Kashmir sapphire, Ceylon sapphire or antique ring: we appraise and buy your sapphires in Paris, at international market prices.
From the deep blue of Kashmir to the luminous blue of Ceylon, a sapphire's value lies in its origin and the absence of heating. We examine your stone and make an immediate offer to buy it.
Maison Altmann is a jewellery and diamond dealer at 22 rue Drouot and a member of the Syndicat des Négociants en Art (SNA), the French art dealers' association. The house buys sapphires of every size and provenance — from Kashmir to Madagascar — in blue or fancy colours, mounted or loose, with or without an LFG, SSEF, Gübelin or GRS certificate. The stone is examined in front of you by Ariel Altmann, a trained gemmologist, and never leaves your sight. A small sapphire of a rare blue can be worth more than a large, dark stone.
Complimentary appraisal, immediate offer and immediate payment.
The legendary origin, the most highly valued.
Luminous blues from Sri Lanka.
Deep, velvety blues.
Certified natural stones.
Period mountings set with sapphires.
Padparadscha, yellow, pink and star sapphires.
A one-carat Kashmir or Ceylon sapphire of a velvety blue: colour, far more than weight, makes the price.
10, 20 carats and more, with or without a certificate: by appointment, in complete discretion.
LFG, SSEF, Gübelin, GRS…: whether the stone is mounted or loose, we read the certificate with you.
Have you already photographed your piece? Send us that same image: we will tell you what it is, then arrange an appointment with you.
The stone or the whole ring, in daylight and without flash, then the certificate if there is one.
By WhatsApp on +33 7 81 11 49 29. You receive a first opinion within 24 hours, complimentary and without obligation.
To 22 rue Drouot, by appointment. The piece is examined in front of you; the firm offer is based on the piece itself, and payment follows agreement, the same day.
Your photographs are neither published nor passed on. Remote appraisal, in detail · All precious stones
We look at these six points in front of you, then make a firm offer.
A saturated blue, neither too dark nor greyish; for fancy colour sapphires, the vividness and rarity of the hue.
For the same colour, an unheated sapphire is worth considerably more. Heating is common and accepted; diffusion, far less so.
Fine silk softens the blue and can be the signature of a provenance; inclusions that dull the stone weigh on the offer.
Beyond a few carats, a fine unheated sapphire becomes rare; for the same weight, cut and brilliance set two stones apart.
Kashmir, Burma, Ceylon, Madagascar, Thailand, East Africa… Origin enhances a stone's value without deciding everything.
An LFG, SSEF, Gübelin or GRS certificate and an antique or signed mounting add value to the piece. Without papers, we examine it all the same: the stone speaks first.
See also: selling a sapphire ring (in French) · the origin of sapphires (in French) · the padparadscha sapphire (in French) · selling a family stone (in French)
Many sapphires arrive with their certificate: we read it with you, then look at the stone.
The certificates most often brought to us, from the Laboratoire Français de Gemmologie in Paris to the major Swiss and American names: we read them all, with you.
The nature of the stone — natural or synthetic sapphire — its weight, dimensions, shape and colour.
The statement of no heating carries the most weight; any heating, or diffusion, is noted on the certificate.
Kashmir, Burma, Ceylon, Madagascar…: the certificate's opinion of origin counts in the price, without deciding everything.
Some certificates add a colour designation — “royal blue” for a deep blue, padparadscha for orangey pink — according to their own criteria.
We make sure the certificate matches your sapphire — weight, dimensions. An older certificate keeps its value; we will tell you whether an update is worthwhile.
See also: gemstone certificates (in French) · the origin of sapphires (in French)
Origin (Kashmir, then Burma and Ceylon), colour, the absence of heating, and weight. A certified Kashmir sapphire ranks among the most sought-after stones in the world.
Yes: padparadscha, yellow, pink, violet and star sapphires.
It establishes origin and treatment — decisive for the price — but is not compulsory: we examine the stone on the spot.
To a dealer who buys such stones directly and can make you a firm offer. On rue Drouot, Maison Altmann examines your sapphire in front of you, tells you what it is and what it is worth on the market, and then you decide. Compare if you wish: we encourage you to do so.
Yes. A one-carat Kashmir or Ceylon sapphire, velvety blue and unheated, can be worth far more than a large, dark stone. It is colour that makes the price.
It depends on colour, clarity, cut and provenance: beyond a few carats, a fine unheated stone becomes very rare. We do not give a figure without seeing the piece: a photograph is enough for a first opinion, within 24 hours, and the firm offer is then made across the table.
Yes, with or without a certificate. These stones are shown by appointment, in complete discretion; the sapphire never leaves your sight, the offer is firm and payment follows agreement, the same day, whatever the amount.
Often, for the same quality: almost all known large Kashmir sapphires come from a single mine, worked from 1881 to 1887. But a sapphire of fine colour from Ceylon, Burma or Madagascar also sells very well.
The stone and its certificate, with the box or the invoice if you have them. We make sure the certificate matches the sapphire — weight, dimensions — then look at the stone itself: the offer is made in front of you.
Yes. Heating is a long-standing, accepted practice; it counts in the price, but does not prevent the sale.
It is possible in 20th-century jewellery, where synthetic sapphires are common. The mounting then keeps its value, and we will tell you so frankly.
For the gold, yes. For the sapphire, no: a stone is paid for in its own right. Before accepting an offer by weight, show us the ring.
At 22 rue Drouot, by appointment: the piece is examined in front of you, the offer is firm and payment follows agreement, the same day. You can begin with a photograph, on WhatsApp.
Yes. Once agreement is reached, payment is made the same day, by bank transfer or by cheque, whatever the amount — with no fees or commission.
Verifiable facts, reviewed in October 2026. For a specific case, the appointment settles it.
Almost all known large Kashmir sapphires come from a single mine, worked during those few years.
Auguste Verneuil made flame fusion public; it would also yield synthetic sapphires, which have since been found in some 20th-century jewellery.
Orange sapphires treated by beryllium diffusion reached the market; the treatment was identified in early 2002.
We tell you what you own, then what we offer you for it: a firm offer, settled the same day. The decision remains yours.
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