Sapphires have been a favorite gemstone choice for centuries because of their naturally gorgeous blue color. They are a great way to provide your bride with “something blue “on her wedding day. They are considered to be one of the four most precious jewels, along with diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. Sapphires are both beautiful and durable. They have a hardness of nine on the moh’s scale making them very nearly as hard as diamonds. If you want a colorful gemstone that is as durable as it is beautiful, sapphire is an excellent choice. Sapphire provides a rich color contrast when combined with diamond or ruby and can be combined with these stones to make unique and precious jewelry.
Symbolism
Your engagement ring is the symbol of your unique love. This special woman is the one you have chosen to spend the rest of your life with so choose a ring that is as individual as she is. Planning a wedding is stressful. Let your engagement ring be a reminder to you of the end goal, a happy, harmonious and long life together. Ancient cultures used sapphire to make talismans. These talismans were thought to have protective powers and they symbolized wisdom and honesty, all very helpful in your marriage!
Geography
Sapphires occur all over the world but there are only a few locations that produce fine quality blue sapphires. Most gem sapphires come from Thailand, Australia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Recently there are beautiful stones from Madagascar as well. Historically there were very valuable stones from the Kashmir district of India but those mines have played out. If it is important to you to buy American, there is also sapphire from Montana available. The value of sapphire is determined by its color. The more true and rich the blue, the more expensive the sapphire will be.
Shades
Most sapphire used for jewelry is some shade of blue. The blues available can be so dark as to be almost black, or very pale with an aqua blue color, and every shade imaginable in between. What you might not know is that sapphire occurs in almost every color of the rainbow. There are beautiful pinks and oranges and purples as well as green and yellow. Padparadscha sapphire is a gorgeous peachy pink color and is highly prized and expensive. Some of the other colors are very beautiful and reasonably priced making them a versatile choice to fit into your budget.
