Sapphires are the birthstone for the month of September, other than being famous because of Princess Diana’s engagement ring here are some facts about sapphire!
Sapphire and ruby are under the same mineral aluminium oxide, and under the species of corundum. The red of ruby is caused by the presence of chromium, and sapphire by the presence of iron and titanium.
Sapphire comes in varieties of colour, e.g. blue, green, yellow, colourless or even mixed of colour like orangy-pink which is fancy colour or more specifically Padparadscha sapphire.
The hardness of the sapphire is 9 in the scale of 1 the lowest to 10 the highest is diamond. Sapphire is durable to wear and tear, of course, it requires care too i.e. try not to knock it around.
Quality of sapphire depends the 4C's of gemstones, i.e. colour, clarity, cut and carat weight. Colour needs to be intense i.e. not too light and not too dark. Next, clarity or purity of the sapphire, some inclusions help gemologist to identify the authenticity of the gemstone, and that the inclusion should not have too much influence on the light reflection. Cut of the sapphire also bring out the life in stone, i.e. the brightness and light reflection help to attract attention to the observation. Finally, the carat weight of the stone. The bigger the size of stone, the more valuable i.e. if the colour and purity is good, the sapphire will fetch a higher price. Therefore, to appreciate sapphire, all you need to do is look out for good colour, purity and cut.
Other kinds of sapphire like star sapphire or colour changing sapphire is also a collector’s item.
Star sapphire is caused by the presence of find fibrous hair-like inclusion arranged in a prismatic manner within the gemstone. Besides the hair-like inclusion, the sapphire need to be cut and polished into a cabochon or dome shape top. This is to allow light to concentrate at a certain point when you shine a light on the sapphire. Star or asterism is the result of light reflecting from the fine hair-like inclusion e.g. the brighter the star, the more valuable. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/369013763188145626/ click for one of our star sapphire rings we created for a client.
Colour change sapphire, on the other hand, depends on different light source and the chemical component of the sapphire. The chemical component of the sapphire has a slight impurities of chromium when an incandescent light shine on the stone give it a purplish look while a white light will give it a bluish appearance.
http://far-east-gems-jewellery.myshopify.com/collections/sapphire