Sapphires
The sapphire is corundum, aluminium oxide, and it is genuinely hard to imitate. Commonly known as blue, sapphires also come in yellow, pink, orange, purple and green. Red corundum exists too, but a red sapphire has another name: a ruby.
Colour is everything
As with all coloured gemstones, colour is judged on hue, tone and saturation, and it is the most important factor in a sapphire’s beauty and value. The rarest of all is the orange-pink hue reminiscent of a sunset, the padparadscha, usually found deep within Sri Lanka and commanding significant prices for its rarity.
Most sapphires on the market are heat treated, a practice dating back to Roman times. Heating between roughly 500 and 1800 degrees reduces the “silky” layer in the stone and improves its transparency and colour. Genuinely unheated stones are rare, and should come certified by an independent gemological laboratory.
Made for every day
Sapphire measures 9.0 on the Mohs scale, one of the hardest gems available, which is why it suits engagement rings and jewellery that gets worn daily rather than kept for occasions.
The gem of trust
The word comes from the Greek sappheiros, simply “blue”, and the ancient Greeks thought the sky took its colour from these stones. Blue has long stood for trust, loyalty and integrity, which is why sapphires were prominent in engagement rings in ancient times, and why they still are. For many people, a sapphire is the next best thing to a diamond, and for some, the first best thing.