While the name sapphire comes from the Latin word for blue, sapphirus, this precious stone comes in a whole spectrum of colors including violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink and even gray, brown, black and colorless. Red variations of the sapphire mineral (corundum) is exclusively ruby. Next to diamond, Sapphire is the second hardest known natural substance (next to diamond), with a hardness of 9 on the mohs scale, it is ideal for all types of jewelry, especially rings.
Formed billions of years ago, deep below the earth’s crust and in the mantle, conditions of high temperature and pressure formed corundum, the sapphire mineral (rubies are red corundum). Sapphires are a very desirable gem due to its color, hardness, durability and its luster. The most valuable color of sapphire is known as Kashmir sapphire and is a cornflower blue. Corundum with asterism (inclusions of tiny, slender, parallel Rutile needles) in the stone are called star sapphires because of the six (sometimes 12) point star that appears on the stone.
Sapphires come from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Tanzania and Australia; other sources include Montana, Cambodia, Nigeria, Kenya and China. The most famous sources for sapphires however are the Kashmir region of India and Burma (Myanmar).
There have been many famous sapphires in history including on the crown jewels of England and most famously, the Star of India which is 536 carats. About three hundred years ago in Sri Lanka, the star sapphire (which is almost flawless and had stars on both sides) was discovered and later donated to the American Museum of Natural History by JP Morgan where it was later stolen.
The story of its theft adds intrigue to the stone’s fame. Thieves discovered that the valuable gems in the Museum of Natural History were very poorly guarded, and they unlocked a bathroom window during the museum hours. When they returned after the institution was closed for the night, sure enough, the window was still open, and they climbed right in. The Star of India was the only gem that had an alarm, and as luck would have it, the battery on the alarm was dead. The thieves made off with the gems and were later recovered in a locker in a bus station Miami.
Folklore about Sapphires
The ancient Persians believed that the Earth was imbedded into a gigantic blue Sapphire stone. For the Buddhists, a Sapphire represented friendship and loyalty. For others, Sapphire is the stone of prosperity, preventing terror and poverty in men. During the 18th century, Sapphire was used to test female loyalty, changing its color if its wearer was unfaithful.
The movie the Titanic featured a fictional sapphire necklace which was based on the famous Hope Diamond. Princess Diana’s engagement ring had a sapphire center stone and Queen Elizabeth has a sapphire engagement ring as well. Other celebrities wearing sapphires include: Joan Crawford, Penelope Cruz, Debra Messing, and Jean Harlow.
Heart of the Ocean
Cleaning a sapphire: use soapy water or commercial solvent and a brush.
