Recommendations for finding the right sapphire?

July 18, 2013 12:38 PM

The bf and I have started talking engagement (eeee!) and at some point I ended up with my heart set on a peach sapphire. We've talked with two jewelers and it's been a couple months at this point and neither one has been able to turn up a stone that fits my requirements. I didn't think I was being that fussy but at this point I'm starting to wonder.

Ideally the stone will be:

Round cut (this is probably the only hard and fast rule I have)
peach (but honestly, I've looked at a bunch of stones online at this point and would be willing to go in a few other directions if it makes it easier)
1-2 carat

We've looked at the Natural Sapphire Company's website and there are some stones I'd be happy with, but we're both worried about spending that much through a website we're not familiar with. Same goes for Etsy sellers.

Have you bought a precious stone online and would recommend a vendor? We're in the DC area and would be willing to drive around if there's a place that specializes in sapphires, especially the other colors. Are there things that we should be looking for in terms of trustworthiness? I know that some of the stones are GIA certified, but I don't really know if that's a meaningful certification.

posted by brilliantine to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (15 answers total)

The Natural Sapphire Company has a showroom in New York. You may as well take a trip up there and check it out in person. You can also go to the diamond district and see if anyone there has nice stones.

I'd buy from them over the internet, but I'm a trusting soul.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:51 PM on July 18, 2013

I haven't bought anything but diamonds from them, but look at Blue Nile online. Very reputable, great business, and they're safe to buy from.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:53 PM on July 18, 2013

There are some horrible reviews online about the Natural Sapphire Company. There's also a risk buying online that the stone will be a 'treated' stone rather than truly the natural colour.

There's a very active forum at Better Than Diamonds where you'll probably get some recommendations for real-life retailers who aren't selling dodgy white sapphires dyed peach.
posted by essexjan at 12:53 PM on July 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

I bought a sapphire from a gem reseller in New York for my wife's engagement ring. It was a pretty straightforward process, I told her the size and color (in this case a round cut blue sapphire) and she called me in a week later with around a quarter of a cup worth of stones, which we them quickly whittled down the the best for my purpose. So I don't think you're being picky. I'd recommend them, but I think they do their work all in person so it might not be helpful.
posted by 2bucksplus at 12:56 PM on July 18, 2013

You might try keeping an eye on Brilliant Earth (or contacting them directly). There aren't any stones that meet your criteria available right now, but here's a smaller one, and here's one that would have been perfect but was recently sold. They have really nice settings, too.
posted by charmcityblues at 1:05 PM on July 18, 2013

Best answer: There is a Gem and Jewelry show near DC every quarter in Chantilly, http://www.intergem.com/. You should be able to find what you want there, and when you see the selection, you might decide you can be *more* picky. Good luck, and congratulations!
posted by bensherman at 1:07 PM on July 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

Best answer: You want the Pricescope Colored Stones forum. The people there are incredibly knowledgeable and if you just want to lurk you will learn a ton. If you ask questions, they will recommend vendors, review stones online for you, tell you if they see any issues (wonky color, a bad cut, windows, extreme treatments, and on and on) and probably even help you find contenders in your price range.

Seriously. Check it out.
posted by payoto at 1:25 PM on July 18, 2013 [5 favorites]

Best answer: The colored stones forum at pricescope.com has a lot of info on different online vendors, certification, and people are quite helpful if you post specific requests. If you ask for help there, it would really help if you include a ballpark budget, some examples of the colour you'd be happy with, and if you're ok with any treatments or only going for natural. Crap, payoto just beat me to it.
posted by tangaroo at 1:32 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I love gemselect.com but haven't bought anything as heavy duty as you're describing there yet.
posted by fingersandtoes at 3:12 PM on July 18, 2013

Hmm.

Peach sapphire engagement rings on etsy.

If you like peach, here's a lovely Peach morganite ring with diamonds, and here's another one.

Sapphires in other colors:
Orange sapphire ring, platinum orange sapphire ring.
6.6 carat Light pink sapphire and diamond engagement ring (Warning: Expensive!).
Pale yellow sapphire and diamond ring.
Another Pink sapphire ring
Light violet sapphire ring.
posted by misha at 3:42 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Sorry, I meant to add that I think having a ring custom made from etsy may be your best choice if you are set on a peach sapphire ring.
posted by misha at 3:46 PM on July 18, 2013

Seconding morganite! Etsy have some stunning morganite rings and the colour is just a beautiful peachy pink. Rare Earth I think the store is called.
posted by Youremyworld at 4:36 PM on July 18, 2013

Here is a stone from Etsy that seems to match what you want.
Here's another lighter one from the same vendor.
posted by rmless at 5:33 PM on July 18, 2013

Have you been to I. Gorman? They were able to find me the perfect sapphire (of course mine is pale blue and thus easier to find but it took three shipments of gems before I picked one), but they're really great.
posted by echo0720 at 7:05 PM on July 19, 2013

Response by poster: We ended up going with gemfix.com and LOVE the stone we got (also ended up with a light blue since we really couldn't find a peach one that hit all the points). Pricescope was invaluable in giving us enough information to make a good choice - the vendor we picked was off their recommended list.
posted by brilliantine at 6:05 AM on August 19, 2013