In ancient times, some people believed that the firmament
was an enormous blue sapphire in which our earth was embedded. Could there
be a more apt image to describe the beauty of an immaculate sapphire?
And yet this gem comes not in one but in all the blue shades of that firmament,
from the deep blue of the evening sky to the shining mid-blue of a lovely
summer's day which casts its spell over us. However, this magnificent
gemstone also comes in many other wonderful colours: not only in the transparent
greyish-blue of a distant horizon but also in the gloriously colourful
play of light in a sunset – in white, yellow, pink, orange, green
and purple. Sapphires really are gems of the sky, although they are found
in the hard ground of our 'blue planet'.
Blue is the main colour of the sapphire. Blue is also the favourite colour
of some 50 per-cent of all people, men and women alike. We associate this
colour, strongly linked to the sapphire as it is, with feelings of sympathy
and harmony, friendship and loyalty: feelings which belong to qualities
that prove their worth in the long term – feelings in which it is
not so much effervescent passion that is to the fore, but rather composure,
mutual understanding and indestructible trust. Thus the blue of the sapphire
has become a colour which fits in with everything that is constant and
reliable. That is one of the reasons why women in many countries wish
for a sapphire ring on their engagement. The sapphire symbolises loyalty,
but at the same time it gives expression to people's love and longing.
Perhaps the most famous example of this blue is to be found in music,
in George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue". And the blue of the
sapphire even appears where nothing at all counts except clear-sightedness
and concentrated mental effort. The first computer which succeeded in
defeating a world chess champion bore the remarkable name 'Deep Blue'.
What makes the sapphire so precious?
Its beauty, its magnificent colours, its transparency,
but also its constancy and durability are qualities associated with this
gemstone by gemstone lovers and specialists alike. (This does not only
apply to the blue sapphire, but more of that later on). The sapphire belongs
to the corundum group, the members of which are characterised by their
excellent hardness (9 on the Mohs-scale).
Indeed their hardness is exceeded only by that of the diamond –
and the diamond is the hardest mineral on earth! Thanks to that hardness,
sapphires are easy to look after, requiring no more than the usual care
on the part of the wearer.
The gemstones in the corundum group consist of pure aluminium oxide which
crystallised into wonderful gemstones millions of years ago as a result
of pressure and heat at a great depth. The presence of small amounts of
other elements, especially iron and chrome, are responsible for the colouring,
turning a crystal that was basically white into a blue, red, yellow, pink
or greenish sapphire. However, this does not mean that every corundum
is also a sapphire. For centuries there were differences of opinion among
the specialists as to which stones deserved to be called sapphires. Finally,
it was agreed that the ruby-red ones, coloured by chrome, should be called
'rubies' and all those which were not ruby-red 'sapphires'.
If there is talk of the sapphire, most gemstone aficionados think immediately
of a velvety blue. It's a versatile colour that becomes many wearers.
A blue sapphire fits in best with a well balanced lifestyle in which reliability
and temperament run together and there is always a readiness to encounter
things new – as with the woman who wears it. The fact that this
magnificent gemstone also comes in a large number of other colours was
known for a long time almost only to insiders. In the trade, sapphires
which are not blue are referred to as 'fancies'. In order to make it easier
to differentiate between them, they are referred to not only by their
gemstone name but also by a description of their colour. In other words,
fancy sapphires are described as yellow, purple, pink, green or white
sapphires. Fancy sapphires are pure individualism and are just made for
lovers of individualistic coloured stone jewellery. They are currently
available in a positively enchanting variety of designs - as ring stones,
necklace pendants or ear jewellery, as solitaires, strung elegantly together
or as sparkling pavée.
However, the sapphire has yet more surprises in store. For example there
is an orange variety with a fine pink undertone which bears the poetic
name 'padparadscha', which means something like 'lotus flower blossum'.
The star sapphires are another rarity, cabochon-cut
sapphires with a starlike light effect which seems to glide across the
surface of the stone when it is moved. There are said to have been gemstone
lovers who fell in love with these sapphire rarities for all time. And
indeed the permanence of relationships is one of the features that are
said to belong to this gemstone.
Top-quality sapphires are extremely rare
Sapphires, call them gemstones of the sky though we may, lie well hidden
in just a few places, and first have to be brought to light through hard
work. Sapphires are found in India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam,
Australia, Brazil, Madagascar and Tanzania. From the gemstone mines, the
raw crystals are first taken to the cutting-centres where they are turned
into sparkling gemstones by skilled hands. When faceting
a sapphire, indeed, the
cutter has to muster all his skill, for these gemstones are not only hard.
Depending on the angle from which you look at them they also have different
colours and intensities of colour. So it is the job of the cutter to orientate
the raw crystals in such a way that the colour is brought out to its best
advantage.
Depending on where they were found, the colour intensity and hue of the
cut stones vary, which means, later on, that the wearer is rather spoilt
for choice. Should she perhaps go for a mid-blue stone which will remind
her even on rainy days of that shining summer sky? Or should she prefer
a lighter blue because it will continue to sparkle vivaciously when evening
falls? The bright light of day makes most sapphires shine more vividly
than the more subdued artificial light of evening. So in fact it is not,
as is often claimed, the darkest tone that is the most coveted colour
of the blue sapphire, but an intense,
rich, full blue which still looks blue in poor artificial light.
Specialists and connoisseurs regard the Kashmir colour with its velvety
shine as the most beautiful and most valuable blue. These magnificent
gemstones from Kashmir, found in 1880 after a landslide at an altitude
of 16,000 feet and mined intensively over a period of eight years, were
to have a lasting influence on people's idea of the colour of a first-class
sapphire. Typical of the Kashmir colour
is a pure, intense blue with a very subtle violet undertone, which is
intensified yet more by a fine, silky shine. It is said that this hue
does not change in artificial light. But the Burmese colour is also regarded
as particularly valuable. It ranges from a rich, full royal blue to a
deep cornflower blue.
The oldest sapphire mines are in Ceylon,
or Sri Lanka as it is known today. There, people were already digging
for gemstones in former times. The specialist recognises Ceylon sapphires
by the luminosity of their light to mid-blue colours. Having said that,
most blue sapphires come either from Australia or Thailand.
Their value depends on size, colour and transparency. With stones of
very fine quality, these are, however, not the only main criteria, the
origin of the gem also plays a major role. Neither is the colour itself
necessarily a function of the geographical origin of a sapphire,
which explains the great differences in price between the various qualities.
The most valuable are genuine Kashmir stones. Burmese sapphires are valued
almost as highly, and then come the sapphires from Ceylon. The possibility
of the gemstone's having undergone some treatment or other is also a main
factor in determining the price, since gemstones which can be guaranteed
untreated are becoming more and more sought-after in this age of gemstone
cosmetics. And if the stone selected then also happens to be a genuine,
certificated Kashmir or Burmese, the price will probably reflect the enthusiasm
of the true gemstone lover.
It is not often that daring pioneers discover gemstones on a scale such
as was the case on Madagascar a few years ago, when a gemstone deposit
covering an area of several miles was found in the south-east of the island.
Since then, not only have there been enough blue sapphires in the trade,
but also some splendid pink and yellow sapphires of great beauty and transparency.
Meanwhile, experts in Tanzania have also found initial evidence of two
large-scale gemstone deposits in the form of some good, if not very large
sapphire crystals coloured
blue, green, yellow and orange. And the third country to register new
finds recently was Brazil, where sapphires ranging from blue to purple
and pink have been discovered. So lovers and collectors of the sapphire
need not worry: there will, in future, be enough of these amazing gemstones
with the fine colour spectrum. Top-quality sapphires, however, remain
extremely rare and precious.
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