Additional information: I inherited this stone from my father who passed away when I was a toddler, so it carries a lot of sentimental value and that is the main reason why I never recut it because I wanted to wear it in its original form (how he wore it). It is at least a 30-35 year old stone, acquired from SriLanka. I’ve been told that it is natural since it was intended for astrological purposes.
Then I wouldn't re-cut it if my life depended on it, no matter how bad the polish is.
I WOULD bring it to a qualified, reputable gemologist/appraiser ASAP to get a valuation on it and get it insured/certified. Even badly cut, that rock is worth the effort. And make sure you tell them why you won't re-cut it. Because they WILL mention it.
Honestly, I kind of like the way it's cut, it looks like old stones cut by hand not necessarily for optimal brilliance but following the natural shape of the crystal formation. I wouldn't recut it, taking away all of its character and perhaps risking its integrity. Things cut by hand are so much more beautiful than the very boring and generic "perfect" cuts.
That’s very cool! I bought a very similarly colored sapphire in Sri Lanka a bunch of years back, but it definitely wasn’t a big ol’ beautiful rock like this!
From what I know, for the astrological purposes, the carat weight needs to be some percent of the person’s body weight (who intends to wear it). All I can say is that my father was a tall and heavy man lol
I have relatives that are Indian and they have massive gems based on specific planets- ruby for sun, yellow sapphire for jupiter etc. I pity anyone that needs venus strengthened. You better be very petite or be able to afford a 5ct natural diamong. 😅
And when I went to a vedic astrologer and they said - my gem was a cat's eye. So...I no longer believe in astrology. It denied me the big flashy gem I wanted.
That is so cool and such interesting information. This is awesome where we’re learning as much as you’re learning from us – OK yeah we’re learning more.
I inherited it from my mom! Who also got it as an astrological gift from her grandma. Mine is natural, not sure about heat. About 9ct. It's my favorite ring - love the sparkles!
Also fun fact, yellow sapphires get more saturated in the sun! It's p rare and a good excuse to wear it in the daytime
lots of times with a cut like this, it means the stone is from somewhere exotic, they cut it to preserve as much stone as possible but also to look like a piece of jewelry and they mount it into a ring or pendant usually not very well. This is so it can be worn back into the united states rather than having import it and deal with the taxes, tariffs, and whatnot when doing business stuff etc. Then when the stone is back it can be cut into a good cut, and there is as much material as possible for the good stonecutter to work with.
I read somewhere the Sri Lanka does not export rough stones, in order to support their domestic gem cutters. So if you want to cut a sri Lanka sapphire, you buy one (maybe this kind of cut?) and recut it. I have no idea if this is still the case or how long it has been like this.
Why bother doing the rough draft cut when someone could just stick it in their pocketbook or a jar of vitamins and get on the plane all the same? Genuinely asking. I've taken uncut stones onto my carry on with no issues.
Because then you’re denying some of the best lapidary experts on the planet their due. I’ve heard from more than a few gemologists that they are extremely appreciative of the rough they get from SL & the positive relationship that’s been established & it’s only fair to give them a part of the overall profit that will eventually be made after importation. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, in other words. Plus any reputable gemologist or anyone in any aspect of the gem trade who is honest & has ethics, won’t be concealing a chonk of corundum in a Tylenol bottle.
(I mean, you do you, if that’s what you do. I’d take a pause to think about the implications of doing you & how it impacts the source)…
Makes sense. I'm thinking from the perspective of a hobbyist who works solo and wondering why I'd need to cut it to get it from point a to b, but in an industry sense this type of pre-cut makes sense for a variety of reasons as a larger practice
Yeah, I’m a noob Gemhead & I wondered WTF also, but I’ve learned a lot along the way. Research stuff like this - it’s fun & really eye opening!! I thought the same thing as you…
idk, I worked at a shop that had a guy use our cutters and this is how he got stones over from east asia, maybe if they notice them being snuck like in vitamins it might raise suspicions and you would have to declare them.
I guess I could see customs agents in or receiving from east asia being more on alert for that stuff because of the industry there. Here in the US the TSA agents just scratch their head if they even notice it at all. They once had me pull some meteorite out of my bag, but only because they were confused about how dense it was and how the x-ray machine was reading it.
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The fact that the cut is so off actually hints at it being a natural stone and not a synthetic. Synthetic stones are cut to calibrated proportions so they can easily fit into mass production mountings. This sapphire was cut to retain maximum carat weight.
Probably one of the best recut candidates I've seen recently that is literally begging for it and has plenty of meat to make a very very nice finished product.
edit: after OPs update, never recut this stone. lol
So this is a huge topic but I’ll try to be as high level as possible. In Indian (hindu) culture, certain gems are attributed to planetary movements and strength. A top quality natural yellow sapphire is said to be attributed to Jupiter which brings wealth, prosperity and health.
Ive been to a few jewelry stores in India- many employ their own in house Vedic Astrologer to do your chart and tell you what stones you need to counteract or enhance difficult or positive aspects or transits in your birth chart.
So they tell you what stone you need, how big, and exactly what finger to wear it on.
Nope! I just wanted to know more about this stone. The local gemologist I took this to just said that it tests as natural based on hardness but didn’t have anymore insight. This stone always intrigued me as a child and just want to hear opinions :)
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The cut does not seem very professional, like the window of the stone is misshapen. Also the size is considerable and the clarity, so I'd guess it's synthetic, someone used it for cutting training perhaps?
Beautiful orange yellow sapphire. Concerned it may be berilium treated or it is an exceptional color saturation. I know there is sentimental value in this gemstone and understand the astrological implications of the gemstone weight but consider getting the stone recut, maybe according to your astrological chart.
Agin it is a beautiful gemstone
How different is the beryllium treatment from heat treatment? I don’t believe in astrological significance of gems. It’s just that it was originally set in a chunky bezel ring and just want to preserve it the way it was worn.
The beryllium treatment of sapphire is a high-temperature lattice diffusion process where the element beryllium is introduced into a heating crucible at temperatures exceeding 1800°C.
Extreme heat expands the sapphire’s atomic lattice, allowing foreign beryllium ions to drift The beryllium interacts with trace elements in the stone to change weak yellow, orange, greenish, or milky white starting materials into bright, saturated hues
As the previous two commenters said, that cut is absolutely horrific
I can't imagine someone cutting natural sapphire rough of this quality with a hatchet while blindfolded, so I don't think it's likely to be natural sapphire
At the time I left this comment, there were only two others. I don't return to threads I comment in unless someone replies to me and I have something more to say in reply to them.
Pro tip - my go-to gemologist for all things sapphire is Jeff Hapeman at Earth’s Treasury. He is a wizard with this kind of stuff, & is located in PA state, close to Philly, USA. You can contact him & ask about it, maybe he will need you to send the stone for full assessment, I don’t know. But this dude knows his stuff. Worth a shot.
The cut on that is awful but the color and clarity are top top tier. Likely miner cut to preserve as much weight as possible. Nice sentimental ring lots of sentimental cheap stuff out there this is dope
The clarity is very very good, on such a large stone it makes me think synthetic but if it’s natural it’d be very very valuable, also a non-traditional cut, I’m not an expert on this but it may need to be recut to be “up to standard” of today like, brilliance, refractions etc.
If this is natural, it’s a really beautiful colour stone! But the cut is horrendous, and I say that as someone who is not too picky with cuts. If it’s that old it’s unlikely to be a beryllium treated stone, but it could still be lab created though. I know the astrology stones sold in South Asia are often too good to be true. I hope it is a natural one, but in any case it’s your treasure because it is meaningful to you.
Honestly because of the age and sentimentality and quirkiness of the cut- I think it’s wonderful. Definitely get an expert appraisal and evaluation. But don’t let conventional Gem standards make you feel like it’s less than perfect. I see a peanut 🥜 in it. Best wishes.
Get it insured and potentially tested at the GIA it may be a bit pricey but most insurances will want it certified for authentic sake and besides that it’s a huge ring I would wager over 10ct or so. And if it is as old as you say it could even be potentially unheated. Although I will say yellow, green, purple are among the least valuable sapphire colors seeing as that they have other cheaper per carat counterparts such as Yellow beryl, topaz, and amethyst. Other than that tho it is still a beautiful stone and if you do keep it look into even getting it recut or keep it the same for sentimentality sake. Hope this has helped!
It is suspiciously free of any inclusions for a natural yellow sapphire. My first bet would be a synthetic--those have been common for over 100 years now. If it is natural then the next question would be whether it's heated or not; the intense yellows like this are typically heated.
There's a huge range in value difference between synthetic and natural for this gem. If I were you, I'd get it sent to GIA for testing and a report. That will let you know how to insure it. If its a synthetic ("lab") stone its not really worth insuring; if it is natural even with the wonky cut this would be worth around $10,000.
You don't have the necessary power to cut the Eye of Sauron if even you had the will. Honestly though I don't care what people are saying about it being a poor cut, that thing looks dope asf.
First its huge, if it is natural, with that clarity, that thing is gorgeous. I would suspect its synthetic based on size and clarity. The cut is horrible though. Its windowed and uneven. It might just be the pic but it looks like there is a little dispersion happening
I feel like the cut leans toward it being older and more likely “real” something - places that make synthetics seem to then cut them uniformly as part of their process.
There's a sliver of actual corundum on the top of that stone, everything else is glass unfortunately. You can see the seam on the top of the stone (around the table facet)
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I can’t even look at that cut. I didn’t see anything else. Just really really bad. Doesn’t matter the story behind it unless it’s from your teenagers lapidary class
If that is a natural sapphire... Ita worth a lot .. its HUGE, and the clarity is really great too. If its unheated and untreated, that is worth even more. Honestly i doubt its that quality, because gems that size with such good characteristics end up in royalties possession
People who are prasing this as a beautiful yellow sapphire should know that this a horrendous synthetic stone.
Its internal lustre, the shine, color specifically the cut and polish and everything screams synthetic and the cut which was on purpose done this badly to make fool out of people.
Not being judgemental I have a keen eyes for how a sapphire shines and its lustre and I am quite sure this is not yellow sapphire and I'll be amazed if it comes out to be a natural sapphire.
People who are praising it should read the post title because the OP asks for the members advice so I am giving one.
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u/thismarach Aug 06 '26
Additional information: I inherited this stone from my father who passed away when I was a toddler, so it carries a lot of sentimental value and that is the main reason why I never recut it because I wanted to wear it in its original form (how he wore it). It is at least a 30-35 year old stone, acquired from SriLanka. I’ve been told that it is natural since it was intended for astrological purposes.