Erroneously, most people think that sapphires are blue. And although sapphires can be blue, which is the most chosen colour, sapphire comes in several hues of blue, but also in many different colours. It certainly is the most valuable blue gemstone, and highly sought due its beauty, hardness, and luster.
What are Sapphires?
Sapphires are amazingly beautiful gemstones mined all around the globe. Their main sources are in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and Madagascar.
Sapphire is a hard gemstone, found in the mineral corundum. The term sapphire includes all gems colour varieties of corundum, excluding the red variety named ruby. Being hard gemstones (second hardest after diamonds), sapphires are suitable not only for special occasions but for daily usage as well, as in engagement rings.
Certainly, sapphires are available in blue, the most known version of them, ranging from pale blue to deep dark almost black blue. However, sapphires come in a wide array of amazing colours and hues. Green, purple, yellow, orange, brown, pink, purple and white is some of the varieties. Usually, when the term sapphire is used alone, it refers to blue sapphire, while sapphires with a colour other than blue are named with their color as a prefix, for instance, yellow sapphire, pink sapphire, orange sapphire, and others.
As a matter of fact, there are also bi-colour sapphires too which instead of featuring one saturated colour; they feature more two. It is important to know that such sapphires are popularly considered poor quality, however, that rarity makes them a unique and different choice.
Unlike diamonds, sapphires don’t have a grading system to classify them according to their quality. Nevertheless, a sapphire to be considered high quality should have little or inexistent inclusions or imperfections, a nice saturated colour, and finally should be a well-cut stone.
Sapphire Treatments
It is usual practice to heat treat sapphires to intensify the blue color and to increase clarity by the removal of inclusions. Untreated sapphires with an intense natural colour are much more valuable than treated ones.
Sapphires in Jewellery
Sapphires are among the most popular gemstones used in jewelry. They can be found in all types of jewelry, including bracelets, rings, earrings, necklaces, and as we mentioned, in engagement rings. They are utilized as centerpieces as well as secondary stones to complement diamonds.
The possibilities of sapphires are immense. Edellie.com is an online jewellery Switzerland based shop that counts on a representative collection of jewels where sapphires are present in different pieces. When buying jewels online, it is important to seek professional and reliable advice, to know what you are really buying. View Edellie’s collection, and contact them if you need further information.