The sapphire is an exceptional stone. Flirting with the colors of the rainbow there are of a big hardness (9 on 10 in the scale of Mohs) what allows him to have risen under all the forms.
It is up to the family of corundum (ruby and sapphire). Traditionally a red corundum is a ruby and a blue corundum, a sapphire. Other stones of color being named sapphire of color (yellow sapphire, green sapphire, etc.). The corundum is a colorless stone, its tint were due to tracks of impurities which are not a part of his chemical basic formula, it is a stone allochromatique.
No matter the color which you look for, she must be pronounced and intense. Your stone will will been cut well and especially completely pure. Of course, certain colors are rarer than others and thus different value. The blue, the most popular, is very sought. The green and the yellow are fascinating and very rare in beautiful quality. The most estimated(esteemed) being the famous color Padparadcsha.
The value of a sapphire is considerably going to evolve if it is of a big purity and a saturated color and especially if it is not absolutely treated.
The sapphire is doubtless one of stones the most the handled.
The most common, the heating, which allows the more pronounced color of future, is to increase the purity of the stone by melting the inclusions. Certain gemstones are warmed at very high temperature with other chemical elements which are going to give on surface of the color to the stone. It is a processing by distribution.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, we know the existence of the synthetic sapphires. Gemstone produced in laboratory who have the same crystalline structure and the chemical composition as the natures. Divested of inclusions and very affordable, they are commonplace on the market.
As for all the stones, any treatment must be revealed, also the synthetic term must be mentioned for any stone created in laboratory.
Saphir violet - Purple sapphireFamous gemstones
- The Star of India doubtless the biggest never cut sapphire (563 ct). Discovered approximately three hundred years ago in Sri Lanka, the Star of India was given to the American Museum of Natural history by the financier J.P. Morgan. Then, the vile burglar Jack Murphy, Murph the surfing, stole the stone. Its recovery, two months later, was only adding to its glory.
- Saint Edouard and the Stuart set in the royal crown of England.
- Ruspoli (or Raspoli), a sapphire in the shape of diamond of 135,80 ct. The legend of the origin of this sapphire begins with its discovery by a seller of wooden spoons in Bengal. It enters then in possession of the Italian prince Francesco Maria Ruspoli in the XVIIth century. In 1691, Louis XIV acquires it and places it on the French crown. He is seized by the revolutionary government during the Revolution. Today the sapphire is to the National natural history museum.
- The Sapphire " Logan ", 423 carats, is 84,6 g. He(it) was given by Mrs. John A . Logan to the Institute of Smithsonian in 1960.
To know more about the mineralogy of the Sapphire, see Mindat.org->
