Sapphire Sap•phire (noun): A crystalline variety of the mineral corundum. The Sapphire is among the most valuable of the world’s jewels: classified as a precious gem along with diamond, emerald and Sapphire’s sister ruby. Ruby is another crystalline variety of corundum, exhibiting every nuance of red: all other colors in corundum’s spectrum are termed as Sapphire whether it is ‘Blue Sapphire’, ‘Padparadscha Sapphire’ or ‘Fancy Sapphire’. Sapphire stated without any given color prefix is usually used to refer to Blue Sapphire.

Blue Sapphire derives its vivid coloration from the combination of Iron and Titanium impurities present in corundum, whilst it’s sister the ruby gets its red coloration from chromium. Sapphires, due to their chemical composition and wider availability, are found with much better clarity than Ruby. Sapphire scores a 9 out of 10 on the Moh’s scale of mineral hardness, surpassed only by the 10 of diamonds, also the case for Sapphire’s sub-adamantine luster which is also just under that of diamond. Blue Sapphire held in the highest esteem, originates from Kashmir, Burma (Myanmar), Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia and East Africa.