Blue Sapphire: Gem of the Heavens
Sapphire, the celestial gemstone, has been treasured for thousands of years. The ancient Persians believed that the earth rested on a giant sapphire and its reflection colored the sky. Sapphire is found in all the colors of the heavens: from midnight blue to the bright blue of noon sky in the Mediterranean, golden sunrise to firey reddish-orange sunsets, and the delicate violet of twilight. The most famous and valuable sapphires are a rich intense blue, a truly royal hue.
The Truest Blue
Sapphire is also the birthstone for September, the month when the most babies are born. Ancient lists also name sapphire as a birthstone for April and the gemstone for the sign of Taurus.
"Fine blue sapphires are tremendously undervalued," Says David Federman, United States author of Consumer Guide to Colored Gemstones and other gem books. "Fine Kashmir and Burma sapphires are much rarer than Burma rubies and yet they are available for much less. Even fine Sri Lanka sapphires are rare to see these days. There is nothing more restful to the soul than a fine sapphire."
Where Sapphires are born
The most famous sources for sapphire are Kashmir and Burma, which is now known as Myanmar. Kashmir sapphire, which was discovered in 1881 when a landslide in the Himalayas uncovered beautiful blue pebbles, has a rich velvety color prized by connoisseurs. Burma Sapphires, from the same region that produces fabulous rubies, are also very hard to find. However, today, these two sources account only for a very small quantity of the sapphire on the market.
Most fine sapphire on the market today comes from Sri Lanka, which produces a wide range of beautiful blues from delicate sky blue colors to rich saturated hues. Kanchanaburi in Thailand and Pailin in Cambodia are renowned for deep blue even colors. Two new mining localities are showing promise: Madagascar, which has produced some exceptionally fine stones in small sizes but has no organized mining yet and Tanzania, which has long produced sapphire in other colors but is starting to produce blue colors as well from a new deposit in the south.
Choosing a Sapphire
Sapphires are most often cut in a cushion shape-a rounded rectangle - or an oval shape. You can also find smaller sapphires in round brilliant cuts and a wide variety of fancy shapes, including triangles, squares, emerald cuts, marquises, pear shapes, baguette shapes, and cabochon cuts, or smooth domes.
Beyond the Blues
In addition to blue, sapphires are available in every color but red simply because a red sapphire would be called a ruby! Both of these gemstones are a gem variety of the mineral corundum: the only difference is the trace elements which give them their rich colors. Pink shades of corundum are known either as pink ruby or pink sapphire. Sapphire in colors other than blue is often referred to as fancy sapphire.
Sapphires have become more available in the past twenty years because some light, cloudy, or overdark sapphire can now be heated at very high temperatures to improve the color or clarity. This process, which dissolves trace elements already present in the sapphire, is completely stable. There is no price difference between heated and non-heated material except for at the very top of the market, where the country of origin will also make a difference in the price. About 90 percent of the sapphire on the market today has been heated to make sure it has reached the best possible color and clarity.
Sapphire is perhaps the toughest and most durable gemstone available on the market. With a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, sapphire is harder than any other gem but diamond and. That durability ensures that sapphire jewelry will be treasured for generations.