< Back to overview

Sapphire - beauty, purity, and the stone of faith

Sapphire symbolizes a force stronger than us - which stands for truth, wisdom and chastity. In the same way, the three lines of the stars are said to represent faith, hope and love. The sapphire is the royal gemstone. It has been given strength to ensure royals against envy.

The unique characteristics of the gemstone

The blue color of the sapphire is due to a small amount of iron and titanium.

The sophisticated and hard sapphire makes it very useful in non-decorative and more practical contexts, including infrared optical components (as in titanium-sapphire lasers)  as high-strength fracture material in scientific equipment, as crystals for use in wristwatches and as gramophone pickups as well as nails.The sapphire has a melting point of 2,040 ° C.

In the past, there were several misleading names used for fancy sapphire varieties, most of which are no longer used, such as “Oriental Perodot”', a term which was used to refer to green sapphire.

The finest quality blue sapphire, based on auction prices, comes from Kashmir and Mogok, Burma. The finest Kashmir and Burmese sapphires display super color and clarity without any thermal treatment.

Famous gemstones

The largest star sapphire is the Star of India, which weighs an amazing 536 carat and discovered more than 300 years ago, in Sri Lanka. It was donated to the American Museum of Natural History by the financier J. P. Morgan. The Crown Jewels of United Kingdom contains two famous sapphires; the St. Edward's and the Stuart Sapphire (104 carats).