About Sapphire

Hi Everyone,
My name is Tina and I’m originally from Vietnam. I live in Seattle now.
Recently my dad gave me a big beautiful Vietnamese blue sapphire stone, however, i have no understanding about it.
Please help me out here.
I’d like to sell the stone but i have no idea how much it worth, i have certificate for it but i’m not sure if the State accept it. What is the tax for bringing it in the Us?
The pictures of the stone is below .
Please take a look and help me out.
Thank you very much! :blush:

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It looks like a faceted untreated cabochon, seeing as the description on the cert says opaque with no treatments. I could be offbase though as I’m fairly new to gemology. Your best bet would be to take it to an appraiser to look it over.

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This could be a fairly special stone, the cutting on the crown looks good the cutting on the pavilion leaves a lot to be desired. The stone has been cut for weight not light transmission, this is confirmed by the overall weight of the stone at 58.96ct. An Oval cut sapphire based on these dimensions and optimal cutting angles should weigh around 49ct.

Because the angles on the pavilion are wrong, the light ‘leaks’ out the back and is not reflected back through the stone, this creates a ‘dead’ stone which unfortunately is what you have.

If you get this re-cut by an experienced sapphire cutter, the weight will drop but the potential of having a significant increase in value is very high.

Dark stones will always be dark, heat treatment might help depending on the temperature range the stone is heated to, but it is not something I would do with this stone, it has character which might be lost during heating.

Personally, the only thing this stone has going for it is its size, once expertly re-cut the whole story changes.

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If you live in the Seattle area you could have it appraised at Northwest gemological laboratory he does appraisals and I’ve taken gemology class from him super nice guy. Ted Irwin is the owner

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Hi Tina…
Vietnamese blue sapphires can be really beautiful. Sapphires are priced on the color saturation (best being royal blues); the clarity (VVS is best); the treatment (no heat/other treatment commands the highest prices - but any other treatment, i.e., beryllium, will severely negatively impact the value. Heat is acceptable treatment); size of the gemstone; cut (is it well cut, i.e., no window); scintillation (sparkle). For an accurate appraisal, I would find a certified GG (Graduate Gemologist of the GIA). Import duties in the USA start after something is worth $750. or more. I would recommend DHL as your shipping carrier.

Hello Tina,
Your sapphire is exceptional. However, you might consider renewing its report, sending it to a laboratory to get an international report and up to date :). You have the SSEF in Switzerland which is a well known and trusted lab, and the GIA in the USA.

As a graduate FGA gemologist myself, I do not recommend you to send it to an individual gemologist since you need to be sure of its origin and other features. in certain circumstances, they have to be found by advanced equipments that only labs owns. It’s especially the case for sapphires. It will have also more value from a lab report, but that’s my personal opinion.

As a professional gem cutter too, I would advise you to not recut it AT ALL, the pavilion appears blurry on the photo so it is difficult to judge but it seems excellent. As well as the polish. I’m telling you this only based one the photos, of course my opinion on the cut could be reconsidered if we see it under other lightning conditions.

But seen like that, it shouldn’t be modified :blush:

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First the good news. There are no import duties of gemstones into the U.S. Of course it is impossible to evaluate the resell value of a gem without examining it in person, but from what I can see the, “opaque” listing will not give it much monetary value. You might end up paying more for an appraisal than the stone is worth. Since it was a gift from your Father, the sentimental value of the gem may be worth more to you.

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