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Color
Blue is a
color beloved by many. Our passion for
blue that has resulted in a sapphire collection that
spans a wide range of blue tones, from our light pastel
Sweden Princess blues to the rich and velvety Royal Blue
sapphires. Whatever your favorite blue, we have the
shade you will love.
To the
left is a tone scale for degrees of lightness &
darkness. Rather than absolute starting and stopping
points, the color groups overlap
and can blend into one another.
We select
loose sapphires individually and build a piece of jewelry around the
gem. We choose sapphires that range in tone
from Sweden Princess blue to Commodore blue.
The shade of
navy to many people appears too dark. Our simple test is
to hold a sapphire at arms length under normal lighting
conditions. If it’s difficult to see the blue then it’s
too dark. (these darker gems are very
common in many stores)
Cut
After color
cutting is the most important factor in a colored gem.
When discussing cut we are not talking about shape
(round, oval, etc.), but rather the proportions and
angles of a gems facets. Precision cutting brings a
sapphire to life. A Royal Blue sapphire poorly cut
could be far less valuable than a Prince of Wales
sapphire with an excellent cut. We take great care when
selecting sapphires because cutting is important. Our cut
grade is determined by the brightness and evenness of
the gems brilliance. The cut scale is as follows for all
faceted gems:
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Excellent
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Very Good
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Good
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Fair
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Poor
The
“Cut Grade” will appear in parentheses after the color
designation of the sapphire. Example: Royal Blue
(Excellent) would indicate a wonderful medium to medium
dark blue with extraordinary brilliance that’s evenly
distributed throughout the gem. Cross only selects sapphires
that are Excellent to Good in terms of cut.
If you see a
design that you like, but would prefer a different shade
of blue
in the sapphire we would be happy to work with you to
achieve a ring you'll love.
Sapphire is
the second hardest gem after diamond and has long been a popular
alternative
choice for engagement rings.
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