Six-ray star sapphire
Back in September 2021, the owner of a bookshop that I frequented offered me this little gold stone ring.
The ring weighs 6.53 grams. In 10K yellow gold (41.7% gold, 58.3% other metals), the gold content of the ring is roughly 0.087 troy ounce. At USD $1,795 per troy ounce, the gold melt value of the ring was USD $156, or CAD $200. He made no promise that the greyish-purplish-blue stone was a real gemstone. I was not expert enough to tell by my naked eyes that it was or was not a genuine gemstone. But looking under a source of light, it appeared to show asterism (star effect), so I suspected it could be a star sapphire -- either genuine natural or a synthetic (i.e. man-made).
I took a gamble and after some bargaining, we settled on CAD $350, or the gold melt value plus CAD $150.
I only recently brought the ring to a gemologist for examination. Good news, it's a 4.50 carat genuine natural greyish-purplish blue star sapphire, with a very well-defined and very well-centred six-ray star effect.
Six-ray star sapphire
Back in September 2021, the owner of a bookshop that I frequented offered me this little gold stone ring.
The ring weighs 6.53 grams. In 10K yellow gold (41.7% gold, 58.3% other metals), the gold content of the ring is roughly 0.087 troy ounce. At USD $1,795 per troy ounce, the gold melt value of the ring was USD $156, or CAD $200. He made no promise that the greyish-purplish-blue stone was a real gemstone. I was not expert enough to tell by my naked eyes that it was or was not a genuine gemstone. But looking under a source of light, it appeared to show asterism (star effect), so I suspected it could be a star sapphire -- either genuine natural or a synthetic (i.e. man-made).
I took a gamble and after some bargaining, we settled on CAD $350, or the gold melt value plus CAD $150.
I only recently brought the ring to a gemologist for examination. Good news, it's a 4.50 carat genuine natural greyish-purplish blue star sapphire, with a very well-defined and very well-centred six-ray star effect.