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Blue Sapphire Gemstone Information

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This new treatment is a heat-diffusion process which is stable and may or may not completely penetrate the stone.

Sapphire Meaning, Powers and History

The color is achieved through a process which includes the addition of foreign elements to achieve the desired color alteration. We at AJS Gems will always disclose any gems treated in this way. AJS Gems fully discloses any and all treatments to our gemstones. Today however, there is a new and important source of gem quality sapphires on the market - Madagascar. Its blue sapphire's are similar in appearance, quality, and material to those from Sri Lanka.

In the early 's, a new source of gem quality sapphire stunned the international gemstone market. Madagascar, a large island nation off the south-east coast of the African continent, became the hottest news in the precious gem industry. With just a few years of development, several new mine sources began producing commercial to top gem quality sapphires the likes of which had not been seen for over a century. Buyers from around the globe flocked to the new finds.

Once small villages of a few dozen mud huts soon became wild west boomtowns with 10's of thousands of new inhabitants. Most of the newcomers were itinerant miners looking to strike it rich in the pay dirt of the Madagascar wilderness. Dirt poor farmers could become instantly wealthy by local standards with the find of just one exceptional rough sapphire crystal.

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These new African deposits have been a boon to sapphire traders everywhere in the world. There is now a whole new range of beautiful blue gemstones available to gem dealers, jewelers and collectors, many of which are often compared with Ceylon sapphire. The color saturation, clarity, evenness and purity of color occasionally rival the finest of Burma and even the elusive sapphires of Kashmir. Production from Kashmir has been virtually nothing for the past several decades, making fine sapphires from this source nearly impossible to find.

Burma however, does continue to produce excellent quality sapphires to this day, but in very small quantities. The wonderful advantage to modern day sapphire lovers is the relative availability of Madagascar gems at affordable prices. Madagascar has made the dream of owning a Kashmir look-alike possible to a wide range of gem lovers around the world. Ilakaka and Sakaraha are situated a little south of the island Madagascar near a place called Toliara or Tulear. Since its discovery in , the mine has seen active mining and trading from all over Madagascar is conducted here. Go past the desert southwards and you will reach a place called Andranondambo.

Known at one time as Fort Dauphin, Tolanaro is a metasomatic sapphire mining area for blue sapphires where, in the first sapphires of gem quality were found. Mining on the island of Sri Lanka goes back at least years. This island has its own heritage in the mining arena. The island is called Gem Island or "Ratna Dweepa" because of the large variety of gems found here. You will find everything from peridot to moonstones to garnets and topaz. Today Sri Lanka is best recognized for it's the sapphires called the Ceylon Blue, and the sapphire called Padparadscha which has a beautiful and unique orange pink pastel soft color, very similar to the Lotus flower found on this island.

The traditional Ceylon mines are near Ratnapura which is located southeast of Colombo about kms away. It is a place where one can regularly find excellent gems over the carat mark. Many of the famous large sapphires in museums around the world came from this gemstone rich tropical island. Sri Lanka is also a very well known source for fine quality star sapphires.

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The finest of the sapphires from Ceylon are a very even and intense pure blue color, with a high degree of saturation. This bright and medium toned shade of blue is highly prized around the world, and is considered to be far superior to the often overly dark and inky colors commonly found in Australia and Thailand. The area know as Ratnapura sits right in the middle of the gem producing area of Sri Lanka. Surrounding this town one can see hundreds of small to large hand dug pits where the gemming Sri Lankan term for gem mining is going on. The government has put a total ban on mechanized mining, thereby assuring a tight supply, stable prices, and a source of income for many future generations of poor indigenous laborers.

Burma, which is today called Myanmar, has several important locations that produce sapphire. The most famous is the Mogok gem tract which has a rich history of production dating back several hundred years. Sapphires from Burma were not recognized for their superior quality until the 's, after which their value and demand has risen dramatically. But what exactly is it that makes blue sapphires from Burma so superior to gems from any other location? In visual terms it is what is known as color saturation.

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Burmese sapphires possess some of the very highest concentration of blue color possible. The only way to properly understand this is to see the very best of Burmese sapphires side by side with the best from any other source in the world. Montana is also the claim to a few other localities: Other famous occurrences are at Hastings Co.

Large deposits of Emery were worked near Peekskill, Westchester Co. Rubies can be found in the U. A few scattered finds were reported in Sparta and Ogdensburg, Sussex Co. The production of gem-quality saphires in the United States is not new or recent. In , the first U. Furthermore, corundum crystals, from which star sapphires have been cut, are found in Beaverhead and Madison Counties. But until very recently, with the exception of Yogo Gulch material, the commercial gemstone industry has had limited interest in U.

The myths, legends, beliefs, superstitions, traditions and symbolism associated with blue sapphire have been numerous Legend has it that the first person to wear Sapphire was Prometheus, the rival of Zeus, who took the gemstone from Cacaus, where he also stole fire from heaven for man. Known as the "Gem of Heaven", the ancient Persians believed Sapphires were a chip from the pedestal that supported the earth, and that its reflections gave the sky its colors.

Tradition holds that Moses was given the Ten Commandments on tablets of sapphire, making it the most sacred gemstone. Because blue sapphires represent divine favor, they were the gemstone of choice for kings and high priests. The British Crown Jewels are full of large blue sapphires, the symbol of pure and wise rulers. The guardians of innocence, Sapphires symbolize truth, sincerity and faithfulness, and are thought to bring peace, joy and wisdom to their owners. In ancient times it was believed that when the wearer of a Sapphire faced challenging obstacles, the gem's power enabled them to find the correct solution.

In India it was believed that a Sapphire immersed in water formed an elixir that could cure the bite of scorpions and snakes. Alternatively, if it were worn as a talisman pendant, it would protect the wearer against evil spirits. One day the temple was besieged by a group of terrible outlaws. The wrong doers fled screaming in fear, never to return and in gratitude for his courage, the golden goddess awarded Sinh with her Sapphire blue eyes.

For hundreds of years Blue Sapphires were the popular choice for engagement and wedding rings. Wholesale Loose Blue Sapphire. Shopping Cart There are no products in your shopping cart.

Customer Reviews Happy with white zircon. Dear Ron I received the order [white zircon] and happy about it, thank you. Little Yellow Opal Dragon arrived yesterday. She is now happily up on shelf with a few other creatures enjoying life in America. The cost of natural sapphires varies depending on their color, clarity, size, cut, and overall quality.

For gems of exceptional quality, an independent determination from a respected laboratory such as the GIA , AGL or Gubelin of origin often adds to value. Gemstone color can be described in terms of hue , saturation , and tone. Hue is commonly understood as the " color " of the gemstone. Saturation refers to the vividness or brightness of the hue, and tone is the lightness to darkness of the hue.

Blue sapphires are evaluated based upon the purity of their primary hue. Purple , violet , and green are the most common secondary hues found in blue sapphires. Gray is the normal saturation modifier or mask found in blue sapphires. Gray reduces the saturation or brightness of the hue, and therefore has a distinctly negative effect. Sapphires in colors other than blue are called "fancy" or "parti colored" sapphires. Fancy sapphires are often found in yellow, orange, green, brown, purple and violet hues. Particolored sapphires are those stones which exhibit two or more colors within a single stone.

Particolored sapphires cannot be created synthetically and only occur naturally.

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Colorless sapphires have historically been used as diamond substitutes in jewelry. Pink sapphires occur in shades from light to dark pink, and deepen in color as the quantity of chromium increases. The deeper the pink color, the higher their monetary value. In the United States, a minimum color saturation must be met to be called a ruby, otherwise the stone is referred to as a pink sapphire. Padparadscha is a delicate, light to medium toned, pink-orange to orange-pink hued corundum , originally found in Sri Lanka , [9] but also found in deposits in Vietnam and parts of East Africa.

Padparadscha sapphires are rare; the rarest of all is the totally natural variety, with no sign of artificial treatment. Natural padparadscha sapphires often draw higher prices than many of even the finest blue sapphires. Recently, more sapphires of this color have appeared on the market as a result of a new artificial treatment method called "lattice diffusion". A star sapphire is a type of sapphire that exhibits a star-like phenomenon known as asterism ; red stones are known as "star rubies".

Star sapphires contain intersecting needle-like inclusions following the underlying crystal structure that causes the appearance of a six-rayed "star"-shaped pattern when viewed with a single overhead light source. The inclusion is often the mineral rutile , a mineral composed primarily of titanium dioxide. Occasionally, twelve-rayed stars are found, typically because two different sets of inclusions are found within the same stone, such as a combination of fine needles of rutile with small platelets of hematite ; the first results in a whitish star and the second results in a golden-colored star.

During crystallisation, the two types of inclusions become preferentially oriented in different directions within the crystal, thereby forming two six-rayed stars that are superimposed upon each other to form a twelve-rayed star. The inclusions can alternatively produce a " cat's eye " effect [15] if the 'face-up' direction of the cabochon's dome is oriented perpendicular to the crystal's c-axis rather than parallel to it. If the dome is oriented in between these two directions, an 'off-center' star will be visible, offset away from the high point of the dome.

The Star of Adam is the largest blue star sapphire which weighs The gem was mined in the city of Ratnapura, southern Sri Lanka. The value of a star sapphire depends not only on the weight of the stone, but also the body color, visibility, and intensity of the asterism. A rare variety of natural sapphire, known as color-change sapphire, exhibits different colors in different light. Color change sapphires are blue in outdoor light and purple under incandescent indoor light, or green to gray-green in daylight and pink to reddish-violet in incandescent light.

Color change sapphires come from a variety of locations, including Thailand and Tanzania. The color-change effect is caused by the interaction of the sapphire, which absorbs specific wavelengths of light, and the light-source, whose spectral output varies depending upon the illuminant. Transition-metal impurities in the sapphire, such as chromium and vanadium, are responsible for the color change.

How to check blue sapphire stone Real or Fake ( neelam pathar ) with diamond selector machine

Certain synthetic color-change sapphires have a similar color change to the natural gemstone alexandrite and they are sometimes marketed as "alexandrium" or "synthetic alexandrite". However, the latter term is a misnomer: This is because genuine alexandrite is a variety of chrysoberyl: Rubies are corundum which contain chromium impurities that absorb yellow-green light and result in deeper ruby red color with increasing content.

If trace amounts of iron are present, a very pale yellow to green color may be seen. However, if both titanium and iron impurities are present together, and in the correct valence states, the result is a deep-blue color. Unlike localized "intra-atomic" absorption of light which causes color for chromium and vanadium impurities, blue color in sapphires comes from intervalence charge transfer, which is the transfer of an electron from one transition-metal ion to another via the conduction or valence band.

Because of the valence change there is a specific change in energy for the electron, and electromagnetic energy is absorbed. The wavelength of the energy absorbed corresponds to yellow light. When this light is subtracted from incident white light, the complementary color blue results. Sometimes when atomic spacing is different in different directions there is resulting blue-green dichroism.

Intervalence charge transfer is a process that produces a strong colored appearance at a low percentage of impurity. Sapphires can be treated by several methods to enhance and improve their clarity and color. Upon heating, the stone becomes more blue in color, but loses some of the rutile inclusions silk.

When high temperatures are used, the stone loses all silk inclusions and it becomes clear under magnification. Evidence of sapphire and other gemstones being subjected to heating goes back at least to Roman times. Yogo sapphires sometimes do not need heat treating because their cornflower blue coloring is uniform and deep, they are generally free of the characteristic inclusions , and they have high uniform clarity.

Diffusion treatments are used to add impurities to the sapphire to enhance color. Typically beryllium is diffused into a sapphire under very high heat, just below the melting point of the sapphire. The colored layer can be removed when stones chip or are repolished or refaceted, depending on the depth of the impurity layer. Treated padparadschas may be very difficult to detect, and many stones are certified by gemological labs e.

According to United States Federal Trade Commission guidelines, disclosure is required of any mode of enhancement that has a significant effect on the gem's value. There are several ways of treating sapphire. Heat-treatment in a reducing or oxidising atmosphere but without the use of any other added impurities is commonly used to improve the color of sapphires, and this process is sometimes known as "heating only" in the gem trade.

In contrast, however, heat treatment combined with the deliberate addition of certain specific impurities e. However, despite what the terms "heating only" and "diffusion" might suggest, both of these categories of treatment actually involve diffusion processes. Sapphires are mined from alluvial deposits or from primary underground workings. Commercial mining locations for sapphire and ruby include but are not limited to the following countries: Sapphires from different geographic locations may have different appearances or chemical-impurity concentrations, and tend to contain different types of microscopic inclusions.

Because of this, sapphires can be divided into three broad categories: Sapphires from certain locations, or of certain categories, may be more commercially appealing than others, [30] particularly classic metamorphic sapphires from Kashmir , Burma, or Sri Lanka that have not been subjected to heat-treatment. Madagascar is the world leader in sapphire production as of specifically its deposits in and around the town of Ilakaka. That area has been exploited for its sapphires started in , but it was practically abandoned just a few years later—because of the difficulties in recovering sapphires in their bedrock.

In North America , sapphires have been mined mostly from deposits in Montana: The sapphire deposits of Kashmir are well known in the gem industry, [38] although their peak production took place in a relatively short period at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Kashmir-origin contributes meaningfully to the value of a sapphire, and most corundum of Kashmir origin can be readily identified by its characteristic silky appearance and exceptional hue.

In , the French chemist Auguste Verneuil developed a process for producing synthetic sapphire crystals. Chemical dopants can be added to create artificial versions of the ruby, and all the other natural colors of sapphire, and in addition, other colors never seen in geological samples. Artificial sapphire material is identical to natural sapphire, except it can be made without the flaws that are found in natural stones. The disadvantage of Verneuil process is that the grown crystals have high internal strains. Many methods of manufacturing sapphire today are variations of the Czochralski process , which was invented in by Polish chemist Jan Czochralski.

Synthetic sapphire is also produced industrially from agglomerated aluminium oxide, sintered and fused such as by hot isostatic pressing in an inert atmosphere, yielding a transparent but slightly porous polycrystalline product. In , the world's production of synthetic sapphire was tons 1.

The first laser was made with a rod of synthetic ruby. Titanium-sapphire lasers are popular due to their relatively rare capacity to be tuned to various wavelengths in the red and near- infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. They can also be easily mode-locked. In these lasers a synthetically produced sapphire crystal with chromium or titanium impurities is irradiated with intense light from a special lamp, or another laser, to create stimulated emission.

Some sapphire-glass windows are made from pure sapphire boules that have been grown in a specific crystal orientation, typically along the optical axis, the c-axis, for minimum birefringence for the application. The boules are sliced up into the desired window thickness and finally polished to the desired surface finish. Sapphire optical windows can be polished to a wide range of surface finishes due to its crystal structure and its hardness.

The surface finishes of optical windows are normally called out by the scratch-dig specifications in accordance with the globally adopted MIL-O specification.