The oldest sapphire jewelry found dates back to the 7^thcentury worn by the Etruscans.  The Greeks, Egyptians and Romans later adopted the stone in jewelry. The mining of sapphires themselves inSri Lanka is known to have beenbefore the time of Buddha in 544 B.C.  Marco Polo’s travels took himto the ‘Island ofSerendb’, or known asSri Lanka, where he describes the beautiful stones.  In the writings of DeBoot in 1609, the Germans reveredthe sapphire as a ‘victory stone’.

The Hindus, Burmese and Sinhalese recognized that ruby and sapphirewere of the same mineral long before the Europeans did.  It wasn’tuntil 1800 it was documented that ruby and sapphire are both gem varieties ofthe mineral corundum.  This mineral is found in many different colors which are due tothe traces of different metallic oxides incorporated in the stone asimpurities.  Sapphires can be yellow, pink, violet, green, brown and orangein addition to the classic varieties of blues.   Padparadscha, a true orangesapphire, is named from the Sinhalese word for ‘lotus flower’ andare incredibly vibrant and rare.

Pear shaped Padparadscha ring in gold and platinum
designed by Jeff Deleuse

Derived from the Greek word sapphirus, the word sapphire actually meansblue.   In the Middle Ages this term was applied to the blue stonelapis lazuli, which caused confusion between the two stones.  It is saidthat the Ten Commandments were written on a sapphirus stone, which refers tothe lapis lazuli.

The American Museum of Natural Historyhouses one of the largest finest quality star sapphires including a 536 carat. example called theStar of India.  One of the largest known rough sapphires is a 2,302 carat whichNorman Maness spent 1800 hours carving the form of the head of Abraham Lincoln.

The most valuable blue sapphires have the color of an intense bluewithout color zoning and internal flaws.  Color zoningrefers to variation of intensity within the stone, exhibiting deeper blue hues while other areas in the stone mayappear lighter.  Many sapphires are too dark in color, especially thosefrom Thailand andAustralia.  These are generally the least expensive.  Sapphires which are toolight in color are also inexpensive.  The most valuable sapphires are well cut, intense but even color blue stones.  A blue sapphire can often be confused with stones similar in color suchas benitoite, iolite, kyanite, spinel, tanzanite, tourmaline, andirradiated blue topaz (originally white).

Since the early 1900’s synthetic sapphires have been producedwith properties identical to the natural mineral corundum and in 1947 syntheticstar sapphires became all the rage and very popular especially for men’srings.  Please refer to my earlier post on synthetic gems

Sapphires are formed in a syenite and pegmatite secondary deposits such as inthe alluvial deposits from the weathering of the parent rocks which is calledbyon.  Sapphire grows in the form of a hexagonal bi-pyramid of twelvetriangular faces.  With a hardness on the Mohs scale of a 9, the sapphireis quite durable.  However, a sapphire should be handled with care becausethey are slightly brittle and if dropped on a hard surface they will developinternal cracks.

The most famous locality for fine sapphires is the district aroundMogok in upper Myanmar.  Other important sources for the stone have been Thailand and Cambodia.  Gem deposits in this area are derived from basalt, an iron rich rock.Recently in 1980, gold miners found gem quality rubies and sapphires northwest of Hanoi in Vietnam.  Sapphires of the magnificent fine‘cornflower blue' color come fromIndia near the district of Kashmir.  Sometimes this blue color is referred to as ‘Ceylon Sapphire’, butthat may not be the source of the stone, rather a term used to identify thespecific light violet blue color.  Sapphires of many colors ranging fromblue, violet, purple, yellow, orange, white, pink are found in Sir Lankano other mine to date produces a greater variety of colorful hues.  Sources ofsapphires are found practically around the globe including: China, Afghanistan and Pakistan,Australia, UnitedStates, Kenya,Tanzania,Nigeria, Malawi and Zimbabwe,Brazil, Colombia,Norway,Finland, Czechoslovakia,Russia,Romania and Borneo.

Mining sapphires in Mogok, Myanmar

In 1894 sapphire deposits were discovered in Yogo GulchMontana, USA.  This soon became an important source until the end of the 1920’s.  Thecolor of the Montana sapphires vary from pale blue, steel blue to a pale violet blue.Tiffany Jewelers was one of the first jewelers to use Montana Sapphires. Themixture of the blue hues is striking when used together in a monochromaticdesign.  An example of this is the incredible butterfly pin created by JARwhich was exhibited in the French Masters Jewelry exhibit.

JeanToussaint, nicknamed ‘The Panther', worked with PeterLemarchand at Cartier in the design department and created thecollectioncalled ‘Great Cat Jewels.'  In 1949 the Duchess of Windsoracquired one of the most famous diamond and sapphire panther pins whichshefrequently wore.  Envy from other famous jewelry collectors, BarbaraHutton being one of the first, prompted orders for the magnificentpanthers invarying poses from Cartier.  The panther is crouched in a life likeposeon a large perfect round cabochon star sapphire weighing 152.35carats.  The Panther image has since become one of Cartier's mosticonic designs and has been incorportated into jewelry and watches eversince.

One of the most famous art deco sapphire and diamond necklaces wasowned and worn  frequently by the owner of Palm Beach’s Mar-A-Lago, Marjorie Merriweather Post.  Called the “Blue Necklace", this Art Deco style piece was createdby Cartier in 1936 and made with hundreds of square, round, and baguette cutsapphires and diamonds.  The large andperfectly blue cushion shape central sapphire is set in a diamond decomotif.  The necklace can be unclipped to two seperate bracelets andthe center sapphire deco motif can be worn separately as a brooch.  Mrs.Merriweather Post was known to have worn at least one of these pieces or theentire necklace everyday.

One of the most creative cabochon necklaces mixed with an interestingdesign and color combination was by Bulgari.  Created to commemoratethe exhibition of Tutankhamen treasures in 1972, this Egyptian style necklaceis unlike any other sapphire jewelry.   Using large cabochon cut bluesapphires, black onyx and salmon pink coral with sprinkles of diamonds thisnecklace is designed using the lotus flower motifs.  I think it representsEgyptian art form both in colors and in the mantle style jewelry worn by theroyalty.  This is a fitting piece, with the Tutankhamen exhibit onceagain on display in 2009 at the de Young museum in San Francisco.

An interesting jeweled sapphire necklace was designed in2005 by Bulgari for the movie
“My Super Ex-Girlfriend"  Set with 169 natural different colored sapphires weighing a total
of 395.89 carats andsmall bars paved in diamonds at different angles.


Multicolored Sapphire briollet necklace with diamond clasp.
Designed by Janet Deleuse

Image credits:
Daisy ring: Alex Deleuse 2009
Cut sapphires: Gems and Crystals, From the American Museum of Natural History, Anna S. Sofianides and George E. Harlow.  Photographs by Erica and Harold Van Pelt
Simon and Schuster, 1990 New York
Mogok mine: Mogok, Myanmar.  Ein Reise durch Burma zu den schonsten Rubinen und Saphiren der Welt
Roland Schlussel.  Photographs by Roland Schlussel.  Germany 2002.
Sapphire Butterfly: Masterpieces of French Jewelry, Judith Price. Running Press 2006
Cartier Panther: The Jewels of The Duchess of Windsor, Johne Culme and Nicholas Rayner, Vendome Press 1987
Art Deco Necklace: Masterpieces of French Jewelry, Judith Price. Running Press 2006
Egyptian and jeweled sapphire necklaces: Bulgari, Amanda Triossi and Daniela Mascetti, Mondadori Electa 2007
Sapphire Briollet necklace: Alex Deleuse 2009

Additional Information Credit:
Gems, Their Sources, Descriptions and Identification, R. Webster 1962 Oxford
The National Gem Collection, Jeffry E. Post, Smithsonian Institution 1997
Famous Jewelry Collectors, Stefano Papi and Alexandra Rhodes, 1999 Thames & Hudson, London