Revealing the secrets of Sapphire. Did you know that sapphires and rubies are in fact the same mineral – corundum? And by the way this fact became clearly established only in the 18th century. Not that long ago, hah?
The name corundum is probably derived from the Sanskrit word kuruvinda which means ‘ruby’. This is the name of red corundum. Read our blogpost about ruby here.
When the colour of the corundum is not red it is called ‘sapphire’. In fact, next to diamond, corundum is the hardest material on Earth. It crystalizes in the hexagonal system, forming dipyramidal or rounded barrel-shapes.
Shades and Changing Colours Of Sapphire
Despite the fact that blue sapphire is the most popular, it can also be colourless, green, pink, and have a wide range of other hues. Rare pink-orange stones are called padparadscha and sapphire that appears blue in daylight and reddish or violet in artificial light is called alexandrite sapphire. Depending on the chemical compound sapphire acquires different colours. For instance when blue, it means the mineral has titanium and iron, when pale green, yellow or, or brown – iron, and when pink – very small traces of chromium. With increasing amounts of chromium pink sapphire forms a continuous colour range with ruby. All coloured sapphires other than blue and deep red are known as fancy sapphires.
Did you know that sapphires can have different tints when looking from different directions? Colour-change sapphires are a rare phenomenon. The gemstones can simply show different shades of blue depending on the light source. Or they can change the colour completely from blue violet in daylight to red or reddish violet in artificial light.
In The History. The Secrets Of Sapphire
From medieval times until the end of the 19th century, green sapphire referred to as ‘Oriental peridot’ and yellow sapphire – as ‘Oriental topaz’. In ancient literature, the term ‘sapphire’ appears to have mostly referred to as lapis lazuli. One of the oldest sapphires is St. Edward’s sapphire, set in the the finial cross of the British Imperial State Crown and believed to date from Edward the Confessor’s coronet in AD1042. Goldsmiths were widely suing blue sapphire in the jewellery of medieval kings of Europe.
In ancient Greece and and later in Middle Ages they thought that sapphire cured eye diseases, was antidote against poisons. Medieval alchemists related sapphire to the element air. In the East the sapphire thought to protect against the evil eye.
Sources of Sapphire
Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and Thailand are famous gemstone sources. There are also deposits in Australia, Brazil, Kashmir, Cambodia, Kenya, Malawi, Colombia, and the USA. The most valuable colour is blue, and Burmese and Kashmir blue sapphires are the most sought-after gemstones. Kashmir sapphires are mined on the borders of India and Pakistan. The gems are deep velvet blue. Burmese blue sapphires are an intense, bright blue with a hint of purple.
Last but not least sapphire is the associated gemstone of September. Calming blue of Autumn.
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