Precious Stones – The Big Five Part 3 The Sapphire

by E-NewsCast Team
March 13th, 2010

The sapphire, protector of the innocent, celestial guardian oftruth, bringer of health and youth, symbol of the heavens andbirthstone for the month of September, is in fact the same stoneas the ruby, the mineral corundum. The blue corundum, ranging in color from the lightest blue todeep blue and black, is the same stone as the ruby, the onlydifference being in the color. The choicest color is the softvelvety blue, approaching the cornflower in shade and exhibitingthat color vividly by artificial as well as by natural light.The deeper-colored stones are known as male, and thelight-colored ones as female sapphires. Although choicesapphires are rare, a much greater quantity of good and largestones are to be had than of rubies, and therefore the price ofa large sapphire does not advance in the same proportion as theprice of a large ruby. The word “sapphire” which means blue is of the same form innearly all the early tongues, thus showing that they were in useby the ancients. Sapphires are found in many parts of the worldand are usually found in the same locality as the ruby. Thelargest number and finest quality of these stones come fromThailand and India, and are found and recovered in much the sameway as the ruby.The sapphire is next to the diamond in hardness and it is thisquality that makes it impervious to wear and insures its sharpedges and corners against years of use. Like the ruby the valueof the sapphire is determined by its color. The finest stonesare a deep blue and the deeper the color the more highly it isprized if its translucency is not impaired. Although thesapphire with its many shades of blue is considered the mostdesirable stone, it is also found in other colors such as red,green, yellow and pink.The Oriental emerald or green sapphire does not approach theberyl or true emerald in depth of color, but because of itssuperior hardness and brilliancy, added to its extreme rarity,it is the most valuable of green gems. The Oriental amethyst orpurple sapphire sometimes reflects a red color by artificiallight, and is valued highly as a gem stone; the common amethystis softer, less brilliant, and loses by artificial light. Thevarious other colored sapphires, such as yellow or Orientaltopaz, light green or Oriental aquamarine, greenish-yellow orOriental chrysolite, and aurora red or Oriental hyacinth, areall valuable as gem stones when they are pure, well cut, andhave pronounced colors—in fact, the name Oriental is given todistinguish the corundums from the less valuable minerals of thesame colors which they resemble, but which they greatly surpassin beauty and value because of their brilliancy and superiorhardness.Asterias or star stones are corundums of three different colors;the star sapphire proper is a grayish blue, the star ruby red,and the star topaz yellow. These stones are usually cut cabochonor convex, and display under the rays of the sun, or whenexposed to one candle or other artificial light, a beautifulstar with six points. This star is produced by foreignsubstances in the corundum, and the lapidary brings about theregular effect by cutting a pointed carbuncle so that the centerof the star begins at the apex, and the six bright stripesradiate to the base of the stone. The bright lines of the starfollowing the light move over the surface of the stone andproduce a remarkable effect. These stones are amongst the mostwonderful of mineral productions, and good specimens are veryvaluable. The corundum cat’s-eye, called Oriental girasol orsunstone, has a bluish, reddish, or yellowish reflection oflight of a lighter shade than the stone itself, and which moveson the convex surface of the stone like the lines of a starstone. To this day, sapphire is one of the most important members ofthe family of gems and is certainly one of the most favored byjewelry artisans worldwide. Consequently, there is more“hanky-panky” with treatments, alteration of color and variousother techniques to disguise or improve flaws etc., than almostany other precious stone. Buyer beware of bargains that look“too good to be true”. Deal with reputable jewelers both onlineand offline. The sapphire is the birthstone for September.

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