Sapphire is the birthstone of September.
Sapphires are among the most valuable precious gems. The price
ranges from a couple hundred to several thousand dollars per carat. They come
in all colors of the rainbow, the most valuable being blue, pink and orange,
and blue sapphires are the most popular.
The highest quality sapphires are sourced from Sri Lanka; these are
called Ceylon sapphires. Sapphires from
Burma are also of high quality but are very rare. Today many come from
Madagascar and are generally dark in color.
Some are sourced from Thailand, but have a grey overtone without much
brilliance. This gem is also found in
the United States, in the state of Montana but lack a rich blue color. Quality is based on color and
brilliance. The closer to a vivid royal
blue, with high brilliance, the higher the quality and value. Some orange sapphires are called padparadscha
sapphires, the term is derived from the Sinhalese word for lotus flower. Padparadscha sapphires are only found in Sri
Lanka, and are the rarest of all sapphires.
There has been a recent trend for colored diamonds in
engagement rings. Colored diamonds, such
as pink diamonds can come at a very high cost.
Colored sapphires are an excellent substitute. We have created many engagement rings using
colored sapphires to better fit the clients budget. Sapphires are highly durable stones, they are
rated 9 on the Mohs scale, compared to 10 rating of diamond, and 7-8 of other
stones, making them ideal for everyday wear.
Ancient folklore claims the sapphire will give its wearer
spiritual enlightenment and inner peace.
In the Middle Ages sapphires were used as an antidote to poison and
thought to treat colic and rheumatism as well as ease mental illness. Members of royalty wore sapphires around
their necks to protect from envy, poison and harm.
Sapphires have been used among royalty for centuries. A very famous sapphire from recent years is
princess Diana’s engagement ring which contains a 18 carat blue Ceylon sapphire
surrounded by white diamonds in white gold.
This ring is now worn by Kate Middleton.
Other famous icons that have had sapphire engagement rings include
Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford and Jean Harlowe.
There are many different treatments being used today on
sapphires. The only accepted form of
treatment for fine jewelry is heat treatment.
All other treatments significantly reduce it’s value. Recently the beryllium treatment is becoming
common, especially in stones coming from Asia.
This is when beryllium is added to sapphires to enhance or change the
color. Other treatments include
irradiation, where the color of the stone is changed at a molecular level. Fracture fills are a temporary and unstable
method to make cracks and inclusions less noticeable. This treatment can be
removed revealing large and unattractive inclusions it has been masking. Surface dyes are used to change the color of
a stone which also can be easily removed.
Often this treatment is used to pass off an impostor gemstone as a
sapphire. These treatments often go
undisclosed so it is important to buy sapphires from a reliable source.
Now let's talk about one of the most important factors; the cut.
There is no standard “ideal” cut for sapphires as there are for
diamonds. Each sapphire is cut individually
to bring out the best possible color and brilliance. Due to this individualized cutting, they
generally are not graded by gem laboratories.
As a result jewelers set their own standards for quality which they
determine based on color and cut. There
are many stones that are cut too deep or too shallow. A shallow or bad cut can cause a very common window effect where you can see
through the stone. If a cut is too deep
you are paying more for the weight. Cut
is very important for the overall look which is why we only pick perfectly cut
stones.
By Viktoriya Gulko
By Viktoriya Gulko
