Blue Sapphire’s hues reflect the sky’s every
shade, from blazing afternoon to velvety midnight.
Traditionally, the gem symbolizes nobility, truth, sincerity,
and faithfulness. It has decorated the robes of royalty and
clergy members for centuries. Its extraordinary colour is the
standard against which other blue gems are measured.
Like most coloured
stones the most important influence on blue sapphire’s value is
its colour. It can appear from very light to very dark violetish
blue to greenish blue. The most highly valued blue sapphires are
velvety, blue to violetish blue.
Blue Sapphire is a
member of a mineral species corundum, which comes virtually in
every colour of the rainbow. Its red variety is Ruby, and like
the Ruby Blue Sapphires rates 9 on the Moh’s scale making it a
very durable stone. The word sapphire when used alone typically
refers to the blue variety. Other colours such as yellow, pink
and orange are termed fancy sapphires.
Blue Sapphire Sources:
Three historically important sources are
Kashmir, Myanmar and Sri Lanka produce what are considered the
finest-quality blue sapphires on the market. Sources responsible
for the bulk of commercial-quality blue sapphire include
Thailand, Cambodia, Australia and Madagascar
