The name Sapphire is derived from the Latin word "Sapphiros" meaning dear to the planet Saturn. It is called the stone of destiny by the people of the Orient. Due to the peaceful, heavenly hue blue stones, they were often thought to calm the mind, body and spirit. There is even a legend that says the Ten Commandments were engraved on a sapphire tablet. Sapphires gained a reputation thousands of years ago as a royal stone. Kings wore it to preserve them from harm. Today, princess' receive sapphires as engagement rings.
The term sapphire refers to the color blue corundum. Sapphires also occur in many colors, such as green, yellow, orange, pink and violet. If the color red is deep enough it would be a ruby, rather than pink sapphire. Sapphire is the birthstone for September. The best sapphires were discovered in a small deposit in Kashmire in 1880 in a remote mountain which is now exhausted. Very fine sapphires are also found in Burma. The finest color is known as cornflower blue. It is a slightly violet blue, highly saturated in mid dark tones with a velvety appearance. Another source of sapphire is from the USA from the Yogo Gulch in Montana. These sapphires may be light in tone and described as a steel blue color. |
