Introduction to Gemology with Jeffery Bergman — sapphire

When it comes to the finest gem quality blue sapphires in the world, nothing can compare with the best stones from Kashmir in northern India, and its neighbor to the east, Burma. Sapphires were first discovered in Kashmir around the year 1880, in the region known as Padar. Mining activity went on for several decades, but the finest material came out within the first thirty years. By contrast, Burma has been producing sapphires from several localities for well over 1,000 years.   Queen of her own domain, this lovely and rich twilight blue unheated Burmese sapphire is the perfect example...

When you hear the name Ceylon, you would immediately think of beaches lined with palm trees, tea plantations and of course, their famous lovely blue sapphires. Now known as Sri Lanka, this island nation has been supplying the world with some very fine gemstones for the past 2,000 years, and it is one of the oldest sources in recorded history. Marco Polo visited Ceylon on his world tour. He wrote about the wonderful variety of sapphires and rubies found there. After hearing the news, the great Kaan sent a group of his ambassadors to meet with the King of the...

Until the early 20th century, the color of ruby was considered to range from the very palest pink to the deepest blood red. In fact, pink is just a low saturation of the color red. For example, if you put one drop of blood red dye in a glass and fill it with water, it will look pink. It was Western gemologists who started calling light colored rubies “pink sapphires” in the early 1900's, and the term continues to be used by many dealers and gemstone identification laboratories to this day.   Fine example of unheated pink Madagascar sapphire - AsiaLounges Collection...