SAPPHIRES
- nottingham27
- Sep 10
- 3 min read
by
The Birthstone for September is sapphire, it is considered the most spiritual of all gems as it represents purity of the soul, it is also a stone for royalty and believed to protect the wearers from harm. The Persians of earlier times thought that the earth rested on a giant sapphire whose pale blue reflection could be seen in the sky.
Sapphire is part of the corundum family, it is generally and most traditionally known as a blue gemstone however they actually come in a wide range of colours. Sapphires that are not blue are known as fancy sapphires and can be any colour, except for red which is then classed as ruby. Its colour is determined by traces of other elements found within the stone, for example, a blue sapphire forms when traces of titanium are present, yellow with iron and pink with chromium.
The more intense and uniform the colour is the more valuable and desirable the stone is. Unlike many other gemstones the colour of a sapphire is the main determinant of its value rather than its size. Some colours of sapphire are more expensive than others and how saturated and even the overall colour is will also change the price. What colour is considered the best is totally personal preference, even the highest graded sapphire may not be right for you if you don’t like the colour.
They can be found in a number of locations across the globe most commonly Kashmir and Sri Lanka but also Australia, Tanzania and Madagascar. Kashmir is noted as producer of the highest quality sapphires with richest blue colour whereas Sri Lanka is the home of the Padparadscha sapphire. Padparadscha sapphires are the rarest form of sapphire and are peachy pink in colour.
Sapphires typically have some inclusions but overall, their clarity is much higher than other gemstones such as emeralds and rubies. Blue sapphires with extremely high clarity are rare and valuable. Sapphires are prone to colour zoning where different saturations of colours are visible in different areas of the sapphire. Cutters will typically cut a sapphire in a way that displays the most concentrated colour. When shopping for sapphires view them in daylight to compare colours and look out for imperfections such as colour banding.
A star sapphire is a variety of sapphire which exhibits a unique reflection. Star sapphires are characterised by a natural optical phenomenon called asterism which creates a star like shape within the stone when viewed in natural light. This is caused by reflections from tiny needle like inclusions that are oriented in several specific directions, the stars are usually made up of 2, 3 or 6 intersecting bands resulting in 4, 6 or rarely 12 rays.
Why choose sapphire?
Sapphire is a very popular choice of gemstone for those seeking to add some colour into their jewellery, the wide spectrum of colours to choose from means that there is something for everybody. Sapphires are very sturdy coming in second to diamonds with a rank of 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness, making them a great choice for jewellery worn every day, which is why they are second best and a more affordable choice for the stone in an engagement ring.
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