SAPPHIRE
Birthstone for September, sapphires have been linked to royalty and nobility throughout history and are arguably the most widely recognized of all colored gemstones. Capitalizing on their beauty and value, the modern era has seen blue sapphires become North America's #1 selling colored gemstone. The stunning engagement ring and 
matching emerald-cut pendant Prince Charles gave to Princess Diana featured blue sapphires. Found in wide range of colors, collectively known as "fancy sapphires", star sapphires can also be found that exhibit beautiful celestial rays of light that glide across the gemstones surface. We offers a full line of fancy sapphires for engagement rings so please have a look.
From time immemorial the allure of sapphires has made them the most popular of all colored gemstones. Even today, sapphires remain North America's #1 selling colored gem. Their beauty and mystique continues to enchant buyers from the four corners of the globe.
Colour Is The Most Important Factor In Determining A Sapphire's Value
Sapphires are identical in every attribute to ruby, for all are in the corundum group. The one key difference is their color. Found in a kaleidoscopic assortment of colors that range the entire spectrum, sapphires are broadly split into two named groups:
1. Sapphires - Blue sapphires only.
2. Fancy Sapphires - Sapphires of all other colors. The word sapphire, stated without a prefix, implies blue sapphires only. Sapphires of all other colors are assigned a color prefix (e.g. pink sapphires, yellow sapphires, purple sapphires etc.) or are collectively termed "Fancy Sapphires."
Blue Sapphire
This enduring and most popular color hue of the sapphire family comes in a wide range of blue colors. With the exception of the rare and collectable padparadscha sapphires, blue sapphires are thought of as the most desirable and expensive of the entire sapphire family. Graduating in color from light pastel blues all the way through to the depths of midnight blue, the most beautiful blue sapphire colors and the highest values sit in the middle to the blue-color range. While the pale blues and darker midnight blues offer the purchaser a fair value, the rare and captivating cornflower blues offer the consumer unbeatable color with a captivating beauty – but at a premium that is worth the investment.
Padparadsha Sapphire
Padparadsha are the rarest and most prized of all Fancy Sapphires. The term padparadsha is derived from an ancient Sanskirt word padmaraga for the lotus flower and it’s colour. From there it makes its way into Sinalhese padmaragaya and finally into German padparaschan. Padparadsha referred to a ruby sub-grouping that was know to have a pinkish-red, reddish orange colour. True padparadsha stone are very hard to come by and command a large price. Most stone are poorly cut trying to save finished carat weight at the expense of brilliance. Today you must also be on the look out for diffusion treated stone that produce the padparadsha colour. These stones are more valuable and rarer than diamonds.What a great way to tell your girl “I love you, will you marry me?”
Pink Sapphire
After the seductive tones of padparadsha and blue sapphire, the next most highly valued member of the family is pink sapphire. Ambiguously sharing a color border with ruby, many pink sapphires are so close to this boundary they are termed as "hot pink" with prices being at a premium. For those pink sapphire that remain firmly within the color realms of pink, consumers are offered a color range from good value pastel pink shades to the more 
expensive but vivacious colors that approach the hot pinks. Perennially the fancy sapphire favorite, pinks sapphires are often used in tandem with blue sapphires to make interesting alternatives to accent diamonds displaying bright, colorful but armonious contrasts within a single piece of jewelry.
Purple Sapphire
At their best, purple sapphires display rich purple-pink colors reminiscent of orchids. Prized by collectors, purple sapphires offer the consumer excellent a great stone to use in place of the popular tanzanite. The purple sapphire will wear better in a ring than tanzanite because of its superior hardness, where as tanzanite will scratch easily, sapphires will not.
Green Sapphire
Displaying a range of green hues, from colors reminiscent of olives through to wine bottle like greens, green sapphires are the least demanded of the sapphire family. As if to capitalize upon this under appreciation, green sapphires offer the best bargains of the sapphire family.
Yellow Sapphire
Today natural fine yellow sapphires are coming on the market in their beautiful yellow to yellow orange colours. These sapphires when cut right have a fine brilliance that is only matched by the canary diamond. The electric golden hues are found to be produced by heat treatment. These stones will match the beauty of a fine citrine. Yellow sapphires while costing 10 times more than citrine will increase in value far more over time.
Star Sapphire
Star sapphires have long been coveted for their beautiful and mysterious optical effects. Glance at a star sapphire and you will see six or even twelve rayed stars silently gliding across the gemstone's surface. With their very bright and lustrous star formations, star sapphires have traditionally been the most popular of all star gemstones. These stones make great mens rings and stunning pendants for ladies. A fine blue star sapphire or star ruby can command prices in the thousands of dollars per carat.
Colour Change Sapphire
Hailing from the Mogok Stone Tract in Upper Burma and the gem gravels of Africa, color change sapphire present gem lovers with an opportunity to own the rare and stunning alexandrite effect in a gem as rare and valuable as sapphire. These sapphires offer an very affordable alternative to the alexandrite. It would be a great birthstone for June.
Classical & Modern Sources of Sapphire
The classical sources of quality sapphires throughout history have been the Mogok Stone Tract in Upper Burma and the gem fields of Sri Lanka. So synonymous are these locales with fine sapphires that some people are prepared to pay a premium for Burmese and Ceylon sapphires over sapphires from all other sources. Frequently noted for their cornflower blues, sapphires of a Burmese provenance are thought of as slightly more desirable than those from Ceylon. However, a historical blip occurred in the quality sapphire market that temporarily pushed Burmese and Ceylon sapphires back into second and third places - sapphires from the Kudi Valley in Kashmir, India. Discovered around 1880 after landslides revealed the valley's treasures, Kashmir sapphires quickly found fame. Exhibiting intensely captivating colors, their reign at the top was but short-lived. Intensive mining lasted only thirty years, with all commercial production stopping some fifty years ago. Kashmir sapphires are almost never seen in today's market and private collectors jealously guard known specimens. With Kashmir sapphires all but non-existent, Burmese and Ceylon sapphires now command the top prices, with gem connoisseurs keenly vying for their beauty and pedigree. With history and pedigree aside, sapphires every bit as beautiful have been found widelyin Australia, Cambodia, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania, Thailand and Vietnam. Nowadays, Madagascar's prolific Ilakaka gem fields account for some 20% of total global sapphire production.
Heat
Most sapphires seen on the market today have been subjected to high temperatures in an age-old practice that is said to have originated in Sri Lanka some 2,000 years ago. Sapphires are heated at high temperatures to improve their clarity and to intensify their colors. Without this practice, we would see fewer sapphires on the market today, at far higher carat prices due to restricted and narrowed supplies. Heating sapphires makes otherwise expensive gems, more accessible and more affordable. The proportion of unheated sapphires on the market is small and is widely thought to be less than 1%. Although no more beautiful, their rarity makes them highly collectable and prices are set at a premium, sometimes fetching triple the price paid for an equivalent heated sapphire. When purchasing unheated sapphires, please be aware that unheated material is rare, as a result, always purchase from a reliable supplier who guarantees their gemstones or have the seller's claim verified by a qualified expert.
Caring for Sapphires and Fancy Colour Sapphires
The corundum family including Ruby and all colour sapphires are the second hardest gem next to diamonds. They are a 9 on Mohs Hardness Scale as well as being tough and stable thus making them an ideal jewellery gem. You can use an ultrasonic cleaner and steamer on all sapphires and rubies, but be sure that they are secure in the setting before doing so.
