How much is a 2 carat sapphire worth? We talk about sapphire prices!

Hi! My name is Dolores I’m from Minneapolis and I found your website while I was searching for an online buyer for gemstones. I hope you can help me with my concern. I noodle over selling my 2 carat sapphire which I’ve bought many years ago on a trip through Sri Lanka. I have absolutely no idea how much my 2 carat sapphire is worth but what I know is that I need liquid funds for private expenses. Please be so kind and inform me about my sapphire’s value. Thank you very much, Dolores.
Dolores from Minneapolis in Minnesota

Dear Dolores, thank you very much for contacting the reDollar appraisers. We are pleased to assist you with your concern and try our best to bring light into the darkness. Sapphires are beautiful gemstones and beside diamonds, rubies and emeralds the most sought-after gemstones worldwide. It’s our pleasure to find out the current value of your 2 carat sapphire. Please provide us with as much information as possible relating to your sapphire so that we can make a proper appraisal from afar. Thank you!
reDollar appraiser, Tamay Rostan

Dolores wants to know, how much is a 2 carat sapphire worth

Dolores: Hi Tamay! Thank you for offering me your help as appraiser. You asked for additional information to my 2 carat sapphire. When I bought the stone, more than 10 years ago, there was a certificate enclosed to it. I bought my sapphire from a reliable gemstone dealer in Colombo, I hope he was reliable, but I’m pretty sure. I’m a journalist and back then I worked in Sri Lanka as a foreign correspondent. It was my profession that brought me together with the people from Sri Lanka and the mystery of sapphires.

Tamay: Dolores, that’s a great story. I’m sure you had a very exciting time in Sri Lanka. I’ve visited Colombo and the Gangaramaya Temple last year and it was a great experience for me visiting this fascinating country with all its multifarious places and impressions. Did you know that Sri Lanka is well-known for its rich sapphire deposits?

Dolores: Yes I know that, but I bought my sapphire there just by accident. I mean I was never very interested in gemstones, of course this minerals and their beauty is very fascinating to me but I’m not crazy about sapphires or other gemstones.

Tamay: No problem at all. I fully understand what you mean. I am crazy about diamonds and gemstones but I think that’s a typically “occupational disease”. You’ve mentioned a certificate relating to your sapphire, could you please tell me all the information that is mentioned in this certificate? This would be very, very helpful for me making a value assessment for your 2 carat sapphire.

Dolores: Of course Tamay. The identification report says the following: my sapphire has an oval shape, a carat weight of 2.14. The origin is Sri Lanka (Ceylon), the color is described as rich blue, the clarity is eye clean, luster and saturation is excellent. Brightness and cut is very good.

Tamay: Do you know if your sapphire was thermally treated?

Dolores: Yes, it’s a treated sapphire. My 2 gem was thermally treated as customary with sapphires. What exactly does that mean? Are almost all types of sapphires thermally treated?

Tamay: No, not all but almost all. There are genuine sapphires from Kashmir which are the most sought after sapphires in the world. The Kashmir mines are officially closed now and the production was almost over by 1937. That’s what makes Kashmir sapphires so rare and valuable. The factor for determining a sapphire’s price is also the treatment status. Sapphires which are guaranteed untreated have a much higher value than treated gemstones. The gem industry treats its gemstones to enhance the appearance of the gems, if they wouldn’t do that, the supply of natural sapphires which look naturally attractive, would be so much limited that this stones would be incredibly expensive that most of us could never buy them. There are many different kinds of so called gemstone treatments: heating, irradiating, oiling, fracture filling, diffusion, dying or waxing. The most common treatment method for sapphires is the heat treatment. This treatment, also performed with your 2 carat sapphire, will be done to improve the color and clarity of the stone. For this procedure, the sapphire will be heated up to 1700°C and above.

Dolores: That’s very interesting. Could I do such a heating treatment by myself and what happens if I don’t reach the temperature of 1700°C?

Tamay: I don’t recommend the thermal enhancement of gemstones for laymen. This work should be solely done by professionals. When you would heat a sapphire (which is a corundum) below 1600°C but above 1200°C you could create or improve star corundum by causing silk to crystalize. Please don’t try this enhancement method by yourself, first you could hurt yourself because the handling with very high temperatures requires certain security regulations and in addition to that your sapphire could crack, explode, melt or turn colorless. This heat treatment or thermal treatment is also applicable to rubies.

Dolores: I understand, thank you very much for the enlightening information. What do you think, how much is a 2 carat sapphire like mine worth?

Tamay: On basis of your gemstone certificate I would estimate a fair market value of $2,000 for your 2.14 carat rich blue sapphire. But I would like to point out that a certificate is not a guarantee. A gemstone certificate confirms the gemstone’s quality, variety and origin but not in every country there is an official regulation of who can offer a certificate. What I want to say is that I have to check your sapphire in my laboratories to compare the facts on your certificate with my results. It happens not seldom that so called certified gemstone laboratories gloss over or falsify gemstone reports or gemstone certificates to sell the stones for a much higher price than their actual value reflects. To make sure that your sapphire fulfills the stated specifications I have to check it in person, but if all specifications are congruent with your certificate, we can pay you a high price on basis of the current market value.

Dolores: This are great news! Thank you Tamay! It makes absolutely sense what you explain to me. I will send you my sapphire within the next days. Then you can check it personally but I hope the quality is good because your estimated price is very tempting. Thanks again for your professional help, I really appreciate your competence.

Tamay: Thank you for your kind words Dolores, your compliments mean a lot to me. I will send you a short email with the information how to start the sales process. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me, it’s my pleasure to help you.

Dolores: Thank you Tamay! KIT