Desperately seeking untreated gemstones

To all cutters and gem dealers on Orchid,

I have a client who is looking for a 2ct. + natural, untreated
yellow sapphire, with a slightly greenish tint. She is also looking
for undyed oxblood coral. It is important to her that the materials
be just as they were taken from the earth.

Can anyone on this list assist her in her quest?

Doug

Douglas Zaruba
35 N. Market St.
Frederick, MD 21701
301 695-1107
@Douglas_Zaruba

Try Tim Roark, he has wonderfull corundum and is a supported of
SNAG, at all their conferences. 1401 Peach Street, #234, Atlanta, GA,
30309, 888-TIM-ROCK ( I hate those kind of numbers so here,
888-846-7625) Tim is who I would try first then Jeff Graham,
facetors.com or cabbers.com ( I never remember how to spell
facetors)

Sam Patania. Tucson

Hello Doug,

I’m sure you can find both of these items quite readily in the U.S.
although true Oxblood Coral is getting absurd prices these days here
in Canada.

I would be interested to learn if the client knows the problems
associated with natural yellow sapphire. The green is considerably
more stable than the yellow. The stones that have a strong green
will retain their yellow quite well but if the green is very pale
the yellow fades and washes out much quicker. The resultant stone is
not attractive. Fading can be prevented by avoiding daylight but it
will fade faster than a Kunzite.

In my opinion Natural yellow Sapphires, Brown Mexican Topaz,
Kunzites and any other ‘faders’ should NEVER be used in jewellery as
these are collector stones that need to be stored properly to retain
their ‘natural’ beauty.

Tony.
http://www.TheGemDoctor.com
Vancouver, B.C. CANADA

Hi Tony,

I dont consider myself a expert but being a Sri lankan Gem trader I
do handle a Lot of Sapphires How can the Color of a natural yellow
Sapphire fade ???

Sapphires are quite stable, what ever color …

In yellow Sapphires if there is a color change over time there could
be two reasons

  1. the heat treatment was not properly done.

  2. Or the treatment given to make the stone yellow was NOT Heat but
    another ( i dont want to go Into specifics )

When purchasing Yellow Sapphires As a rule always keep yellow
sapphire in the Mid day sun for 3 hours ( before purchase ) If it
changes color just return it . ( good ones are always stable )

Ahmed Shareek
Crescent Gems
Your Favorite Online gem Store

Hello Ahmed,

I don’t doubt that you have seen kilos of sapphires for every one
that I have, after all you do live on an island that’s made of gems.
I do agree that sapphire colour is generally stable and treated
stones are always so, but with yellow stones I always absolutely
ensure that the stone is treated. Our local (Vancouver, Canada) Sri
Lankan dealer fully discloses treatments.

I have only seen a few natural untreated yellow sapphires and they
were very pale with a green overtone. I was told that the colour
would improve and stabilise with treatment but care should be taken
to prevent direct sunlight until that is done. The only time I have
been involved with the sale of such a stone was when I recut to a
customers specification. The stone in question had to be guaranteed
natural untreated but the jewellers customer did not know that such
an item could fade to white. When it did fade the following law suit
was uncomfortable and iritating.

Tony.
http://www.TheGemDoctor.com
Vancouver, B.C. CANADA