Weddingbee boards

Hi there! Sapphire erings are the way to go in my opinion! There are so many reasons for the varying price of a sapphire. It ranges from size, clarity, color, treatment, or lack there of, natural, lab created, where it is from...and the list goes on! I did a lot of research before I got my ering and I found it to be confusing and daunting also. You will need to deterime what is most important to you in your ring. Whether you care if it is treated or untreated, whether there are visible flaws or the clarity of the color. One of your questions on whether the color will change will only be if your stone is dyed. Other wise it should stay the color that you originally purchase it as. It is slightly softer on the hardness scale compared to the diamond..coming in at a 9 instead of 10, but it is still a significantly hard stone and will hold up to day to day use. One thing that may help price wise and get a little more bang for you buck...if you're up for it..is purchasing an estate or antique ring instead of a brand new one. You can get a really pretty ring for less. Just something to consider. If you have any further questions just ask. Happy hunting!

My ring is an estate ring. It's a 4.45 carat natural oval sapphire with two .5 carat pear shaped diamonds.

My ring has an aquamarine center stone with sapphire sidestones.  Another option if going for sapphire since they've just upgraded aquamarine to "precious" versus "semiprecious" so it's on the same tier as emeralds, rubies, and sapphires.

Definitely check this website out:

http://www.pricescope.com/forum/colored-stones/

 They know everything there is to know about sapphires and other stones.  But here's basically what a lot of people there suggest:

1)  Look for the stone first.  If you go natural, sapphires will come in all sorts of proportions, shapes, and sizes, so it would be terrible to fall in love with a setting and be unable to find a stone that will fit in it. Of course, you can always pick a setting first and get a sapphire custom cut for your ring.  I've heard good things about professional gem cutters like www.precisiongem.com on pricescope, but have never purchased from him.  I think you can always contact gem cutters and ask if they have any rough sapphires that could be cut to fit your needs (both ring-wise and price-wise)

2)  Find a stone with color and clarity that you love.  Some people love the light-ish cornflower blue, some people love a dark stone.  Cornflower blue is the most expensive.  If the stone is dark and inky, it should be very cheap.  Different inclusions can definitely boost the beauty and color of your sapphire.  One type that a lot of people talk about is the "silk" of the stone.

3)  Decide what sort of treatment you would be okay with for the stone.  The great majority of sapphires (that I know of) have been heat treated to enhance the color.  Some are also beryllium (I think?) treated too, but that might compromise the stone's resilience.  When buying a natural stone, make sure that it comes with a certification from the GIA, the AGL, or other gemstone labs (so you know if the sapphire's heated, unheated, irradiated, etc).  You can purchase unheated sapphires, but that will cost $$$$. 

Personally, I'm planning on going with lab created sapphire one day to avoid all this stone-hunting hassle haha.  A true lab created sapphire (not a CZ dyed blue or any other simulant) will have all the same characteristics of a mined sapphire (hardness, color, etc) at a much, much cheaper price. A good natural sapphire can definitely cost more than a good diamond of the same size.  If you want to go with synthetic sapphires, check out all the companies and methods used to produce them.  I've heard that the Chatham brand of synthetic sapphires are the best in the business for quality (and the most expensive).

LOL sorry for the essay!

OO, me me! I have a sapphire ering, easily my favorite stone. It's a natural sapphire,  oval half carat equivalent. It's almost clear when backlit. I love it! Made by a local jeweller, the shape was unusual so the shop was pretty ready to have it off their hands. Shop around, lab created sapphires are nice but they're not as hard and I (personally) dislike how they don't have flaws. (I like things to have character). lol Also I once had a jeweller that I was learning from (learning how to make jewellery just to be clear) dump out a bag full of lab created sapphires and then said "oh just take a few, that bag cost me $5". They just hold basically no value to me. If my FI hadn't gotten the ring on his own I would have told him to just get a setting and we could have bought the stone at a gem show or from one of the jeweller exclusive on-line gem retailers. (I still think this is a good idea btw) ANYWAY, here's my ring, that I love!

(I should have cleaned it before I took this picture, oh well, c'est la vie)

oooh, i love this thread. I've been thinking about getting a sapphire with some little diamond sidestones for a while but have received so much flak for it that i stopped talking about it at all. Some of my girlfriends said it's not as good as diamond bla bla bla. I'm more concerned about the stone being ethically mined as well as the price, and I think the big hoohaa about diamonds is just a marketing gimmick by De Beers many years ago.

Anywho, love everyone's ring! i'm probably getting a sapphire one as well though I have no idea what colour or style my boyfriend would choose. He knows I'd like a sapphire and he's okay with it. as long as it makes me happy he said (and also coz I think it's a lot cheaper compared to a huge diamond ring!)

keep the pictures coming! hope i'll get to put mine up soon :)

I don't really like diamonds, so Ellie got me a sapphire; when I decided to give her a ring too, I thought it would be nice to alternate them b/c she LOVES diamonds & it would be a nice compliment in an otherwise identical ring.

Her sapphires are darker than mine because they aren't as "good" (the industry consideres clarity to be a sign of quality) but we loke the darkness better--if she'd known that a "lower quality" meant a darker stone, she's have gone the same route. We may swap out mine someday, but that's a minor concern.

Everyone has already given you great advice and I really have nothing to add, other than I LOVE the idea of a sapphire e-ring and I think you should go with it!

I have always wanted a sapphire because like others have said the meaning of the stone. In fact the meaning of the stone and my name's meaning are the same, so it was like having my name in a stone. A ring just for me! :) So here is my ring porn with 1 ct in surrounding diamonds, and 1.5 ct sapphire in platinum setting.

echapman212 yours and mine are very smilar.. we have the same taste!