{"id":6123,"date":"2024-02-12T13:53:20","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T11:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/sapphire\/"},"modified":"2025-03-11T15:32:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T15:32:39","slug":"sapphire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/sapphire\/","title":{"rendered":"Sapphire"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The gemstone sapphire is a precious variety of the mineral corundum with a composition of aluminum and oxygen - AL2O3 and impurities that help to color it in different colors. An important feature is its high hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, just one step below that of diamond. Best known for its captivating blue colour, this stone has been used in jewellery for centuries. A must-have in the collections of all aristocratic ladies, some of the most famous rings, necklaces and earrings in the world are those with sapphires.<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What will you find in this article?<\/h4>\n

If you are also a fan of this amazing gemstone and you dream, own or are thinking of buying a sapphire jewel, make sure to get acquainted with its features. In today's article, we will look at its quality characteristics, colors, findings, imitations and synthetic variations.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Color<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Sapphire can be white, yellow, green, brown, pink, orange or padparadscha (lotus colour), but of course its most famous and expensive variety is deep blue. Only when the mineral corundum is red is it called Ruby. Experts assume that when the dominant color is red, then the mineral to be considered ruby. Only being called sapphire is assumed to mean blue in color. Padparadscha sapphire (lotus color) is referred to as the extremely rare and expensive salmon-colored variety of the stone, which can range toward a pinker or more orange hue.<\/p\n\n\n

Blue sapphires also have color variations. The most expensive is considered to be the royal blue color, which is neither dark nor light and is very saturated. Other trade names for the colors are cornflower, peacock blue, pastel, indigo, twilight (dusk), etc.<\/p\n\n\n

The definition of color includes the hue, brightness and saturation, tone and undertone of the stone. Specimens that are too dark or too light are not preferred, compared to those with strong and bright saturation, regardless of hue. In the case of blue sapphire, different undertones are noticeable, and purple hues may add to its beauty, while gray or green ones detract from its value.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Clarity<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Natural sapphires contain inclusions within them and specimens of high clarity are extremely rare and are very highly prized. Typical inclusions are rutile needles (the finer ones are called silky) as well as others of mineral origin. Cracks are also common, and those that threaten the integrity of the stone lower its price dramatically.<\/p>\n

Zonal coloration in sapphires is common (alternating dark and light bands), and there are subtleties in the lines that gemologists use to distinguish synthetic from natural sapphire.<\/p\n\n\n

There are also inclusions, however, which in the right arrangement lead to the asterism effect and increase the price of the stone. Thin silky rutile inclusions form a star with 4 to 12 rays that follow the light source. Such specimens are called star sapphires and are cut as cabochons.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Deposits<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Some of the most significant sapphire deposits are Australia, India (Kashmir), Sri Lanka, China, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Tanzania, Thailand, Mozambique, Madagascar, Vietnam, USA, etc. Since sapphire and ruby are varieties of the same mineral, corundum, they are often found in the same deposits.<\/p>\n

Carat weight and cut<\/strong><\/h5>\n

It is rare to form crystals of gem quality over 2 carats, so their price increases dramatically as the carat weight increases. However, specimens of large sapphire are more common than large ruby specimens. The stones are cut into all shapes, most commonly oval with a brilliant crown and stepped pavilion. Lower quality specimens, as well as star sapphires, are cut in cabochons.<\/p\n\n\n

Imitations<\/strong><\/h5>\n

We cannot fail to mention glass as one of the easiest imitations of all gemstones, used since antiquity. Glass has a hardness of 5 and is much softer than sapphire, it is flawless and relatively easy to recognize. Other imitations of the sapphire gemstone can be synthetic spinel, synthetic (cubic) zirconia, or generally any transparent stone colored blue. There are also doublets or triplets - made up of two or three layers glued together. Of these, it is possible for only the surface layer to be natural stone and the remaining parts to be quartz plates.<\/p>\n

Treatments<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Most commercially available sapphires are heated. This is a heat treatment method that can enhance the value of a more pastel or colorless sapphire by intensifying its color. It can also improve the transparency of the stone by heating, removing the fine \"silky\" inclusions. A recrystallization effect can also be achieved that enhances these same inclusions, making the star in star sapphires more visible.<\/p>\n

Another method is diffusion. This is the deliberate addition of impurities that are absorbed by the mineral's crystal lattice during heating. Such impurities can most commonly be beryllium or titanium, with beryllium being the most commonly used at present, to form initially the padparadschain, and now all colour ranges.<\/p\n\n\n

Synthetic sapphires<\/strong><\/h5>\n

A synthetic stone is a mineral corresponding in chemical composition to the natural one, but created in a laboratory by artificial means. The synthesis of sapphires was discovered in 1909 and patented two years later. Since then, many synthetic sapphires have been available in all colours and including star sapphires. The Verneuil method or melt growth is used. A synthetic sapphire can be recognized by its flawless clarity, beautiful deep colors and low cost.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Summary<\/strong><\/h5>

Natural untreated sapphires weighing over 2 carats, not too dark or light in color, bright saturation and of course a quality cut to reveal the beauty of the stone are considered to be the most valuable.<\/p>

It is questionable to offer a high quality specimen at a low price corresponding to the carat weight. This is always an indication that there is probably something hidden.<\/p>

Efir offers both jewellery from its own collections<\/a> and making gold jewellery with sapphires and other precious stones to a customer's design<\/a>. We only work with natural stones and precious metals. Our Expert Gemologist will take care of finding the perfect fitting sapphire.<\/p>

If the exciting moment to propose to your better half is approaching in our blog we have prepared a special article about it how to choose the perfect engagement ring<\/a>.<\/p>

You can also learn about the process of ordering an engagement ring with sapphire or other gemstone<\/a> in our page prepared especially for this. There you can also view some of the work we have made for our clients. We are ready to accept any challenges - from classic designs with an emphasis on the central stone to unusual ones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The gemstone sapphire is a precious variety of the mineral corundum with a composition of aluminum and oxygen – AL2O3 and impurities that help to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gemstones"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6123"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6883,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6123\/revisions\/6883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}