Sapphire is a valuable gem from the corundum mineral. They are most renowned for their bright blue color though they do exist in several different color varieties. Sapphires have a remarkable history, from gaining fame with the imperial family to being used in ancient legends. Therefore, sapphires are among the most looked-for gemstones for jewelry (together with diamonds).
Sapphire: Everything you need to know about the Gemstone
Message and Use of Sapphires
They were once thought to guard against evil acts and food poisoning. Usually, a fav stone of kings and priests, the shining Sapphire depicts purity & wisdom. This stone is ever connected to holy things and seen as the gem of all gems. They are thought to give luck, loyalty, and happiness in love such that it is an ideal stone in a wedding ring.
Sapphire meant the height of heavenly hope and faith to the old and medieval world and was said to give good fortune, protection, and spiritual enlightenment. As I said earlier, they are believed to provide loyalty, luck, and happiness in marriage.
Also, Sapphire has a link with romance and is usually used in wedding rings. Blue sapphire especially has a connection with the throat chakra and can be employed to improve self-expression. Royal blue sapphire kicks up the third eye chakra as well and will assist you in becoming more aware that you’re responsible for your thoughts and feelings. It is thought to improve your integrity and insight. In feng shui, dark blue Sapphire is associated with knowledge and self-development.
Sapphires and Royalty
Sapphires have lived as the precious Gemstone of imperial and wealthy families for centuries, so it’s not surprising that they’ve grown in popularity in recent times, working as the center stone or accent stone in wedding and fashion jewelry pieces. The reality that Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton using his mother’s 18-carat blue sapphire wedding ring started the precedent and has spurred a continuous trend among couples looking for colored gemstone wedding rings. Yet, before Princess Di got her gorgeous blue stones, generations had loved the indigo beauties as symbols of virtue, good fortune, wisdom, and holiness.
The Four C’s of Sapphire
CARAT
Gemstone weight is denoted in carats. One carat is equal to 200 mg. Gemstone sizes are usually represented in millimeters assuming the Gemstone is little, commonly below one carat. As gemstones do not all have the exact specific gravity, carat weight is not always used as a measurement of dimension. Variations in gemstone density indicate that you will find several gems of the same carat weight but very different sizes. More enormous gemstones are not seen like that in nature compared to smaller ones. Because of the scarcity of prominent gemstones, the more the carat weight, the more the price per carat climbs to.
CUT
Cut not only means the silhouette of the gem but the finesse of the cutting itself as well. Gems are often designed for decorative ornamentation, layered with straight-lined or kite-shaped facets, or cut en cabochon, smooth surfaces with zero angular facetings. A fine-cut gem will present an excellent symmetry, well-defined facet junctions when facets are present, and soft polished areas. Colored gems are also cut to retain color and to enhance carat weight. Many gems will show zones of color that a professional lapidary will carefully and use to the best level. A brilliant cut can improve color and portray a gemstone at its finest, while a poor amount can destroy its color.
Color
Color is the most crucial factor when buying a colored gem. The color of the Sapphire is what draws our attention and makes us take a closer look. But this is only when the stone’s color has the proper saturation, tone, and hue measures. Removing the stone may look gray, bleak, and colorless.
Hue is the Gemstone’s primary color. Even as a sapphire’s color may be considered yellow or blue, gems are often a synergy of hues. For instance, blue Sapphire can feature violet or green secondary color components that influence their beauty & value. The hue of these stones would be better precisely described as violetish-blue or greenish-blue.
Tone, which means how bright or dark a stone’s color is, will also affect a sapphire’s value. The choicest tones for sapphires start from hue to hue, but most elegant sapphires have a moderate to medium-dark tone. For instance, sapphires with a genuinely dark tone are often considered “inky.”
Saturation means how pure or deep color looks, and it is the main component in assessing a sapphire’s value. The color of these stones may be “diluted” with what is known as a “saturation modifier.” With beautifully colored sapphires like green, violet, and blue, gray is the regular saturation modifier.
With warm-colored sapphires like red, orange, and yellow, the standard saturation modifier is brown. Irrespective of the Sapphire’s hue, increased saturation levels are liked, indicating modifiers do not dilute their color. The best sapphires possess “vivid” saturation, but sapphires with “strong” saturation are also prized.
A set of other factors may also add to the visible color of a sapphire. For instance, particular inclusions can then enhance the color of a sapphire. Minute needles of rutile silk are very reflective, and they reflect light in the stone, which may improve its transparent color.
A sapphire’s color may also be based on how it is cut. Professional gemstone cutters cut sapphires to enhance their brilliance, lessen color zoning and show their best pleochroic color. We talk about this more when we discuss the cut of a stone.
CLARITY
Clarity means the purity of a gemstone and is used to detail the “fingerprints” of nature that occur internally in various forms and on the exterior of gemstones. In precious gems, a high clarity grade represents the transparency of the Gemstone, giving way for the natural beauty of gemstone color to be realized in the absence of interruption or interference from natural inclusions in the crystal structure. Gemstones are opaque, translucent, or transparent. Most gems that possess characteristically low clarity, such as emeralds, can be precious. And semi-precious gemstones are often valued for their fun and unusual inclusions.
