Traditionally, sapphire symbolizes nobility, truthfulness, sincerity and faith. For centuries, it has been added to the robes of nobles and clergy in the palace as decoration. Compared with other blue gems, such as the blue of topaz and tanzanite, the extraordinary color of sapphire is the most standard and classic.
Sapphire has been associated with the romantic love story of the royal family for hundreds of years. The connection between them is even more striking in 198 1: Prince Charles of England presented Diana with a sapphire engagement ring at the right time. Until Diana died suddenly in 1997, the princess's charm had conquered the whole world, and her Sri Lankan blue gem ring of 12 carat, like history and fairy tales, was recorded in modern history.
In ancient Greece and Rome, kings and queens believed that sapphire could protect its owner from jealousy and harm. In the Middle Ages, the clergy wore sapphire to symbolize heaven, while the general public thought that sapphire attracted blessings from heaven. In other historical periods, in other countries and regions, people regard sapphire as a symbol of chastity. It also has the power to make peace with the enemy, influence the spiritual world and expose the secrets of the Oracle.
Sapphire is always associated with blue in folklore, history, art and consumption consciousness. Its name comes from Sappheiros in Greece, and it was once called celestite. Most jewelry consumers always think that all sapphires are blue, but for jewelry experts, when the word sapphire appears or is used alone, it refers to blue sapphire.
A special orange-pink sapphire is called "Padparadscha Corundum Papara Cha", which means "Cha" in Sri Lankan Sinhalese. Lotus? . Only the orange-pink sapphire from Sri Lanka can be named "Padparadscha Corundum Papara Tea" in the market. No one in history can sell the exact quantity produced in pagbalha. But Sri Lankans have a soft spot for this color, which also has some close emotional connection with their country.
Sapphire is a kind of corundum, and its color ranges from pure blue to cyan to purple blue. Name? Sapphire? Suitable for any corundum variety except ruby, which is a single red corundum variety.
Besides blue sapphires and rubies, what else is the corundum family called? Colored sapphire? Members: purple, green, yellow, orange, pink, purple and some excessive colors. There are also some variegated sapphires to show combinations of different colors. Some gemstones have a color-changing effect, which is blue under sunlight or fluorescence and purple under incandescent lamp. Sapphire may even be gray, black or brown.
Colored sapphires are generally rarer than sapphires, and some colors are very rare, especially in very small or very large sizes. The color of the rainbow brought by colored sapphires is something that anyone who is eager for romance can't miss. People who pursue uniqueness tend to favor colored sapphires.
Mineral corundum is composed of aluminum and oxygen, and it needs a special growth environment without silicon. But silicon is a very common primary color, which makes natural corundum rare. In its purest state, corundum is virtually colorless. Colorless sapphires used to be the most popular diamond imitations, but now they are making a comeback as inlaid matching gems.
But colorless corundum is very rare, because most corundum often contains color-developing elements. When containing iron and titanium, corundum becomes blue sapphire. Only a few percentage points will lead to discoloration. The higher the iron content, the deeper the blue color of sapphire. The primary color of chromium can cause the red of ruby and the pink of pink sapphire.
In 1990s, the colored sapphires found in East Africa and Madagascar were widely recognized. The new mining area has increased the supply of traditional producing areas including yellow, orange, pink and purple sapphires, such as Sri Lanka and Madagascar.
Various colors attract jewelry designers to get rid of the traditional red, blue and green. Nowadays, contemporary designers choose colored sapphires to create amazing rainbow colors.
Corundum can show starlight effect, that is, six-shot stars appear on the gem table with the surface cut into plain faces. Various colors of corundum can show starlight effect, which is formed by directional inclusion reflection.
Besides colored sapphires and starlight sapphires, color-changing sapphires are also an interesting variety. These fascinating gems can change color under different light sources, and their existence makes corundum a special member of this big family.
Gem-grade sapphires and colored sapphires have many origins, including Madagascar, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Australia and Myanmar.
Sapphire quality factors
Sapphire is one of the three great gems, and the other two are ruby and emerald. It is the birthstone of September, and its hard texture attracts many jewelry buyers with its practicality and romantic feelings.
Selection method of sapphire The evaluation and selection factors of sapphire are color, weight, transparency and purity. Sapphire is characterized by uneven color, undeveloped polycrystalline twins and strong dichroism.
1, the color of sapphire is an indicator of its value. A deep sapphire may cost HK$ 100 per card, but a good cornflower sapphire costs HK$ 10,000 per card. In America and Europe, people prefer dark sapphires. In Hong Kong, consumers like medium dark blue, which is a kind of sapphire with higher price. Put the sapphire out of one arm and carefully observe whether it is blue or black. If it is blue, then your choice is not far away.
2. Look at gems under natural sunlight and artificial light. Gemstones will look brighter in strong light, but they will be darker in general sunlight.
3. See if the color is even. Cracks will affect the beauty and durability of gems. If the feather extends to the surface of the stone, a sudden impact (such as rubbing a sparrow) will break the gem.
4. Don't forget to observe the cutting and proportion of gems.
Like rubies, be careful of imitations and fakes.
Sapphire and similar minerals can be correctly distinguished by their respective mineral crystal characteristics. Gem-grade blue cone ore is only produced in the United States, and the output is very small. Although its color is similar to sapphire, its hardness is small, and its Mohs hardness is only 6-6 and 5, so it can be distinguished from sapphire by hardness alone. Natural sapphire has birefringence, while spinel is single refraction. If there is a red flash in the sapphire, it can be concluded that the sapphire is spinel or zoisite. Sapphire's high hardness, high density and high refractive index can be distinguished from tourmaline, cordierite and zoisite.
The identification method of sapphire is as precious as ruby. If the color, clarity and cutting are good, the price will be high. Small ones often cost tens of thousands of yuan. However, there are many fake sapphires on the market, so we must be careful. It doesn't cost much to buy a high-quality sapphire, and most of them are deceived.
Sapphire belongs to the category of jewelry. At present, collecting jewelry is very common. But in the process of buying and selling collections, the most important thing is to learn some appraisal knowledge.
The most common sapphire on the market is glass. In fact, it is relatively easy to identify glass. Glass is shaped at high temperature, naturally shrinks after cooling, and the plane is concave inward. This kind of depression is not easy to find with the naked eye, so a magnifying glass must be used. When using a magnifying glass, you can't focus in a straight line, but focus obliquely, so it is easy to find the concave surface. The concave surface is usually glass. The polishing of precious stones usually achieves a very flat effect. Another identification method is that there are many kinds of inclusions in glass, the most common one is bubbles, while gems have no bubbles. Bubbles in glass can be found with a magnifying glass of 10 times.
There is also a sapphire that acts as a synthetic sapphire. The identification method is to first look at the texture and whether the texture structure is naturally crystallized. Rock crystal is often messy, so it is generally genuine. However, the crystallization of synthetic sapphire is often very orderly. Of course, many synthetic sapphires are clean and flawless, usually fakes. Because there are always some impurities in natural gems, there are almost no clean ones. This synthetic sapphire is often dazzling in color and superficial in luster, without the deep feeling of natural color. Natural gemstones are high in color purity, not dazzling, and their brilliance is naturally emitted from the inside out.
Glass: cobalt
Synthetic spinel: same as above.
Sandwich stone: the upper part is real sapphire and the lower part is fake. Put the stone into the water and carefully observe the different colors, luster and contents of the waist.
Spinel: Single refraction, different refractive index.
Tanzanite: Different physical properties.