Keywords:
Awareness, discipline, protectiveness
Affirmation:
Through the sustained focus of my will, I will manifest my dreams
Birthstone:
Sapphire is the birthstone for the month of September.
Zodiac:
Sapphire is the zodiac stone for Virgo (August 23 – September 23)
Wedding anniversary:
Sapphire is anniversary gemstone for the 5th and 45th years of marriage
Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide when it is a color other than red or dark pink, in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Like the ruby, it is second only to the diamond in terms of hardness.
Although blue is their most well-known hue, sapphires are made up of any color of corundum except for red. Sapphires may also be colorless, and they are also found in shades of gray and black. In the jewellery trade, sapphires which are not blue are referred to as ‘fancies’.
The cost of natural sapphires varies depending on their color, clarity, size, cut, and overall quality – as well as their geographic origin. Significant sapphire deposits are found in Eastern Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Burma, Ceylon, Brazil, East Africa, and in a few locations in the US such as in or near the Missouri River in the region around Helena, Montana. Sapphire and rubies are often found together in the same area, but one gem is usually more abundant.
Specialists and connoisseurs regard the Kashmir colour with its velvety shine as the most beautiful and most valuable blue. Sapphires from Kashmir were to have a lasting influence on people’s idea of the colour of a first-class sapphire. Typical of the Kashmir colour is a pure, intense blue with a very subtle violet undertone intensified yet more by a fine, silky shine. It is said that this hue does not change in artificial light. But the Burmese colour is also regarded as particularly valuable. It ranges from a rich, full royal blue to a deep cornflower blue.
From the gemstone mines, the raw crystals are first taken to the cutting-centres where they are turned into sparkling gemstones by skilled hands. When cutting a sapphire, indeed, the cutter has to muster all his skill, for these gemstones are not only hard. Depending on the angle from which you look at them they also have different colours and intensities of colour. So it is the job of the cutter to orientate the raw crystals in such a way that the colour is brought out to its best advantage.