Friendship and Loyalty
Blue is the main colour of the sapphire. We associate this colour, with feelings of sympathy and harmony, friendship and loyalty, feelings which belong to qualities that prove their worth in the long term.
The sapphire belongs to the corundum group, the members of which are characterized by their excellent hardness (9 on the Mohs scale). The presence of small amounts of other elements, especially iron and chrome, are responsible for the colouring, turning a crystal that was basically white into a blue, red, yellow, pink or greenish sapphire.
Top Quality Sapphires are RARE
Specialists and connoisseurs regard the Kashmir colour with its velvety shine as the most beautiful and most valuable blue. Typical of the Kashmir colour is a pure, intense blue with a very subtle violet undertone, this is 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.
The oldest sapphire finds are in Sri Lanka. There, people were already digging for gemstones in ancient times. The specialist recognizes Sri Lanka sapphires by the luminosity of their light to mid-blue colours. Though, most blue sapphires come either from Australia or from Thailand.
Sapphire's value depends on their size, colour and transparency, however; the origin of the gem also playing a major role. The most valuable are genuine Kashmir stones. Burmese sapphires are valued almost as highly, and then come the sapphires from Ceylon.
