Blue Sapphire
"When I thought that my chivvying had reached
the limit of their patience, I drew from my
pocket a magnificent Sapphire, a rare specimen
piece, from which I had long refused to be
separated, despite most attractive offers. "Now,
friends," said I, "as you have shown me the best
you have to offer, I will show you what kind of
gem interests me,
so that when I come again you
will know what to bring me".
Louis Kornitzer, Gem Trader (1939)
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The age-old
technique of river mining for
Sapphires in Sri Lanka, exactly as
Captain Ribeyro described in his
17th-century
'History of Ceylon'
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Blue Sapphire is a truly mesmerising gemstone
with a rich history, potent symbolism, and a
popularity spanning over 2,500 years. Having
honed my passion for gemstones in Chanthaburi,
Thailand, an international centre for coloured
gemstones, the above story has a special place
in my heart. The wheeling and dealing of an
open-air gem market is a unique experience.
Exciting and challenging, unless you're an
experienced professional, you had best remain a
silent observer. With approximately 70 percent
of the world's Sapphire output passing though
Thailand on its way from the mine to the wearer,
Sapphires are to Chanthaburi what belts are to
trousers. Along with Ruby, these two gems hold
everything together.
Ruby and Sapphire are colour varieties of the
mineral Corundum (crystalline aluminium oxide),
which derives its name from the Sanskrit word
for Rubies and Sapphires, 'kuruvinda'. Corundum
produces 'other coloured' gemstones (click here
for more), meaning that trace amounts of
elements such as chromium, iron and titanium are
responsible for producing its rainbow of colours.
While 'Sapphire' alone refers to its blues, I
favour adding 'blue' to the front of Sapphire
not only to avoid confusion, but to also
indicate that other coloursexist. Collectively
described as 'Fancy Sapphires' or assigned a
colour prefix, Sapphire's other colours are
featured click here. Sapphire's name is derived
from the Latin, 'sapphirus', which in turn comes
from the Greek 'sappheiros', meaning blue. This
name is believed by some to originate from
either the Hebrew 'sappir' (precious stone) or
the Sanskrit 'sanipriya'. Used to describe a
dark precious stone, 'sanipriya' means 'sacred
to Saturn' and this entomology is lent credence
by the fact that Sapphire is regarded as the gem
of Saturn in Indian astrological beliefs.
Historically, 'sappheiros' usually referred to
Lapis Lazuli rather than Blue Corundum, with the
modern Sapphire probably called 'hyakinthos' in
ancient Greece. Believe it or not, Sri Lankan
Sapphires were reportedly used by the Greeks and
Romans from around 480 BC, which once again
provides evidence of the ancient trade routes
used by our ancestors.
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Ceylon
Sapphire & Diamond 18K Yellow Gold
Ring |
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Like all famous gemstones, Blue Sapphire
features in mythological and religious stories.
Whether these really referred to what we know as
Lapis Lazuli or blue gems collectively during
antiquity is uncertain, but one thing's for
sure, our modern Blue Sapphire certainly fits
the bill! While Persians believed Sapphire's
reflections gave the sky its colours, this gem
also scores several mentions in the good book.
In Exodus (24:10), the throne of God is paved
with Blue Sapphire of a heavenly clarity. It is
also one of the 12 'stones of fire' (Ezekiel
28:13-16) set in the breastplate of judgement
(Exodus 28:15-30). As one of the 12 gemstones
set in the foundations of the city walls of
Jerusalem (Revelations 21:19), Sapphire is also
associated with the Apostle St. Paul. More lore
in a minute, let's get our heads around how to
judge the quality of one of the most popular of
all gemstones, Blue Sapphire.
Blue Sapphires are transparent gemstones, whose
colours include blues, violet blues,
greenish-blues, and combinations thereof. While
you should ultimately be guided by your
preferences, for Blue Sapphires the reliable
Goldilocks maxim is good advice; not too dark or
too light, just right. Intense 'middle' colours
are the happy medium, with pure blues being the
marketplace ideal. Blue Sapphires that are too
dark (inky), too light, or have too much grey or
brown are priced accordingly. While some violet
tints in Blue Sapphires are attractive and
desirable, excessive greenish-blues are usually
more affordable. While Blue Sapphires are
pleochroic (different colours visible from
different viewing angles), this is not usually a
concern, but gems with table-up pleochroism that
detracts from its beauty, will also bepriced
accordingly. As usual, the visibility of
pleochoism is determined by crystal orientation
during lapidary. The aesthetic impact of colour
unevenness due to zoning (location of colour in
the crystal versus how the gem is faceted) or
excessive windowing (areas of washed out colour
in a table-up gem, often due to a shallow
pavilion) is also an important value
consideration for Blue Sapphire. Finally, pay
attention to how transparency and inclusions
affect Blue Sapphires' colour beauty and
subsequently, value. Simply be guided by your
colour preference and pocket, bearing in mind
that top quality Blue Sapphires are one of the
world's most expensive gems. While gemstone
lighting is a book in itself, a gemstone's
colours should ideally remain beautiful in any
light source.
Blue Sapphires usually look theirbest when viewed outdoors in natural light
or under fluorescents. Incandescent lights are
the bane of Blue Sapphires. The most prized
colours of Blue Sapphire are 'royal blue' (dark
blue with 10 to 15 percent violet) and
'cornflower blue' (medium blue with five to 10
percent violet). While the prefix 'Ceylon' is
often used to identify fine Sri Lankan
Sapphires, just make sure you're buying the gem,
not the name.
While both Ruby and Sapphires are classed as
Type II gemstones (gems that typically grow with
some minor inclusions in nature that may be
eye-visible), Sapphires are usually cleaner (and
larger) than Ruby, with an eye-clean clarity (no
visible inclusions when the gem is examined six
inches from the naked eye) being the typical
standard. Fine microscopic inclusions (called
'flour', 'milk' or 'silk') in some Blue
Sapphires can impart a 'velvety' or 'sleepy'
appearance that boosts both beauty and value.
Once you've settled on a colour youlike, look
for a good shape and overall appearance (finish,
outline, profile and proportions). While ovals
are the most common, Blue Sapphires are
available in a huge array of shapes and cuts,
almost as diverse as their colours. Blue
Sapphires are also cut 'en cabochon' (click here for more), not only for its star varieties,
but also for examples whose clarity makes them
unsuitable for faceting.
A review of Blue Sapphire wouldn't be complete
without introducing some of its major sources.
The 'classic' source for Blue Sapphire, Ceylon
(renamed Sri Lanka in 1972) holds the earliest
record for the mining of Sapphires. To put its
antiquity into context, King Solomon reportedly
wooed the Queen of Sheba with Sri Lankan
Sapphires, sourced from gem gravels surrounding
the town of Ratnapura ('gem city' in Sinhalese).
Just outside Ratnapura, I had the opportunity to
river mine for Sapphires, finding a spectacular
example that cut an impressivestar. While it was exactly as Captain Ribeyro
described in his 17th-century 'History of
Ceylon', it was extremely physical and very
tiring, despite the picturesque surroundings.
Although Blue Sapphires traditionally hail from
Sri Lanka and Burma (Mogok), other sources
include Australia, Cambodia (Pailin), China,
Kenya, Laos, Madagascar, Nigeria, Tanzania,
Thailand, the U.S.A. (Montana) and Vietnam. Even
though Australia produced approximately 70
percent of the world's Sapphires during the
eighties, the poor old Aussie Blue Sapphire is
much maligned, often unfairly pigeonholed as too
inky or overly green. The truth is fine Blue
Sapphires do hail from the sunburnt country, but
because of negative marketplace perceptions,
they sometimes unethically get Sri Lankan
citizenship when they leave the lapidary!
Historically known as the 'Beryl Island' due to
its abundance of gemstones and minerals,
Madagascar has been the new kid on the block for
Sapphires since the early nineties.
Blue Sapphires from Madagascar have really
impacted the gem world's perception of this
country, reportedly accounting for around 20
percent of the world's Sapphires. Arguably the
world's finest Blue Sapphires were discovered in
Kashmir (India) around 1881, with the deposit
ostensibly depleted by the nineteen thirties.
Occasionally re-entering the market in antique
jewellery or as collectors' investment
gemstones, Kashmir Sapphires are especially
noted for a fine silk that imparts a soft
velvety blue, with only minor areas of darkness
in a table-up gem (extinction).
If you believe your Greek mythology, the first
person to wear September's birthstone was
Prometheus. Apparently, he took a Blue Sapphire
at the same time he 'borrowed' the fire that got
him into so much trouble. I for one am glad he
did and while Blue Sapphires are certainly
'mainstream' because of where I live, I feel a
great connection to these gemstones. Once
regarded as bringing peace and joy to their
owners, there is nothing esoteric about this.
Stare into the photographs on these pages and
you'll see exactly what I mean.
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Blue Spinel
Spinel
derives its name from either the Latin 'spina'
(thorn), for its characteristic octahedral
crystals or the Greek 'spintharis' (spark), in
reference to its bright red hues. Historically
confused with both Ruby (click here for more) and Sapphire, Spinel occurs in a
plethora of colours, including blue, orange,
pink, purple, and red. Confused due to the
proximity of their deposits, Spinel and Corundum
(Ruby and Sapphire) are actually fairly easy to
tell apart. Spinel is singly refractive, while
Ruby and Sapphire are doubly refractive.
Available in pure blues, along with blues with
violet or green tints, a variety called Cobalt
Blue Spinel (coloured by trace amounts of
cobalt) is arguably some of its finest hues. I
have seen similar coloured Blue Spinel from
Tanzania that has this colour without the
cobalt. True Cobalt Blue Spinel demands a
marketplace premium. While highly saturated pure
blues with good transparency is the benchmark,
simply select a colour you find beautiful in a
gem, with a good shape and overall appearance.
Good cutting that accentuates its inherent
brilliance is also an important value
consideration. While Spinel is a Type II
gemstone, meaning it typically occurs with some
minor inclusions that may be eye-visible, the
standard is eye-clean (no visible inclusions
when the gem is examined six inches from the
naked eye), except in lighter colours or in
larger gems. One of the gem industry's best kept
secrets, this beautiful gemstone's public
recognition and marketing impact is limited by
its low production. Sources include Madagascar,
Tanzania and Vietnam.
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Blue Star Sapphire
A unique and rare gemmological phenomenon, Star
Sapphires are traditionally the most popular of
all star gemstones. Due to an optical special
effect called 'asterism' or the 'star effect',
parallel needle-like inclusions create a
reflected luminous star of light that moves
across the gemstone. For Corundum, reflections
from a whole host of tiny rutile needle
inclusions, also known as silk, cause their
stars. The ultimate love charm, a Blue Star
Sapphire is said to have been responsible for
Helen of Troy's conquests. This is intriguing,
considering they are also known as the 'stone of
destiny' (the three bands symbolising faith,
hope and density). Historically a common
talismanic gemstone, Star Sapphires are said to
be a protective 'guiding star' for travellers.
They are even purported to bless past wearers
once passed onto other hands. All star gems are
dependent on a gem being cut 'en cabochon' (cut
in convex form and highly polished, but not
faceted). Assessing cabochons is straightforward
- just look at their finish, shape and
proportion, favouring attractive smooth domes
with a desirable symmmetry. While asterism is
most visible in a direct, single beam of light,
a well-cut star gemstone has a distinct star
whose rays are straight and equidistant. The
norm is a six rayed star, but twelve rayed stars
also occasionally occur. Unlike Black Star
Sapphires, where the virtually opaque dark body
colour markedly enhances the star effect, in
Blue Star Sapphires the distinctiveness,
intensity and transparency of the blue body
colour are also important value considerations.
While the gem gravels of Sri Lanka is the
world's 'classic' source, once contributing 90
percent of the Star Sapphires on the market, the
gem pictured hails from Madagascar. Star
Corundum come in shades of red (red to violet)
and blue (blue to grey), but orange and yellow
Star Sapphires do not exist.
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Iolite
Iolite is named after the Greek 'ios' (violet)
and 'lithos' (stone). Historically compared and
confused with Blue Sapphires, Iolite's blues and
transparency explains its common name, 'water
sapphire'. Despite the name, Iolite is actually
fairly easy to differentiate from Blue Sapphire
due to its pleochroism or getting more
technical, trichroism (three-coloured). This
means each Iolite crystal has three colours,
deep blue, colourless to very slightly brown and
colourless to very slightly blue, whose
intensity changes when it is viewed from
different angles. The beautiful violet blue in a
finished Iolite gemstone is due
to its intrinsic trichroic colours, accentuated
by appropriate cutting techniques. Simply look
for a high transparency with a table-up violet
blue colour you find attractive, noting that its
other colours may be visible when viewed from
different angles. This gemmological curiosity
has a cool story you can use when showing this
feature to others. In Scandinavian sagas the
magical 'sunstone' of Norse seafarers is
portrayed as a miraculous means of allowing
navigation on overcast days when the sun wasn't
visible. Known as the 'Viking's compass' or
'Viking's stone', they actually used thin pieces
of Iolite as the world's first polarizing
filter. Dark or milky Iolites will loose
transparency and despite being a Type II
gemstone (minor inclusions in nature that may be
eye-visible), the standard for Iolite is
eye-clean (no visible inclusions when the gem is
examined six inches from the naked eye). A
beautiful gemstone in its own right, whose
colours and characteristics are immediately
obvious to the expert eye, Iolite is
predominately sourced from India, Madagascar and
Sri Lanka.
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Kanchanaburi Sapphire
An important source in the eighties, the Bo Ploi
Sapphire mines were discovered in 1918 and are
located in Thailand's western province of
Kanchanaburi, which is best known for the Bridge
over the River Kwai. In comparison to the violet
shades that provide Ceylon Sapphires with their
signature royal and cornflower blues,
Kanchanaburi Sapphire often has greyish tints
that sometimes provide a bluish steel colour
(see example pictured). Heavily mined in recent
decades, the Bo Ploi mines must excavate over 50
tonnes of alluvial soil to get just 1 carat of
Kanchanaburi Sapphire crystals.
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Kyanite
Even though Kyanite was named in 1789 from the
Greek 'kyanos', meaning 'blue', it was sold to
Europeans as Blue Sapphire until the turn of the
20th century. This is not surprising,
considering its finest colours have a visual
resemblance to superb Blue
Sapphires. An
interesting mineralogical attribute of Kyanite
is that it is a polymorph, meaning it has two
different hardnesses. This makes Kyanite
challenging to cut well and thus Kyantie's
faceting quality is important. Kyanite's most
famed origin is the Kali Gandaki region of west
central Nepal and Tibet, whose deposits were
only discovered in 1995.
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Midnight Blue Sapphire
Mined in a wide variety of countries, including
Australia, China, Madagascar, Nigeria, Thailand,
and Vietnam, Midnight Blue Sapphires are
characterised by rich, deep, over-colour blues
that are beyond vivid; to get a mental image,
try picturing a clear night's sky. Midnight Blue
Sapphires are affordably priced due to their
tone and saturation reducing transparency,
something that actually accentuates the gem's
lustre, complementing its flashes of colourful
brilliance. This is visible in this gem from China's Shangdong province.
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Blue Sapphires have
long symbolised faithfulness, innocence,
sincerity and truth, so it's not
surprising that for hundreds of years
they were popular engagement ring
gemstones. This use is also leant
credence by a belief held by renaissance
lapidaries that Blue Sapphires cure
anger and stupidity. As anyone who's
been married can attest, the absence of
these emotions definitely helps smooth
things along! Apart from being one of
the world's favourite hues, blues are
also psychologically linked to calmness,
loyalty and sympathy, again, all
positive emotions conducive to good
relationships. While Blue Sapphire's
popularity as an engagement gemstone was
somewhat upstaged by Diamonds since the
fifties, they are making a comeback. For
example, in 1981 Prince Charles gave
Lady Diana an engagement ring set with a
stunning 18 carat Ceylon Sapphire. Being
avidly passionate about coloured
gemstones and their history, I had
really only one choice when it came time
for me to tie the knot. You guessed it,
Blue Sapphire! I spent a lot of time
looking for the 'perfect' gemstone and
probably the most surprising thing is
that I didn't pick one from a 'classic'
source. My wife and I fell in love with
a gorgeous Madagascan blue. This just
goes to show that while origin is an
interesting attribute that definitely
adds to the appeal of gemstones, at the
end of the day, use your eyes and be
guided by beauty, the cornerstone of
gems. |
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