I bought a beautiful 1 1/2 ct. t.w. emerald-cut aquamarine and diamonds ring a few months ago. I decided to replace the aquamarine gemstone with a sapphire at my local jewelry store; the owners have been in business for a long time and have excellent customer ratings. A natural sapphire would cost a lot more than I would want to spend on this ring, so I picked a lab-created gem. The jeweler told me that the cost would be about $400 plus labor. My question is, how do I know I’m paying the right price for this gem? He had some brilliant-cut sapphires on display and asked me to point which one (color) I preferred, so I haven’t actually seen the gem to replace the aquamarine. I left the ring and a down payment with the guy. What if I don’t like the ring? Can I dispute the results? Or is this one of those "this is what you asked for, all sales are final" situations where I just have to pay and move on? I don’t want to question whether he really knows what kind of gem I’m looking for, but an emerald-cut, I assume, will be a different shade from the brilliant-cut samples I saw. I just don’t want to end up with a dull, cheaper-looking gem on my ring.
The brilliant cut would have much more light refractory capabilities than an emerald cut. Last time I checked, brilliant cuts were only done in round stones but that may be different now. An emerald cut is generally rectangular. If you chose the shade while looking at brilliant cut stones, but your stone will be emerald cut, you may be dissapointed. While the actual "shade" can be the same, the luster and sparkle will not be. Your emerald cut will have a little less pizzaz than the brilliant cut ones. I, personally, do not think $400 is a fair price for a lab created stone (and mounting) but jewelry stores are always going to cost more than online sources for loose gemstones. Multicolour dotcom and JTV dotcom are two that are very reputable and have never sold me any fakes. Ebay is not a good place to look….trust me. As far as disputing the results, that would be between you and your jeweler. You could use the argument that he showed you BRILLIANT cut stones instead of emerald cut ones so you were unable to accurately judge the shade and luster of your stone. I hope you end up loving it though so you wont have to dispute it!
December 23rd, 2009 at 6:33 am
An emerald cut gem is one that is square. It does not refer to color or brilliance, but to shape.
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December 23rd, 2009 at 7:20 am
The brilliant cut would have much more light refractory capabilities than an emerald cut. Last time I checked, brilliant cuts were only done in round stones but that may be different now. An emerald cut is generally rectangular. If you chose the shade while looking at brilliant cut stones, but your stone will be emerald cut, you may be dissapointed. While the actual "shade" can be the same, the luster and sparkle will not be. Your emerald cut will have a little less pizzaz than the brilliant cut ones. I, personally, do not think $400 is a fair price for a lab created stone (and mounting) but jewelry stores are always going to cost more than online sources for loose gemstones. Multicolour dotcom and JTV dotcom are two that are very reputable and have never sold me any fakes. Ebay is not a good place to look….trust me. As far as disputing the results, that would be between you and your jeweler. You could use the argument that he showed you BRILLIANT cut stones instead of emerald cut ones so you were unable to accurately judge the shade and luster of your stone. I hope you end up loving it though so you wont have to dispute it!
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