Unheated sapphires and lagoon tourmaline

[OrangeLady]

This is a quick question for anyone with an eye on Gem Collector tonight...

Wondering what a decent price is for these two stones?

I've had a quick look on Gem Select but can't see any direct comparisons.

https://www.gemcollector.com/en-gb/product/madagascan-sapphire-2.09cts/uwsi93/
https://www.gemcollector.com/en-gb/product/blue-lagoon-tourmaline-1.1cts/xugd16/

 

[OrangeLady]

On screen processing were

£499

And

£279

Is that fair?

Sapphire looked paler on screen than on the website. Good clarity from what I could see.

Tourmaline looked more bluish-green than blue with undertones of green. Some small visible inclusions but good for a tourmaline I think.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

On screen processing were

£499

And

£279

Is that fair?

Sapphire looked paler on screen than on the website. Good clarity from what I could see.

Tourmaline looked more bluish-green than blue with undertones of green. Some small visible inclusions but good for a tourmaline I think.

Both seem pricey to me - particularly the Tourmaline. They're playing on the 'blue' a bit to justify its price - Most of GC's so called 'Indicolite' or 'Blue Tourmaline' of recent times has been more green than blue.

In the past, I've bought green tourmaline's of similar size for £30 to £35 - but GC's prices have risen to the ridiculous over the past couple of years.

As for the Sapphire - that would have been about £150 a few years ago.

 

[OrangeLady]

"On screen processing" was meant to say "on screen prices", I really should spell check for auto corrects before I post!

I've seen so-called indicolite on Gemporia and GC, it all looks green to me. I thought the lagoon piece earlier at least had some blue tones but not worthy of £279 of my money.

They had a smaller piece a few months ago which I bought for £149. Much more blue and very zingy (for want of a better term). But I sent it back as it just didn't seem like good value, even though I've no idea where to source similar stones.

I had a look on Gem Select and found heated, darker blue sapphires from Madagascar for a much better price than the GC piece. Although they were smaller at 1.2 - 1.5ct. The unheated stones were pinks and considerably more than GC for the same 2ct.

 

[OrangeLady]

And thank you for replying. I was hoping the thread title would catch your attention, given your history of buying unheated sapphires

 

[TheManWithNoName]

And thank you for replying. I was hoping the thread title would catch your attention, given your history of buying unheated sapphires

For all of Gem Collector's / Gemporia's faults, one thing they were always good at was being VERY reasonable when it came to Sapphire prices. I'd yet to find anywhere else that sold Natural or Heated Sapphires for anywhere close to GC's / Gemporia's prices. Even Gem Select couldn't compete.

Sadly though, like everything else on Gemporia / GC, I suspect those reasonable prices are a thing of the past and been hiked considerably, like everything else.

Gem Collector used to do some really good 'proper' blue Indicolite too. I bought a VSI grade, half carat stone for £20 about 7 years ago. I bet you'd be lucky to even get a greenish-blue one for less than £100 from them these days

When I first started collecting, around 11 years ago, I got a 1.75ct Indicolite from them for £30. I dread to think how much they'd charge for that these days.

 

[AndyW]

For all of Gem Collector's / Gemporia's faults, one thing they were always good at was being VERY reasonable when it came to Sapphire prices. I'd yet to find anywhere else that sold Natural or Heated Sapphires for anywhere close to GC's / Gemporia's prices. Even Gem Select couldn't compete.

The only sapphires I have bought are set in jewellery. A pair of Songea cufflinks, sold by Matt B at 2am about ten years ago or more, for a steal. Lovely things. And I did buy two 18K Nigerian unheated sapphire rings from the Outlet, one as a present. One stone had green flashes and the other had electric blue flashes. Lovely things and, for me, the right price at around £280 a piece. No regrets. Lovely rich colours. I wasn't bowled over by the recent Ceylon selection on GC but I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

I wasn't bowled over by the recent Ceylon selection on GC but I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

I didn't see those to be honest. I find Gem Collector a hard watch these days. The prices are ridiculous, and Emily's constant giggling and insulting our intelligence by quoting ridiculous price comparisons / claims puts me right off.

I tend to 'glance in' at the start of an hour to see if they've got anything out of the ordinary (they haven't usually - it's usually yet another type of Jasper) - and then if nothing catches my eye, I'm off.

GC is currently in organ failure in my opinion - and it won't be long before it dies.

 

[OrangeLady]

I never saw any indicolite on GC in the early days, if I had have done I would have snapped it up! £20 for half a carat VSI stone sounds like a proper bargain!

Gem Collector used to do some really good 'proper' blue Indicolite too. I bought a VSI grade, half carat stone for £20 about 7 years ago. I bet you'd be lucky to even get a greenish-blue one for less than £100 from them these days

When I first started collecting, around 11 years ago, I got a 1.75ct Indicolite from them for £30. I dread to think how much they'd charge for that these days.

 

[OrangeLady]

The only sapphires I have bought are set in jewellery. A pair of Songea cufflinks, sold by Matt B at 2am about ten years ago or more, for a steal. Lovely things. And I did buy two 18K Nigerian unheated sapphire rings from the Outlet, one as a present. One stone had green flashes and the other had electric blue flashes. Lovely things and, for me, the right price at around £280 a piece. No regrets. Lovely rich colours. I wasn't bowled over by the recent Ceylon selection on GC but I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

Those pieces sound lovely! I hope the recipient appreciated the stones as much as you did? (Which one did you keep?)

I was a frequent buyer of silver rings for £20 and £30 back in the day. Then I spent £300 on a colour change sapphire cluster ring. 9 stones, all big enough to be set singly. Cloudy with inclusions that give it a steely grey undertone but perfectly colour matched in all light sources. Changes from violet to teal. I was blown away, I'd never heard of colour change gems before let alone had any sitting on my finger. I spent 10 minutes going out into sunshine and back indoors into incandescent lighting just to watch it change.

I realised £300 was a sweet spot, where you could usually get some good quality rings with nice stones and lovely designs. But I still didn't curb my urge to splurge on the "pocket money" £20 rings haha.

 

[historymystery]

I didn't see those to be honest. I find Gem Collector a hard watch these days. The prices are ridiculous, and Emily's constant giggling and insulting our intelligence by quoting ridiculous price comparisons / claims puts me right off.

I tend to 'glance in' at the start of an hour to see if they've got anything out of the ordinary (they haven't usually - it's usually yet another type of Jasper) - and then if nothing catches my eye, I'm off.

GC is currently in organ failure in my opinion - and it won't be long before it dies.

I switched to GC a couple of weeks ago, and Emily was so hyper it was untrue, cracking herself up with laughing at her own jokes (well, someone had to laugh, I suppose), it was so bloody irritating that I had to switch over. During that time, there was ONE gemstone shown, very little detail just silly comments and laughing. She might be a really nice person in real life, but is she irritating when she's on the box, and she seems to have got much worse since Alex left (by the way, he's flogging stuff from his shop on Ebay).

 

[TheManWithNoName]

I switched to GC a couple of weeks ago, and Emily was so hyper it was untrue, cracking herself up with laughing at her own jokes (well, someone had to laugh, I suppose), it was so ****** irritating that I had to switch over. During that time, there was ONE gemstone shown, very little detail just silly comments and laughing. She might be a really nice person in real life, but is she irritating when she's on the box, and she seems to have got much worse since Alex left (by the way, he's flogging stuff from his shop on Ebay).

I've never taken to her. Far too giggly and annoying.