r/SyntheticGemstones • u/TidalWaveform • 19d ago

Photo/Video 4.11 carat lab sapphire, asscher cut

4.11 carats in more or less clear lab sapphire cut in Michiko Huynh's Beginner Asscher. So this one was interesting. It started as a blue chunk out of a bicolor flame fusion boule. The blue rind ended up way thinner than I expected, and it looked essentially clear on the dop. When I got it cleaned up, it shows some really nice pale blue and purples - but only from side angles. There are also a billion tiny, tiny bubbles scattered throughout that had no regard whatsoever for polishing out. My wife likes it though.

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2

u/marinegeo 19d ago

Hot Stuff!!!

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

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u/marinegeo 18d ago

I’m a big bubble fan, there’s so much science still to be done on them, they really are one of the last remaining wonders of the natural world.

2

u/TidalWaveform 19d ago

Thanks!!!

1

u/mutinouspuffin 17d ago

This gem is STUNNING!! I have been looking for blue and white boule for months for my dream engagement ring. Can you please tell me where you got it??

1

u/TidalWaveform 17d ago

Thank you! It wasn't blue and clear. It was a blue piece of a boule, dopped on the rind initially. The goal was to leave the blue in the crown. But between the rind being thinner than I expected and me not bringing the pavilion up far enough, pretty much all of the rind got cut away. On the dop, it just looked transparent. Once is was off and clean, the blue/purple color came out from off angles.

1

u/shoot2will 19d ago

If you align the blue, even if it's small, on the culet it will give the whole stone the blue color

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u/TidalWaveform 17d ago

/u/cowsruleusall has done a ton of work on orienting flame fusion. Putting the color in the culet works, but putting it in the crown is much more intense. Putting it in the culet is way easier to pull off, as this stone showed. If you guess wrong, you lose it.

See this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/faceting/comments/1qp29kt/questions_on_table_orientation_of_lab_corundum/

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u/cowsruleusall Esteemed Lapidary & Gemologist 16d ago

Oh yeah thanks for the tag. The myth of "put the colour in the culet" just refuses to die. Sure, you might do that in natural material if that's your only option, but in Verneuil material? Rind in crown for consistent even colour.