Sapphire is the gem variety of corundum. So is ruby! One is a striking bright blue color, and the other is a sensuous deep pinkish red.
Sapphire can be found in many deposits and available in many colors throughout the world, but it is important to know how sapphires come to the market, and especially how they are priced. This is one of the most confusing principles that buyers seem to have a concern with. As a Graduate Gemologist, and NAJA appraiser, I am allowed to put a valuation on a gemstone; however the Gemological Institute of America and the American Gemological Laboratory can only determine source and treatment, not value.
Another perplexing detail about sapphires is where they come from and why they are named what they are. For instance Burma has produced many millions of carats sapphires over hundreds of years. This market was once highly regulated and very dangerous. In 1989 Burma became Myanmar, and although this country still produces sapphires for the market, the prices of Burmese and Myanmar skyrocketed. Ceylon was the name of the large island located below India which has some of the largest deposits of sapphire in the world, but today those are called Sri Lankan, as that is now the name of the country they are sourced from. The term 'Ceylon Blue' is like ‘periwinkle blue’ in the crayon box. It only determines a color and does not authenticates the source of your sapphire.
Less expensive material comes from Thailand, which can be a very dark, ‘inky’ blue. Cornflower blue is one of the most desirable colors, but is very hard to find and often heat treated. The Madagascar sapphire is highly prized and vibrant blue in color.
There are some newer mines in the United States in Montana, which produced sapphires in the 1800’s and the Yogo Gulch mine produced a very limited but fine quality of bright blue sapphires that were generally small in stature but strong in color. Today the teal colored sapphires from the Montana mines are very popular, and also becoming more and more expensive and rare.
When buying a sapphire it is best to know your dealer and their reputation. Having an AGL or GIA certification is the best way to be assured of where your sapphire has been mined, and a record of the determination whether it is has endured any treatment to it. When looking into a sapphire through a microscope, there is a world of inclusions, and this also helps to establish whether a gemstone is a natural or a synthetic. Some sapphires are heat treated either in ovens or electrically, where as natural non-heat treated gemstones are very hard to find, and they should be authenticated by a registered laboratory to be called ‘No Heat’.
Sapphires can range in prices from $1000.00 a carat to $20,000 a carat or more. This price will be determined by where it was found, how well it is cut, how clean it is of inclusions, how bright it is with color, and if it has been treated. Here at Christine Marguerite I am considered a colored gemstone specialist. I have access to fine gemstones for the best prices around the world. I stand behind every gemstone we sell, and look forward to seeing you when it is time for you to make a special purchase like a fine colored gemstone.