Sapphire And Its Range Of Colors
From the greek "sappheiros" azure blue, sapphire symbolizes the calm of heaven, bringing peace and promoting meditation.
Sapphire is one of the most ancient of gems. Known since ancient times, its name comes from the Hebrew ‘sappir’, meaning ‘the most beautiful thing’.
The nomenclature
Sapphire belongs to the corundum family. It is an aluminium oxide whose colour depends on the proportion of chromogenic elements in the stone's chemical composition:
Blue’ sapphire: The best-known colour of sapphire occurs when traces of iron and titanium creep into the structure of a corundum. By tradition, blue corundum is simply called sapphire.
Green sapphire: Corundum takes on a green hue when small traces of iron are incorporated into its structure.
Yellow sapphire: Iron also gives sapphire its yellow colour, but there is more of it than in green sapphire.
Red ‘Sapphire’: Red corundum is not a sapphire but... a ruby. In fact, the two stones are sisters who share an identical chemical composition if we exclude their chromogenic elements. In the case of ruby, it is the addition of chromium that gives it its brilliant red colour.
Pink sapphire: Like ruby, pink sapphire takes on its colour from traces of chromium. However, these traces are less significant than in its sister, giving it a softer colour.
Purple sapphire: Purple sapphire is on the borderline between blue and red, so it's logical that its colour comes from a mix of the elements that give these colours: iron, titanium and chromium.
Colourless sapphire: When corundum is pure aluminium oxide, it remains colourless. These rare stones are called Leucosaphirs.
Deposits
Sapphires come from Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon), Burma (it used to be called Myanmar), Thailand, Australia, Cambodia, Nigeria, Kenya Tanzania, China, India, Vietnam, Madagascar and the United States.
The most famous provenances for sapphire are Kashmir and Myanmar now called Burma.
The cashmere sapphire has a rich color, is very slightly hazy and is highly prized by connoisseurs. The sapphires from Burma (from the same region -which produces fabulous rubies-) are also of very good quality. However, today, these two provenances only account for a very small part of the stones on the market.
Most of the beautiful sapphires today come from Sri Lanka or Madagascar, which are producing a wide range of beautiful sky blue stones or gems with rich saturated colors. Sri Lanka is also a very important producer of fancy sapphires like the famous Padparadsha (pink with a touch of orange).
The Other sapphires
In addition, star sapphires have a particular formation of rutile needles crossing at 60° and when they are given a cabochon-cut it can form a star with six branches.
As with rubies, star sapphires are judged by the delicacy of the star, its rays and the quality of the color.
To determine the quality of a stone, color is the most important criteria.
As with other gems, the value of sapphire depends on its purity (visible inclusions or a colored veil reduce the value) and on the intensity of its color: it must be bright and strong, neither too pale nor too dark.
Sapphire has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale. And don’t forget, all stones are fragile! Even diamond ….
Nevertheless resistant, sapphires can be mounted on a ring, earrings or pendant!
Since the beginning of the 20th century, synthetic sapphires have been developed by the french chemist Auguste Verneuil. They can be recognized using a magnifying glass, with a particularity that they have: curved growth lines (these lines are straight in a natural sapphire). But that's another story...
If you are interested in the diversity of sapphires, don’t hesitate to discover what les Pierres de Julie have to offer in the store…
We are also available for any free expertise of your sapphire jewelry, for that you can send an email with your photos to contact@lespierresdejulie.com.
Whether you're interested in buying a piece of jewellery or a stone, a free jewelry appraisal or jewelry resale, Pierres de Julie welcomes you to its Parisian boutique in the Village Suisse, a stone's throw from the Ecole Militaire and the Esplanade des Invalides.
