STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

JMR · Dooney & Bourke

why is nice sapphire jewelry so hard to find?

KaffeeKlatsch · Marc Jacobs

I *think* I've seen a few nice pieces on Ice.com

But...I've never bought from them so I can't speak as to the quality.

I have a problem finding sapphire also...the ring I now wear in place of my wedding set is a sapphire flanked by diamonds and its lovely...so deep and dark. I'm always on the lookout for a pendant and earrings to wear with it. It seems these days it is almost impossible to find true dark sapphires or emeralds...they all look so watered down now. :(

Aurora · Marc Jacobs

believe it or not i have a beautiful saphire ring from sears of all places!! My ex gave it to me and I would never have guessed it came from there. As far as where to look I'd probably look some where nicer than there but i'm not sure exactly where. Jewelry is always one of those tricky things to shop for because every store is different and the quality is always all over the board. Obviously you could find something nice at Tiffany's but I'm sure you've looked there already and didn't find anything that spoke to you. Hmm... Have you checked somewhere like bluenile.com? they always have nice rings. Maybe they have necklaces or something else?

atlgirl · Gucci

JMR, are you able to buy the stone separately and have it put into a custom mounting? That's what I did - I bought the stone and DH had it set for me.

Here's the finished ring:

The stone is a Ceylon sapphire (it's even more blue in person than the pic shows) - I personally hate dark sapphires - IMO it should be *blue*, not black looking! - and I bought it loose at the Tucson gem show in 2004. DH took it to a local jewelry store and they worked with him to design the mounting. It was my 5th wedding anniversary gift and I love it!

That route might work better for you...just a thought.

halleybird · Hermes

Shane Co. has nice sapphires. I like these:

Sapphire Pendant in 14k White Gold Sapphire and Diamond Ring Sapphire Earrings in 14k White Gold

Hermes

Ross Simons has a couple of nice pieces.

I searched key word "sapphire" and these are some of the items that caught my eye.
Some are also estate pieces.

-- Edited by detroit at 22:51, 2006-04-06

deludelu · BCBG

alb · Marc Jacobs

Hey jen--I feel your pain. I've been looking for an emerald ring to hand down to Lucy (her birthstone) and I'm having a hard time finding things that I like. I don't know exactly what you're preference is, but I personally really love antique gemstone jewelry. To give you an idea, I've been stalking www.topazery.com for antique emerald engagement rings (I'll wear it on my right hand obviously) and found these antique sapphire rings for you:

1930s Sapphire Antique Engagement Ring

antique engagement ring from 30's--this one is sold but just to give you an idea.

Antique Sapphire Engagement Ring

antique sapphire engagement ring--$1990.

Sapphire and Diamond Engagement Ring

sapphire and diamond engagement ring--$1995

Art Deco Style Sapphire Platinum Band

Also, have you checked pieces by John Hardy, David Yurman and Cathy Waterman (my favorite, her stuff is awesome!)? The first two can be found at Neimans (I think) and you can view Cathy Waterman's amazing collection at the super hip and cool jewelry site:

www.ylang-ylang.com

HTH some!

Hermes

atlgirl wrote:

JMR, are you able to buy the stone separately and have it put into a custom mounting? That's what I did - I bought the stone and DH had it set for me. Here's the finished ring: The stone is a Ceylon sapphire (it's even more blue in person than the pic shows) - I personally hate dark sapphires - IMO it should be *blue*, not black looking! - and I bought it loose at the Tucson gem show in 2004. DH took it to a local jewelry store and they worked with him to design the mounting. It was my 5th wedding anniversary gift and I love it! That route might work better for you...just a thought.

that is a beautiful setting, and a beautiful sapphire. nice blue ones definitely cost more, but I agree, they're much prettier than the dark ones.

alb · Marc Jacobs

Also, I think this one is pretty cool and different (also an antique from topazery):

Antique Victorian Snake Ring with Star Sapphire

Though I'm not usually a fan of gold, this one looks brushed (which I do like), and I LOVE the color of this sapphire. My mom has a ring that she got when I was born (sapphire is also my b-stone), and her ring looks a little like this, the stone is the same color but it's set in platinum. I will get it some day and I love the look. If I were to get a sapphire ring, I'd go for one in this color if I could find it (they're less common). Just my 2 cents.

Hermes

alb wrote:

Also, I think this one is pretty cool and different (also an antique from topazery): Though I'm not usually a fan of gold, this one looks brushed (which I do like), and I LOVE the color of this sapphire. My mom has a ring that she got when I was born (sapphire is also my b-stone), and her ring looks a little like this, the stone is the same color but it's set in platinum. I will get it some day and I love the look. If I were to get a sapphire ring, I'd go for one in this color if I could find it (they're less common). Just my 2 cents.

I agree with looking for a unique antique piece. If it was me, I'd be scouring the pages of ebay

I found these by searching with keyword "sapphire" in jewelry, then honed it down by selecting "antique," then "fine" (I also further hone by looking at North American listings only)

atlgirl · Gucci

that is a beautiful setting, and a beautiful sapphire

Thanks, detroit! I usually prefer contemporary designs, but DH went all retro on me and I must say that I really love how it turned out.

and alb, OMG what a fabulous site. Everything there is so beautiful. I may have to start plotting the 10 year anniversary jewelry item now. *s*

This one is so lovely - and simple - I would've been tempted to buy it, even though I don't *need* another sapphire ring.

Alikat · Kate Spade

To get the best quality sapphire, a lot of people buy loose sapphires and have them set in jewelry - so you can set a sapphire in a ring or necklace, whatever you like at a local jeweler - who normally show everything with a cz (so obviously even for a diamond it would have to be reset).

There are some great online gemstone sellers, here is a list of reputable online sellers: http://www.pricescope.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=15998&pageNo=1&num=30

www.diamondscaasi.com also has some nice pre-set pieces:

this is a Padparadscha Sapphire

I found a lot of this info from pricescope forum about jewelry in my hunt for a gemstone e-ring(this is a link ot their colored gemstones discussion) - they are really nic so you might want to post this question there: http://www.pricescope.com/idealbb/forum.asp?forumID=11

-- Edited by Alikat at 10:32, 2006-04-08