Need jewelry advice! ... Questions about sapphires, diamonds & platinum...

[Hooobi]

I'm thinking about finally getting the gf some jewelry this christmas and have been eyeing a certain pendant. It is star-shaped with diamonds around the outside and a sapphire (her birthstone) in the center.

The sapphire is described as being about 1/3 carat, deep blue and 4mm (it is round). Wouldn't this make for an awefully thin stone? Does that matter?

Also the diamonds are described as round and eight of them total about 1/4 carat, does this mean they are just "shards". Basically, since I'll be spending a bit of money on this and don't really know anything about jewelry, I want to make sure I'm not getting her junk.

The stones are mounted in platinum. Are there different grades of platinum like there are with gold? Is there anything I should ask about the platinum or is it all the same?

Any thoughts appreciated....

Thanks,
H

 

[koolhand]

I don't profess to be an expert on jewelry... but bought a pearl ring about 1-2 yrs ago and a diamond ring recently for my GF.

What store are you getting the jewelry from? Is it a jewelry store or the jewelry dept of a department store?
I would stay away from the Kmart, Walmart, JCPenny, ie department stores... sometimes you get what you paid for (cheap stuff
for cheap) and other time you pay too much for crappy stuff...

When you say the sapphire is 4mm, and refer to it as "thin", I think the 4 mm refers to the diameter, not the thickness of
the stone... at least that's true for diamond, when someone says 4 mm stone (diamond), they mean diameter.

How much money are we talking about here?

For diamond, if they are that small, you would probably not see the flaws in them, unless looking under a 10-20x magnifying glass.
I would inquire about the clarity of the diamond if you're concern. At least for diamond engagement ring, clarity & cut are important. Dunno if they would have this info for such small stones.

Platinum jewelry tend to be expensive. Again, my experience is related to platinum rings. Platinum usually comes in 2 flavors, either 95% platinum (the other 5% is usually iridium) or 90% platinum (10% iridium). I've been told that it's actually better to have 90% platinum because 95% platinum is harder and more brittle.

 

[Hooobi]

koolhand: thanks for the advice.

I realize that 4mm isn't the thickness, I believe it's the diameter. I was just concerned that a stone having a 4mm diameter and being only 1/3 carat would be really thin.

As far as how much $$, it's going to run me around $400 if I go with this pendant... that's supposed to be a deeply discounted price with a claimed MSRP of around $2000.

So do cut, clarity & color apply to sapphires as well? Also, anyone know the difference between a "ceylon" sapphire & a regular one?

 

[John]

If you want sound advice from a jewely expert, send an emaill to Jeremy and he will take care of you.