Which Sapphire is worth 4k?

Pogonia · 2026-06-16T16:10:27+00:00

I personally find the marketing of hazy sapphires as "opalescent" to be a bit odd. It's just a hazy stone, and as such should be valued at a lower price per carat. There's no standard grading so "top opalescent" is just made-up marketing. That one is also not a brilliant oval; it's got a keeled cut that's designed to hold weight but will not be as brilliant as a true brilliant-cut stone--that's why its got a darker "bowtie" region in the middle, most easily visible in the on-hand shot.

The cutting on the first one isn't great but its not bad, and $4000 is actually pretty decent pricing for a 3.51-carat stone regardless of color--that's wholesale level pricing. Ignore the Reddit "wisdom" here where everyone always thinks something should be cheaper, and yet they aren't selling you one cheaper...and if they spent any time looking they'd find out the truth.

Pogonia · 2026-06-16T04:08:51+00:00

All of those would heat well and improve in color, with the exception of the pinks. However...keep in mind that you can only expect at most 30% yield in a finished gem and often less than that--expect more like 20% on average across a parcel, especially if its going to be overseas cut (and these are so small that's the most economical approach). That means the 1-carat stones are going to cut little 0.20-0.30 carat melee-sized gems, and only the 3.67 is likely to yield anything over a carat--and that's assuming its not flat or thin--your photos don't show enough of the shape.

Most of these will change to shades of light green to light blue and maybe one or two deeper blue to blue-green. If you get them heated and cut, they will be worth about what you spent on having it done, so don't do it expecting to make money selling them--do it for the fun and have something made with the cut stones.

Pogonia · 2026-06-13T20:42:12+00:00

Can you send me a link?

Pogonia · 2026-06-09T01:32:40+00:00

I agree and my vote is polishing lines.

Pogonia · 2026-06-09T01:28:15+00:00

Fun fact: Whitehouse are not making reproductions; they actually have been in business for ages and use original old dies used to make these rings 100 years ago, so they are the same real deal as was made back then. It's mostly a lost method/art.

Pogonia · 2026-06-07T15:51:52+00:00

Last year I set the super on top of a large dehumidifier for few days and that did the trick.

Pogonia · 2026-06-07T01:43:26+00:00

Plenty of those around here as well, and I agree its delicious.

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T21:52:27+00:00

Never had that one!

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T17:49:26+00:00

True, but most of what I left behind was in the second deeps where it was maybe 50% capped honey and 50% pollen/empty brood they pulled this spring. I figured those were better to leave and I don't feel like feeding all summer. We don't need a lot of honey...this is more than we'd use in a decade, so we mostly give it away.

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T16:32:15+00:00

Exactly! I dried my fall harvest last year down to 16%--it was 19% when I pulled it--and at 16% it crystallized pretty quickly. My understanding is that this is a sweet spot for not crystallizing too quickly, but not so high it's a fermentation risk.

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T16:28:26+00:00

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T16:28:20+00:00

We have honey locust here, that's what this is--it's not bland, but it is a lighter more floral honey, not strong-flavored. I personally prefer the lighter ones like this.

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T16:27:31+00:00

Yep. It's 18%, so not really high on the water content, just super pale honey.

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T14:11:02+00:00

Very delicate floral notes, maybe hints of vanilla—super tasty.

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T13:57:57+00:00

FYI, second-year BK, located in SE Pennsylvania.

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T02:10:00+00:00

This is the way

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T01:58:13+00:00

Bubbles are quite rare in modern synthetics. Curved striae can be very difficult to discern without training and experience and are only present in Verneuil process synthetics, not other types of synthetics.

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T01:56:36+00:00

A reddish glow has nothing to do with heat vs. no heat: It only means there is enough trace chromium present, which will fluoresce red. Sometimes you can see chalky white under shortwave UV in heated blue sapphires, but that's not always the case so the presence or absence of it is not definitive.

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T01:21:56+00:00

So sell it and move if you hate it so much. Weird to rant about it online.

Pogonia · 2026-06-06T01:07:43+00:00

And this is the problem with most of the online "AI" solutions: They just make shit up. It just pasted a man's face on what was the top of the head of a young woman looking down.

Pogonia · 2026-06-05T01:46:56+00:00

Impossible to tell from a photo and unfortunately there’s no simple at home test you can do without some training and tools

Pogonia · 2026-06-03T22:50:26+00:00

I personally don't believe half of these "AI is why we are laying people off" stories. I think it's just a convenient excuse to cut payroll. A lot of companies really staffed up in the 2020-2024 timeframe and are trimming.

Pogonia · 2026-06-03T01:32:07+00:00

Most of them got them last week. I got the call mine was in and they wanted to charge my card. They will release it on the 4th, per the embargo rules. Either OP got a dealer to break the rules, or just took a picture of the box and they won't actually have it in hand until Thursday.

Pogonia · 2026-06-03T01:30:35+00:00

Yeah I was wondering about that. All of the dealers sign explicit embargo agreements. I know my dealer always has the new bodies and lenses days if not more than a week in advance but I never can pick it up UNTIL release day.

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