PERSONAL & UNIQUE 

Your engagement ring should be personal and unique, even down to choosing the perfect Sapphire.
There are four main ways to grade Sapphires, similar to Diamonds, which help you determine the right one.

1. Colour
2. Clarity
3. Cut
4. Carat Weight

But unlike Diamonds, where all four components are used to determine quality and price, one of the 4C’s may be more important in your choice  for the perfect stone for you.

COLOUR – Hue, Saturation & Tone

When talking  colour in Sapphires, there are three things we refer to:

Hue is a description of colour.
Sapphires  may have a singular colour or a combination of hues as secondary colours within the stone.
A great example are Australian Teal sapphires that are Greenish-blue (more green) or Blueish-green (more blue). The primary colour will always start with a capital letter and be listed first.

Saturation is the amount of colour present in the gem. We use words like Vivid, Very Strong and Moderate as a way of describing saturation in Sapphires. This will have the most effect on the final price of the Stone.

Tone depicts how light or dark the stone colour is. This can heavily influence the value of each individual stone as well. Too dark and the stone will have no brilliance, too light and the stone can look washed out. The optimal tone is medium to medium dark.

Hint: More expensive sapphires will have a Vivid to Very Strong saturation with medium to dark tone.

1.50ct-peacock-blue-heart-shape-sapphire-brisbane-bentley-de-lisle
1.58ct-peach-radiant-cut-sapphire-bentley-de-lisle

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CLARITY – How included is your Sapphire?

Sapphires start to form as corundum crystals deep within the Earth’s crust. As the magma from igneous rock slowly cools and solidifies, these formations cool under different environmental conditions.

Very specific conditions will determine the clarity, size, and colour of each unique crystal.
Unlike Diamonds where lack of inclusions determines their value, all Sapphires will have their unique fingerprint (inclusions) to determine their value.
It is only when these inclusions affect their appearance, that the value can go down.

Hint: The optimal clarity for evaluating Sapphires is “eye clean” (no inclusion visible to the naked eye).

CUT – What is Ideal? 

Each piece of rough Sapphire can be transformed with the faceting style that may best suit to give the ideal proportion and polish.

This could make or break the overall symmetry (proportions) of each Sapphire.
In the hands of a highly-skilled cutter, they can assess each Sapphire rough on their merits by removing unwanted inclusions and choosing the ideal shape to suit each unique piece for the ultimate brilliance.

Hint: We have listed our 5 most popular cuts of gemstones we source for customers in the linked Instagram video.

CARAT WEIGHT

This is the physical weight given to gemstones and Diamonds.
Carat weight in Sapphires will have an exponential effect on price.
Where’s smaller pieces are more readily available, larger Sapphires in the 2 to 5 carat range are much rarer and priced accordingly.
Large gems in the 5 carat plus range are extremely rare and expensive. Some colours like Padparadscha in the 5 carat + range can be worth upwards of $100,000 . 

STILL NOT SURE?

Get in contact anytime for an obligation free appointment with me (online or in person) and I would love to help you find the perfect Sapphire for your new custom ring.

David-Director-Bentley-De-Lisle

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Testimonials

Our customers love

“She loved it”

I just wanted to say a big thanks to you both for all the help in designing and creating the perfect ring. She really loved it, especially the local Australian vibe to it.

Adam

“Flawless”

I couldn’t be happier with the service and final result! From when I walked into the door until the ring was ready for pick up, the process was smooth and flawless. The craftsmanship was amazing as well. Highly recommended!! “

Josh

“Wonderful”

Hi David and team, just wanted to say thank you again for my beautiful ring. It has been on my finger for a week now and I love it. The parti stone you worked so hard to find for me is perfect. It fits beautifully and feels wonderful on. Thank you again.

Kylie and Robert