Jewelry
Sapphire Jewelry
Sapphire is from the corundum family. And if you are not familiar
with the corundum family, it is a rather interesting one. The
corundum family consists of ruby and sapphire and
Padparadsha.
Blue sapphire in its various hues and tones have long been a traditional favorite from high fashion ensembles to the day to day durability of black star sapphire rings. Sapphire is available in a range of hues and tones.
Sapphire is a durable stone, scratch resistant at 9 on the mohs scale. Because the crystal habit is hexagonal, many sapphire are cut into ovals, rovals and fancy asymmetrical shapes. The marquise cut is just one popular example of a fancy cut sapphire.
Colors of Sapphire
While the hues of sapphire won't make a rainbow, it gets close if you include cousins like Padraradsha and ruby. One of the popular sapphire colors is "pink", which many gemologists claim should not be called sapphire .. but ruby of low saturation and tone.
You can also find blue, purple, green, colorless (white), yellow, black and the orangy pink .. Padparadsha.
Color change sapphire - One variety of sapphire will change colors depending on light. Mostly mined in Tanzania, these color-change sapphires vary from showing excellent color change characteristics to barely noticeable. Common colors are:
- Blue in outdoor light and purple under incandescent indoor light
- Pink in daylight to greenish under fluorescent light
- Blue to bluish purple
Sapphire in Jewelry Settings
While blue sapphire is probably best served by the white metal settings of silver, white gold and platinum, the green, gold and black may prefer gold. Black star sapphires are especially attractive in gold setting without accessory stones.
Sapphire Cuts
Faceted Sapphire
You will see most sapphires cut into faceted gems. Pay attention to excessive bulge and gems cut too shallow. Yes, cutters do that because the stone will weigh slightly more .. and they are paid / sold by carat weight. But those shallow-cut gems with excessive bulge can get pretty ugly. Gemologists call that windows and extinction.
Corundum Cut en Cabochon
Cabochon cut corundum will generally be more chip resistant. Cabochon cuts are necessary to display the "star" or asterism that results from microscopic "silk" in translucent gems. Black star sapphire looks especially masculine in men's rings.
Buff Cut Corondum
aka cab-top mix the two cuts. A crown cut en cabochon is more durable yet the faceted pavilion shows the points of brilliance common in traditional cuts. Again, the buff cut may be especially appropriate for men's jewelry.