Simply Sapphires

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Simply Sapphires was formed by people who love and admire gemstones. We've been online selling only natural stones since July of 1998. Here we try to answer some of the more common questions we receive. Are your stones natural? All of the stones in our inventory and on our site are natural. NOT one stone is man-made, lab created, or artificial. Our sapphires are not irradiated, diffused, glass filled, oiled, synthetic - and some are not even heat treated ( about 95% of sapphires in the markeplace are heat treated to enhance color and/or clarity ). How do I know you're a real company? Read our independent reviews. We think its very important to have unedited reviews of our business practices from our clients. All of these reviews are collected by outside organizations and we NO have input or editing capability of their content. Epinions Are the photos I see of the actual stone I'm interested in purchasing? Yes. We buy in small quantities, and the stone you see is the one you are purchasing. Sometimes it takes us 30+ photos to capture a stone as it appears naturally. We never substitute photos of similar stones! What is heat treatment and how does it affect the value of a stone? Since about the Roman times, gemstones have been treated with heat to improve the color or appearance of the finished stone. For example, heating greenish brown Zoisite to 600 degrees Celsius produces the currently popular vibrant violet-blue Tanzanite. High quality unheated Rubies and Sapphires are extremely rare ( only about % go untreated ) and command a much higher market price. When purchasing high quality Rubies and Sapphires, ensure it's certified by a reputable lab, without that certification most insurers will not accept it as an untreated stone. Gems demonstrating natural phenomena such as star sapphires and star rubies will not have been heat treated since the heating process will alter the microscopic needle-like inclusions that create their star effect. The American Gem Trade Association ( AGTA ) is the natural colored gemstone industry's premier independent laboratory providing the industry with gemstone identification. The laboratory is equipped with the latest, technologically advanced, investigative equipment. The AGTA is recognized within the jewelry trade as the authoritative source on natural colored gemstones. AGTA certified stones are stones that are sent to a laboratory for analysis by two independent graduate gemologists, a unique traceable report is issued for every stone. ( Example ). Why aren't all stones certified? Plain and simple. Cost. The minimum price for certifying a stone is about $130. There are many other places that can do it for less than the AGTA, but has been our experience that the ones that do are either not recognized by jewelers/insurers, or issue certifications that are self serving and geared more for marketing than a truly unbiased certification. A good rule of thumb for any jewelry purchase is that any certification/appraisal should always be done by someone independent of who you purchased it from. If you wish to have your stone/jewelry appraised, be careful to find a qualified independent appraiser, one who is not affiliated with any jewelry seller. You may be surprised to know that there are no laws governing who can appraise/certify jewelry & gemstones. We're happy to provide you a list of indendent labs or appraisers in your area.