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How would you define this sapphire’s colour?
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Author:  Mandira [ Fri Jun 26, 2020 9:21 am ]
Post subject:  How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

A few years back I got an unheated Tanzanian pink sapphire off Multicolour and it’s still one of my favourite stones. But I’m having trouble naming this shade (or should I say, these shades...) :)
The closest I can come is plum pink but it’s not quite that either. What do you say?

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File comment: 0.99 ct tanzania sapphire
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Author:  Barbra Voltaire, FGG [ Fri Jun 26, 2020 9:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

This is kinda close

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Author:  1bwana1 [ Sat Jun 27, 2020 3:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

Download the free GemEWizard App and learn how to properly describe color as Barbra has done.

http://www.gemeapps.com/

Author:  Mandira [ Sat Jun 27, 2020 7:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

Thanks!

Yes this was also the colour in Multicolour’s description.

I guess I’m looking more for a comparison to something, such as a fruit or morning clouds... something poetic haha :D Both plums and morning clouds do not exactly fit though...

Author:  1bwana1 [ Sat Jun 27, 2020 10:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

One of the great strides forward in Gemology was the removal of such terms as you describe from the gem business lexicon.

Author:  mowgli2001 [ Sun Jun 28, 2020 4:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

I would call it purplish-pink dragon fruit rind.
There is always a place for terms like “Royal blue”, “windex”or “electric” blue,
Fanta orange. Lotus blossom sapphire ( padparacha), Kashmir blue, sea foam green....it adds to clarity of description. Isn’t that what it is all about?
Science is for mineralogists...we are humble gemologists.
There is always someone trying to sell a new color definition terminology. I guess the more complicated we can make it the more scientific we can pretend we are....

Author:  Barbra Voltaire, FGG [ Sun Jun 28, 2020 6:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

AND, if you needed someone else to match or value the stone, not having it in hand, how far do you think purplish-pink dragon fruit rind would get you?
Quote:
There is always a place for terms like “Royal blue”, “windex”or “electric” blue,
Fanta orange. Lotus blossom sapphire ( padparacha), Kashmir blue, sea foam green....it adds to clarity of description. Isn’t that what it is all about?

IMO, these terms do not add to the clarity of the description. They actually obfuscate the description unless accompanied with standardized lexicon and graphics
.
FYI: A mineralogist does not need to describe color in order to identify a mineral and would have no need to incorporate gemological terminology.

Wiki wrote:
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization


No mention of color description. :wink:

Author:  mowgli2001 [ Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

The person who knows best the value is he/she who purchased it, in the rough preferably. Why would they need anyone else to value it? Someone who knows less about the stone, to offer an opinion?
Value is dependent on what you can get for an item: what it will sell for.
Anyone here ever worked retail????
If it cannot be described so that the average consumer, or the above average consumer, can understand the description, then all the expertise is useless and the description obfuscates understanding.
GIA still has emerald cut (not step cut rectangle) and the hated term “pink” for diamonds.... old school.

Author:  mowgli2001 [ Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

I guess a mineralogist would never use the term “ruby” ????

Author:  Mandira [ Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

1bwana1 wrote:
One of the great strides forward in Gemology was the removal of such terms as you describe from the gem business lexicon.

I guess I shouldn’t have asked on a gemology forum perhaps. I know terms such as padparadscha and pigeon-blood red are abused in the trade. Gems should always come with a scientific definition of their colour for sure. I once found a sapphire of similar colour to mine advertised as padparadscha. That’s stretching it too far!

I like the dragon fruit rind description. Without the rind part it sounds quite cool: dragon fruit sapphire :lol:

Author:  Barbra Voltaire, FGG [ Sun Jun 28, 2020 9:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

mowgli2001 wrote:
I guess a mineralogist would never use the term “ruby” ????

Not in mineralogial identification; ruby is not a term recognized by the International Mineralogical Association.
Neither is sapphire.
Both are corundum. :D

Author:  mowgli2001 [ Sun Jun 28, 2020 9:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

Well, i am more proud of bring a gemologist now, knowing that we get to identity the varieties of the “flowers of the mineral kingdom”.
A never ending fascination.

Author:  Barbra Voltaire, FGG [ Sun Jun 28, 2020 10:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

Quote:
I guess I shouldn’t have asked on a gemology forum perhaps. I know terms such as padparadscha and pigeon-blood red are abused in the trade. Gems should always come with a scientific definition of their colour for sure. I once found a sapphire of similar colour to mine advertised as padparadscha. That’s stretching it too far!


Of course you should have. Your point above is spot on.

Author:  Barbra Voltaire, FGG [ Sun Jun 28, 2020 10:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

mowgli2001 wrote:
The person who knows best the value is he/she who purchased it, in the rough preferably. Why would they need anyone else to value it? Someone who knows less about the stone, to offer an opinion?
Value is dependent on what you can get for an item: what it will sell for.

Oh my. What if you sell something and it needs replacement....in 10 years. Will you be able to do it for the same price? Will the original sources still exist? What if a client wishes to insure a piece of jewelry. Do you think an insurance company is going to accept a document with color described as dragon fruit rind?

Quote:
Anyone here ever worked retail????
35+ years. What if a customer came in wanting to replace a stone lost from a ring, and described it as a sapphire with color of dragon fruit, I would immediately open GemeWizard and determine, with the client, what the color actually was.Once the description looked like this,
Image
I could send the above info to every sapphire dealer in the world and it would be universally understood.
Quote:
If it cannot be described so that the average consumer, or the above average consumer, can understand the description, then all the expertise is useless and the description obfuscates understanding.

Today's consumers are very savvy. Don't underestimate them. The internet has leveled the playing field and made buyers informed and sophisticated enough to ask the right questions and expect and understand the right answers.

Author:  mowgli2001 [ Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How would you define this sapphire’s colour?

Color master, gem set...Now defunct, had them both.
Monitor colors vary, cut quality changes a gems look.
Appraisals should be updated 3 to five years. Gem dealers can be spoken on the phone to describe colors. Bring in three gems to choose from at least, when possible.
Nothing substitutes from having the gem in your hand.
Never can you duplicate exactly a stone that is lost.
Yes insurance companies accept an expert opinion.
It’s not that difficult.

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