actually heat treated. You need to find out what kind of heat treating was involved. I personally, and this is just me, would not accept an expensive yellow sapphire if it didn't come with a lab report indicating that there has been no evidence of a foreign element introduced (in other words berillyum or other type of unscrupulous treatment). I also would want a lab report from a reputable lab, not some unknown entity or from the seller themself. That's me however, I'm really paranoid when it comes to sapphires.

Gentle heat is accepted by many in the trade, and the abundance of all sapphires are heat treated. I have seen the following issue time and time again and this happens a lot on ebay as well. A seller will provide a sapphire comes a cert or memo. The buyer is enthusiastic and excited, even if the memo may state heat treatment. However, read the fine print closely. If you see a memo or cert that doesn't define the type of heat treatment, or it states something like
"inconclusive evidence of a foreign element being introduced," or something to that effect, stay away.

Because of all the treatment and syntethetic issues with sapphires, some people find it easier to just go with a 100% untreated stone, or at least one that is certed by a lab indicating that there is "no evidence of thermal enhancement" (labs use fancy words to mean the same thing). If a stone is not heat treated, then that means that no berillyum has been introduced, or otherwise.

I hope that helps.

ETA: Treated stones can look like stones worth thousands of dollars, so don't also let a gorgeous stone fool you. Treated stones are flooding the marketplace more and more, and you have to protect yourself as much as you can.

 

[innerkitten]

I love the lemony yellow sapphires.
Tradergirl what a cool site! Thanks for posting the link.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 12/22/2008 1:23:17 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds

Date: 12/22/2008 12:46:25 PM
Author: steph94171
thank you guys so much! this is such a help already - tourmaline lover,i didn''t realize there were so many different degrees of heating - I appreciate the advice! I will check out the links that lovingdiamonds posted - also, would you mind posting a link to laurenthepartier''s yellow sapphire? i would love to see it for comparison!

this might be a dumb question, but do heated sapphires have a gem cert? i wasn''t sure how they are categorized compared to unheated. Any enlightenment on what to look for, etc. is GREATLY appreciated!!

Steph - TL isn''t talking about a degree of heating. Diffusion is when a yucky (generally) coloured sapphire is heated with Beryllium to produce a yellow (or other) coloured sapphire. Generally speaking purists won''t touch diffused gemstones with a bargepole. Heating is different all together and some people accept it, some don''t. The question you need to ask a seller is ''has the gemstone been diffused/latticed''.

I don''t have a link to LTP''s sapphire but there was a thread a month or so ago where she showcased her jewellery and it caught my eye. Perhaps if you do a search you can find it.

By the way everybody, somebody I know who works in Thailand refers to diffusion as ''new heat'' which I find all togther unacceptable. How misleading is that? Apparently this is new terminology over there.

LD, thanks so much, my dear. My yellow sapphire is from, coincidentally, AJSGems. I bought it along with an EC blue sapphire around the same time, and both are pretty examples, but have teeny tiny windows, easy enough to mask with a halo setting. It''s a gently heated example, and the colour in the photo was a bit more intense than the colour I received - still an intense colour, though.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Oh, and a link to my thread . . .

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-new-1-19-ct-ec-yellow-sapphire-rhr.94537/

 

[steph94171]

thanks everyone! tourmaline lover, that helps me to know what to ask for and how to best protect myself if i go the heated route! also, tourmaline lover or lovingdiamonds - could either of you explain a little bit what "lattice diffused" means? is that a form of treatment or enhancement that is not generally accepted?

laurenthepartier, what an absolutely GORGEOUS ring!!! i LOVE the color!

that is similar to how i envision the ring that i want! would you mind telling me a little bit more about the stone? it seems that most gems from ajsgems are heated - was yours? how was your experience with ajs overall - do you find them to be reputable? did they have certification available? i think that value-wise, i wouldn''t mind going for a heated sapphire, but i realize i need to be a lot more cautious than i originally thought.

Thanks again everyone!!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Lattice diffusion = beryllium heating AFAIK.

I would stay away from those stones that have lattice diffusion listed, and focus on the unheated and heated. AJS is good for listing lattice diffusion to stones that do have it. The heated without beryllium treatment are few and far between, though.

 

[T L]

Here's a four carat heart on sale and it's only gentle heat (this company refuses to sell diffused material). That being said, I would still want a lab report, again, I'm really paranoid about these stones even if they come from the most reputable sellers. That's me!

http://www.simplysapphires.com/html/imagesyellow2005/yellowhs416-sm.html

It's not well cut, but it's a nice color and it's very affordable for the size. Unfortuantely, the other caveat with sapphires, besides the horrible treatments and syntethic issues, is that they're cut for weight vs beauty by people that should probably not be cutting stones period

. It's very difficult to find a well cut sapphire, and therefore, when we see one, we grab it up. There's some other heated only yellow sapphires on this website as well. It's a very reputable firm and I think the pricing on his stones is great. It's also an American company, so if you're from the States, you shouldn't have a big issue with returns.