- Sapphires have been coveted and worn in jewelry for thousands of years in ancient Persia, the Roman Empire, and throughout the Middle Ages
- Sapphires come in a rainbow of colors! Including blues, yellows, orange, pinks, green. Red corundum is called Ruby. Colors other than blue are called Fancy Sapphires.
- Sapphire (corundum) is one of the hardest minerals! It ranks a 9 on the Mohs hardness scale.
- Blue sapphire gets its color from iron and titanium. Ruby gets its color from chromium.
- One of the rarest sapphires is a pinkish-orange color called padparadscha. The name is derived from a Sinhalese word for lotus flower. These gemstones can be found in the rivers in and around Sri Lanka
- The word Sapphire comes from the Greek word “Sapheiros“, and the Latin word “Saphirus” which means blue.
- Sapphires are often heat-treated to improve their color and clarities.
- The largest Sapphire ever cut is the Millennium Sapphire discovered in Madagascar, weighing an impressive 61,500 carats.
- Sapphires are Pleochroism stones. Meaning, viewing these stones from two different angles (like the top view and the side view), may produce two totally different colors; green in one view, blue in another.
- Blue Sapphire is the proper gift for these Wedding Anniversaries: 5th, 10th, 12th, 16th (Star Sapphire), 45th, and the 85th Wedding Anniversaries.
- Some of the best sapphires are mined in Kashmir, Burma, and Sri Lanka (Ceylonese).
- The most famous sapphire ring today is the royal sapphire ring given by Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. Princess Catherine now wears the ring. The ring possesses a 12-carat oval blue sapphire and is surrounded by diamonds.
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