What is Sapphire?

The sapphire is beautiful in color. Sapphire and ruby ​​are like twin sisters, they are beautiful colored gem-grade corundum. The main difference is that they capture different coloring elements during their respective growth processes. Ruby captures chrome, red and purple. Sapphire captures iron and titanium. Since iron and titanium are present in different amounts and proportions in each gemstone, they exhibit more color. So where is the sapphire produced?

Kashmir, India:

Kashmir, India: The best color sapphire is the sapphire of Kashmir. The indigo of this sapphire is slightly purple. The jewelry world calls it cornflower blue. The color is bright and pleasing, very beautiful and looks like bright velvet azure, it is a quality sapphire variety. Its mining area is located at the northwestern end of the Himalayas. It is more than 5, 000 meters above sea level.

The earth was covered with snow and around with thick fog all the year, The mining conditions are extremely poor. It can only be found in mine for 3 months a year. It is said that it has been extensively mined since 1861 and has been stopped. The sapphire that is now circulating in the city is very precious.

Mugu Valley, Myanmar:

Mugu Valley, Myanmar: Burmese sapphire is famous in the world, mainly produced in the Mugu area. Burmese sapphire is also known as oriental sapphire, indicating a very high quality “dark blue” purple jewel. Burmese sapphire has high transparency, small cracks and a color similar to the sapphire produced in Kashmir. It is also a good product, but the output is not much. Some Burmese sapphire colors are blue, yellow, gray and white, and are more opaque.

The sapphire contains a silky inclusion, which can be rendered as a six-shot or a twelve-shot star after honing into acquired. The sapphire here is mostly produced in sand mines, and the crystals are round. The Star Sapphire “Asian Star” of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, USA, is produced in Myanmar and weighs 330 carats. It is one of the top ten gemstones in the world.

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka’s

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka’s sapphire and ruby ​​belong to the same mining area. Apart from the different colors, the other characteristics are basically the same. The color is lighter, the blue is slightly purple, the color may not be uniform enough, but the transparency and dispersion are high. The silky inclusions contained are thin and long, similar to the characteristics of Burmese sapphire, may appear as six-pointed starlight.

Sri Lanka’s sapphire mining has a long history and is said to have been an important sapphire origin in the world for more than 2,000 years. The world’s largest sapphire(up to 19. 05kg) and the world’s third-largest star sapphire(weight 362 carats) are produced in Sri Lanka’s sand mines, where sapphire is of high quality and high yield and is second to none in the world.

Thailand:

Thailand: Thai sapphire is black with blue, light gray-blue. There is no filamentous inclusion in the crystal, but the fingerprint-like liquid inclusions develop. The most striking feature is the presence of a crack in the shape of a lotus leaf around the black solid inclusion.

China:

China: The Shandong Changle sapphire deposit has a large distribution area and a large reserve, which is rare in the world. There are very few inclusions in gem-quality sapphires. In addition to the black solid inclusions, fingerprint-like inclusions are still visible. Shandong sapphire is mostly indigo, blue, green and yellow near carbon black. Mainly indigo, blue sapphire is dark due to high iron content. It needs to be color-changed to improve transparency.

The sapphire after the change of color due to less internal defects will be bright and beautiful. There is also sapphire production in Heilongjiang Province, Jiangsu Province, Fujian Province and Hainan Island in China. The output is not large and the quality is not high.

Australia

Australia: Australia is a prolific sapphire producer, mainly produced in eastern Queensland and New South Wales. The sapphire here often contains dust-like inclusions, and due to the high iron content, the color of the gemstone is darker and darker blue, yellow, green or brown that is close to carbon black. When the color is too deep or even close to black, the value will drop. The sapphire founded in 1935 in Queensland, Australia, its original stone weighs 2,303 carats. The artist, Norman, spent 1800 hours carving it into the portrait of the famous President Lincoln in American history.

Cambodia Battambang:

Cambodia Battambang: Cambodian Battambang is also an important sapphire origin in the world. The sapphire comes from basalt, the color is very beautiful, and the quality is excellent, but the particles are relatively small.