It gets quite confusing when you are choosing from a medley of colors each of them being equally
alluring and irresistibly fascinating. Same holds true for gemstones. How often you find yourself
struggling hard while making a final choice in a jewelry showroom? There is a lot more to these
gemstones than their color and eye appeal. And it is the combination of all these factors that not only
help you make a final choice but also be sure about making a right purchase.
Sapphire is one of the four gemstones crowned as precious gem. Apart from its charismatic appearance
and luster there are many other attributes contributing to its unique existence. Apart from money
matters a bit of gemstone awareness also helps in understanding what gemstone best caters your
needs. Trillion sapphire
What is Sapphire?
Sapphire is a mineral belonging to family of corundums. It falls next to diamonds when it comes to
durability. Due to this attribute sapphire is a good choice for engagement and wedding rings. While to
most people sapphire is the gem available in the hues of blue, in actual all corundums other than red are
classified as sapphire. Therefore apart from its signature blue color sapphire also comes in shades of
pink, yellow, green and can even be colorless.
Sapphire gemstone essentials:
Sapphire like all other gemstones sapphire is also scaled on the basis of four factors being color, clarity,
carat and cut. These factors play a key role in determining quality and price of sapphire.
Color:
Blue sapphire: Sapphires with blue as primary color are classified as blue sapphire. Blue Sapphires are
usually found in the secondary hues or overtones of violet, purple and green. Out of these, violet and
purple are considered favorable. The intensity and vividness of blue decides the quality of blue
sapphires. Sapphires in medium to medium dark tones of blue that are dense and pure in appearance
are considered to be of good quality. Sapphire in light tones usually price less and those with access
saturation causing gray masking or opaqueness are also prices less.
Pink Sapphires: Again tone is an essential factor in determining the quality of pink sapphire. Pink
sapphires with good color concentration are highly sort after varieties.
Other shades of Sapphire: Sapphire is also available in pale shades of green, yellow and orange. Salmon
colored sapphire are termed as Padparadscha and are valued high if good in intensity.
Clarity: To understand clarity it is better to break it in terms of inclusions, blemishes and transparency.
The term inclusion refers to the defects inside the stone, blemishes appear on surface due to normal
wear tear and transparency refers to the ability of stone to reflect light. Blue sapphires usually come
more included than their other colored counterparts. Since sapphire is a hard gem a good stone is
unlikely to have surface blemishes. Level of transparency in sapphire is scaled as transparent,
semitransparent, translucent, Semi-translucent or semi-opaque and Opaque, transparent being the
most favorable and opaque being lest favorable. Clarity of sapphire is commercially graded as follows:
VVS – Very, very slightly included, eye clear stone with minor inclusions visible only under magnification
VS – Very slightly included slight inclusions unlikely visible through naked eyes but visible under
magnification.
SI1 – Slightly included, inclusions hardly visible to naked eyes but clearly visible under magnification.
There might also be a slight affect on transparency.
SI2 – Slightly included, inclusions that are slightly visible to naked eyes.
I1 – Obvious inclusions, inclusion clearly visible to naked eyes with poor transparency
I2 – Prominent inclusions, not a gemnation quality stone
I3 – Numerous and prominent inclusions, not a gemnation quality stone
Carat and cut:
sapphires are measured in size rather than carat weight. This is because of its density. So a one carat
sapphire would be smaller in size than a one carat diamond. Therefore one should refer to size in mm to
get an actual fitting.
Apart from symmetry and proportions cut has got a big role to play in color display and brilliance of
sapphire. Stones that are too deep will look smaller than expected but they will show off more color
than they would if they were cut to normal proportions. On one hand where deep-cut stones preserve
weight, increasing the cost of the stone, shallow cuts make stones look big for their weight and appear
lighter in color than deeper-cut stones.
Sapphire Ring – The Sign of Royalty!
If diamond is the pick of masses then Sapphire is for those choosy ones with committed passion for
jewelry. With whites it looks like deep Blue Ocean surrounded by ice covered terrain. When worn with
black it’s like some sort of conspiracy you cannot afford to take your eyes off. Brilliantly colored and
extremely vibrant Sapphire is no doubt the gemstone of big and kingly.
It’s quit strange how we connect ourselves to things around us based on emotions it evokes in us. Due
to its durability and heavenly blue color sapphire was perceived as symbol of divine, good fortune,
virtue, wisdom and holiness in ancient history. Its rarity is another factor that it was regarded as a priced
possession and sign of prestige. Be it for representing power or for elating beauty and pride, Sapphire
has the history of accompanying the rich and famous. Its recent royal association has been with Princess
Diana and Princess Anne as they both received sapphire rings.
Thanks to modern day designers and jewelry retails that Sapphire has landed into common masses. The
esteemed gemstone of the crowns is now available in everyday wear, simple and sophisticated
contemporary designs. So next time you out shopping for jewelry go imperial with heady blue Sapphire.
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