[Jewelry making - Article 00044] - Re: [Orchid] White sapphire value

[leonid surpin]

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>     the majority of "white" sapphires are actually somewhat tinted
>     when found--usually kind of a vanilla flavor or a very, very light
>     blue. but, according to the miners, cutters and dealers i work with
>     in ratnapura and colombo, these tinted whites can be burned to
>     remove the tint, yielding really white "white" sapphires...and
>     that's what happens.. 

    If light colour zones are banded, which is a very common condition
    for the sapphires, the heat treatment ( burning) can disperse the
    chromophore throughout the stone and create even lighter but evenly
    coloured stone. But again this is not a white sapphire. 

>     so when someone offers a white sapphire that is actually white and
>     not slightly tinted and that stone has a gia lab report stating
>     "no indications of thermal enhancement", i have to think it's a
>     stone with some value. 

    GIA reports should never be taken as proof of value. An examiner
    issuing report simply stating the fact. Just because I can produce a
    document that water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit does not make my
    water more valuable than other water available without such
    certificate. 

>     even burned whites aren't cheap in sri lanka. so, i'm not sure how
>     you've formed your opinions about value of white sapphires. 

    Let's not confuse price with value. There may be a market conditions
    where price of certain commodity increases, but that does not mean
    that commodity is valuable, it simply means that there is a demand
    for it. When I advice my customers on gemstone purchase, I base my
    opinion on true rarity of the gemstone. By true rarity I mean that
    geological conditions, which are required for the gemstone to form,
    are rare and unusual events. Formation of the white sapphire is not
    such an event. 

    Let me illustrate what can happen if market price is mistaken for
    the value. 

    Among american numismatists, a holy grail of any collector was always
    the pioneer gold coinage, which is coins and bars issued by private
    mints during California gold rush. Whenever an item would come for an
    action, the prices were astronomical. The reason been that there were
    very few available, but demand was high. However, the underlying
    conditions did not justify those prices, because records from that
    period indicated that a large number of such coins and bars were
    issued. Problem was that not many survived. But then SS Central
    America was found and it was SS Central America that was carrying
    the millions in California Gold. It sank in 1857 and that even
    created a market conditions which commanded super high prices for the
    California coinage. Next day the ship was found, the prices for the
    pioneer gold collapsed. The supply is still tightly controlled,
    because they do not want to flood the market, but no matter, since
    any knowledgeable collector knows that at present there are
    plentiful supply of these collectibles. 

Leonid Surpin.
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