In most cases that is what happens to the good rough. That is why it is hard to get. The most valued blue sapphires are velvety blue to violetish blue, in medium to medium-dark tones. Sapphires with these qualities command the highest prices per carat.
Less valuable blue sapphires might also be grayish, too light, or too dark. Sapphires come in all sizes. Specimen grade sapphire can come in huge sizes of thousands of carats, but this material has little or no value at all. The cornflower blue sapphire, with its luminous pure blue gleam, has always been one of the most valuable and coveted gemstones. Wearing the Blue Sapphire provides protection against theft, terror, accidents, and problems caused due to natural calamities like storms, fire etc.
The Star of India, the world's largest sapphire—allegedly around 2 billion years old—weighs carats and is roughly the size of a golf ball. Adored for their brilliant, celestial-blue tones, sapphires have long symbolized nobility, sincerity, wisdom, and faithfulness, making them the perfect birthstone for September. In ancient Greece and Rome, kings and queens believed that the gem protected them from harm while during the Middle Ages, the clergy wore blue sapphires to symbolize Heaven. More recently, they have been associated with royalty and romance thanks to the iconic blue sapphire engagement ring given to Princess Diana and then to Kate Middleton.
While the gemstone can occur in all shades, the most sought after are certainly blue. The sapphire is the stone that Diana will always be associated with, and when she got married, this set of earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet were a gift from the Saudi royal family.
Specialists note that the rarest stones boast a combination of key characteristics such as the absence of treatment and exceptional color and transparency. But it is their place of origin that is the most important element. T he finest examples hail from three mines: Kashmir in northern India, across its eastern border to Myanmar previously Burma , and Sri Lanka previously Ceylon , and when they appear at auction, they cause a huge buzz in the jewelry world and spark bidding wars in the auction rooms.
By analyzing the types of inclusions—tiny microscopic minerals—within the gem, it is possible to ascertain where the sapphire was mined. Its geographical location is effectively its passport and can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the selling price. Photo : Courtesy of Sotheby's. While Sri Lanka has perhaps the longest history of producing sapphires, with discoveries recorded as far back as the second century, and for almost 1, years in Myanmar, it is the Kashmir sapphires that have acquired an almost legendary status due to an extraordinary story associated with the mine.
Sapphires appear frequently in the Bible. The stone is mentioned in many chapters, representing something beautiful or precious, with significant value. The ancient Persians believed that the earth rested on a giant sapphire, which reflected its color to the sky.
In many cultures, blue sapphire represents the heavens. The sapphire holds a notable place in Ancient Greek and Indian history too. Buddhism also holds the sapphire in high regard, believing the sapphire has a calming presence that can help bring about spiritual enlightenment.
Color is the most important factor when purchasing a colored gemstone. The color of the sapphire is what captivates us, and draws us in for a closer look. But this is only when the color of the stone has the proper measures of hue, tone, and saturation. Without these, the stone may appear dull, colorless, and gray.
Yogo sapphires, mined in Yogo Gulch, Montana, are said to be of this cornflower blue variety, and are famous for their lack of inclusions high clarity. Tone describes how light or dark the color is with the range going from very light to very dark. As we said, the most desirable sapphires will have vivid, highly saturated color without areas of brown or gray. These areas are known as extinction and are affected by lighting quality, position, tone, and cut. Whereas diamonds have an elaborate, standardized color-grading system, sapphires and other colored gemstones have no such similar way to assess color across the board.
Rather, you will have use your own judgment about which colors appear vibrant and alive to you. Besides the renowned blue sapphire , there is the Padparadscha Sapphire, an extremely rare and sought-after pink-orange fancy sapphire originally found in Sri Lanka. After the blue and Padparadscha, the fancy pink sapphire ranks third in popularity for its prized hot pink hue. These striking pink marvels are generally found in Burma or Sri Lanka.
As the amount of chromium increases in the corundum, the shade of pink deepens as well. It is important to note that there is often a fine line between what is called a pink sapphire and a red ruby. You can find treated sapphires that look nice, like this pendant from Amazon. In the United States, there must be a minimum color saturation in order for the stone to be called a ruby.
In other places, the term ruby may be used more loosely. It is highly unlikely to find sapphires without any inclusions, or imperfections, at all. If there are no inclusions, gemologists will suspect the sapphire to be fake or treated. Most sapphires on the market today have been heat-treated to improve their clarity and color.
The cleaner the stone, the higher the price tag. While the appearance of inclusions are not usually regarded as positive, in the case of asterism, the opposite is true. When light is reflected off the silk, a star effect is created, making the sapphire appear to have a three or six-point star on the face of the stone.
Asterism is rare and also increases the value of the stone. The Black Star of Queensland is said to be the largest mined star sapphire in the world, weighing in at carats. There are no standardized cuts for sapphires as there are with diamonds.
This makes the stone appear to have a deeper, darker color. And the opposite is also true: if the sapphire is very dark, then the gem cutter may choose to make a shallow cut to bring more light in and thereby lighten the overall look of the stone. The most common shapes of sapphires are usually oval, round, cushion, and emerald. The cabochon cut is also prevalent as a non-faceted, polished alternative.
Just as gemstones vary widely across the spectrum in terms of their color and hardness, so too they also differ in density. This is apparent when we consider the carats, or weight of the sapphire vis a vis the carat weight of a diamond.
Since sapphires are usually heavier, a one carat sapphire will look smaller than a one carat diamond. Color and size or weight are the most important factors in determining the price of a sapphire.
Beyond the color, clarity, and cut details need to be assessed. A sapphire stone can always be re-cut, so clarity is probably more important. For larger or smaller stones, however, prices can be extrapolated to some extent but, there is no linear or exponential formula to follow and prices change with time. Synthetic gemstones like the sapphires cano be identified and differentiated from natural gemstones because they are too perfect. This means that the quality is too high.
Despite the synthetic gemstones being vastly superior in appearance due to the lack of impurities, they often sell for lower prices when compared to other natural gemstones. The sapphire, however, is of the highest quality and a very rare gemstone to come by. Therefore, this makes it an expensive one. Getting a well-cut, high-quality carat sapphire would cost more than other gemstones since a quality sapphire is made to the very best value and is a very rare gemstone which makes the demand high and increases the price.
Diamond Carat What is the largest Diamond in the World? What Are Step Cut Diamonds? Cubic Zirconium vs. How Sapphires Are Valued Sapphires are the most valuable and rarest blue colored natural gemstones.
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