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Mine were originally from Tiffany's (and were passed down to me by my mother) - she went there because she liked that they do inquire as to ethical sourcing (for instance, they do not offer rubies due to the situation in Burma) and...they were pretty! I am OBSESSED with them - I have 2, each natural and .75 carat, and they are flawless in a ...um, high? setting (I didn't pick out my ring, so I have no idea what all the right terms are!) - which gives them an amazing color.
Good luck with your search, can't wait to see what you find!
Thank you! I wish I could have a higher setting, but being clumsy me, I'd probably poke myself in the eye haha!
Although my sapphire is yellow, we just used the jeweler who was doing my setting (on Etsy) and we went through about 17 stones before deciding on the perfect one.
If you just want a company to buy it from, check out the natural sapphire company.
Thank you! I've been looking through NSC's inventory.
With Etsy, did you select your sapphire using pictures? If so, did the pictures compare well with the real thing? I've heard that sapphires don't photograph well.
DH went to the gem and jewlery store when it came through Houston. He was able to inspect them in person and get close to wholesale prices
Did you mean this? http://www.intergem.com/
There aren't any shows coming up soon, but maybe I can convince my SO to take a road trip with me.
Thank you!
@yumiyumi: We definitely only used pictures. The jeweler we used is LaurieSarah Designs on Etsy. They don't photograph that well, as they look better in person.
It's always better to have the stone at least sitting in the setting to get the full look of how it would be, which is what she would do. When she showed us pictures without it in the setting, it would look a little lighter than what it actually was.
Here's a better closeup of my ring:
@yumiyumi: I believe that's the one, it sounds right at least
DH bought my ring at an independent jeweler. He went in to look and saw and ring he really liked. It had a diamond in it so he asked the jeweler if they could replace the diamond with a blue sapphire. I'm assuming they had the sapphire in the store then because he bought the ring (with the stone info) then and there. It did take a week for them to change out the stone.
FH has a jeweler in the family(mom's cousin), so we were lucky enough to have him make our rings. He suggested sapphire as the next best choice as it's hardness is only one level down from a diamond. I also gave him another challenge - It had to be orange. it took him I think about a month to find some for us to choose from. (I think it took that long was because orange is harder to find, since most people go with blue) Anyways, he had brought 3 over for us to look at and I ended up choosing a pear cut as it made the stone shine more. The other 2 were another pear cut and a round cut. The round cut one looked really dull even though its carat size was bigger than the rest(the cut was not the best for the stone). We chose a design from some books he brought with him.
I would say you should look at stones in person if you can, it makes a huge difference.
but enough words, here's a pic of my ring:
as people have mentioned in previous post, pics don't do it justice.
None of the sapphires we saw in the stores around us had the look we wanted. He chose a jeweler and then got in contact with someone in NYC's diamond district. It's really amazing how they do business. They will insure the gem and ship it to you so you can inspect it. Then if you want it, you keep it and buy it. Then you can take it to get set. I never knew they could do all this. We had a little setback when the original sapphire got stolen in the mail, but it was covered by insurance and they sent us something equally as breathtaking. Also, before he proposed he heard about a practice they do in India. Apparently there the sapphire is like the diamond here. Everyone gets a sapphire e-ring. BUT the sapphire chooses its owner. So the man has to put the stone under the woman's pillow while she's sleeping and if she reports any bad dreams, that stone is not for her. He told me I slept on it for 3 nights and I didn't know. Thankfully I didn't have any nightmares and we were good to go. Make sure your FI knows about this one. :)
You should also check out the colored stone forums at pricescope.com and betterthandiamond.com. Search the archives. There's a lot of information and people reviewing different sellers. FWIW, the consensus over there seems to be that the Natural Sapphire Company is overpriced. I'd tend to agree with that.
Also, check out betterthandiamond's lab sapphires. I JUST returned one of their pink sapphires. It was an absolutely gorgeous stone - incredibly sparkly, intensely colored, and just beautiful. Unfortunately I really wanted more of a peach color I decided but I was quite sad to return it anyway. I'd bet their blues are just as breathtaking. And I think they have a couple different colors:
http://betterthandiamond.com/categories/-Avarra-Lab-Grown-Sapphire/
I don't have any personal experiences, but Brilliant Earth sells sapphires. They're a jeweler based in San Francisco that only sells ethically sourced stones. They ship rings fully insured and have a 30 day return policy. My SO and I are going to get my engagement ring from them, and I was seriously considering getting a sapphire (still playing with the idea). I've seen some pictures online and they look stunning.
My boyfriend bought my sapphire from Natural Sapphire Company online. He got it while it was on sale.
We went ring shopping to numerous places and you can tell the difference between the quality of my stone and the ones that many stores had in stock. Their's all looked fake in comparison - even if they wern't.
All the jewelers that we saw couldn't stop complementing the sapphire.
He did a good job.
I'm still waiting though, and I no longer have the stone to post a picture of it. If you look in my profile I posted maybe 4 or 5 months ago a picture of it in several different settings. Maybe when I eventually get my ring I'll post back on here. Hopefully it's soon!
I happened to find the link that I saved. So here's my precious! Its just a beautiful in person. It was EVERYTHING I wanted - cobalt blue color w/ slight color change, natural, 1 ct., cushion, and perfect clarity.
http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Sapphires/Unique/U3271/Cushion/stoneid=U3271
I'll definitely go try out some of the independent jewelers in my area soon. Thanks!
@ aznmouse:
So pretty! I didn't even know sapphires came in that color. My BFF would love one! (I'll throw some hints her husband's way!)
I'll find a way to mention that story to my SO 
Thank you!
I've been eyeballing BTD's sapphires for a while, but I wasn't too sure yet. Thank you very much!
I'll check them out! Thank you!
Thanks! So many of NSC's sapphires look so gorgeous!
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Hello fellow Bees!
(Sorry if these questions have been answered elsewhere. My search skills aren't very good.)
Where did you buy your sapphires or sapphire rings? A brick and mortar store or somewhere online? Were you happy with your purchase, the price, and your experience with their customer service?
I'm open to both natural and lab sapphires; I just love blue! I'll be going into a few jewelry stores soon to see if I prefer the flawless look or a stone with more silk in it, so I'm still a little bit on the fence with that one.