The sapphire belongs to the corundum family, an aluminium oxide and conferred being one of the finest mineral found in the world. It is remarkably hard, the second hardest substance on earth after diamond.Blue The word "sapphire" derives from Latin sapphirus, sappirus from Greek Some linguists believe that it derives from Sanskrit, Shanipriya meaning, "dear to Saturn". It is acknowledged to be the birthstone for September. Corundum may show a phenomenon called asterism, or the star effect which usually appears as a six-ray star pattern across a cabochon-cut stone’s curved surface and it arises from white light reflecting from numerous tiny, oriented needle-like inclusions.

Sapphire Treatments

Sapphires are treated by several methods to enhance and improve their clarity and color. Most common is by heating the sapphires in furnaces to temperatures between 500 and 1,800 °C (932 and 3,272 °F) for several hours, or by heating in a nitrogen-deficient atmosphere oven for seven days or more. This causes the stone to become more blue in color, but some of the rutile inclusions are lost at the same time.

Sapphire Deposits

Afghanistan, Australia, Myanmar/Burma, Cambodia, China, Colombia, India, Kenya, Laos, madagascar, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam have the deposits. The three most famous regions for most appealing blue sapphire are Kashmir, Burma and Sri Lanka. Today, Madagascar and Tanzania are considered to be two of the most important sapphire sources whilst Sri Lanka has been a known sapphire source for centuries.

Sapphire Hue

Blue sapphires are evaluated based upon the purity of their primary hue. Purple, violet, and green are the most common secondary hues found in blue sapphires The color of fine blue sapphires is a vivid medium dark violet to purplish blue.The remarkably beautiful Kashmir and Burmese sapphires have a deep blue that is described as both intense and velvety but these sapphires are not often seen on the market today. Commonly seen are from Madagascar and Sri lanka.

Sapphire Clarity and Surface

Eye-clean stones in larger sizes are quite rare,especially in ideal colors. Their transparency ranges from transparent to opaque. Blue sapphires tend to have more inclusions than most fancy-color sapphires. Transparent materials are the most valuable. Some translucent stones are cut into beads or cabochons. Opaque materials have very little gemstone value. Sometimes pale, milky, cloudy, or translucent stones can be heated to yield stones that are brighter in color and more eye-clean.

Sapphire Cut

A blue sapphire stone can be cut into enormous shapes like oval cut, round cut, angel cut, prince cut, square cut. However blue sapphire with oval cut is articulated to be the finest quality gemstone.

Sapphire Care and Cleaning

• Sapphire can be cleaned using a soft cloth or brush and plain warm soapy water. Fracture-filled, cavity-filled, or dyed material should only be cleaned with a damp cloth as they can be damaged easily by even weak acids like lemon juice.
• Untreated and even heat-treated sapphire is very durable. Therefore, ultrasonic and steam cleaners are usually safe for these stones.
• While performing heat treatment which is usually done to improve hue and tone of sapphires, it should be ensured that the stone does not lose its captivating characteristics.
• As with most the stones, avoid the use of any harsh household chemicals and cleaners, including bleach or hydrofluoric acid, as they can be corrosive.
• For storing, wrap them in a soft cloth or place them inside a fabric-lined jewelry box. Avoid wearing sapphires while doing vigorous physical exercise.

Sapphire Gemological Properties

Chemical Formula: Al2O3, Aluminum oxide

Crystal Structure: (Trigonal), double pointed, barrel-shaped, hexagonal pyramids,

Color: Blue, colorless, pink, orange, yellow, green, purple, black

Hardness: 9.00 on the Mohs scale

Refractive Index: 1.762 - 1.788

Density: 3.95 to 4.03

Cleavage: None

Transparency: Transparent to opaque.

Double Refraction: 0.008

Luster: Vitreous

Fluorescence: Blue: none; colorless: orange-yellow, violet