Natural Sapphires

The Beauty of Natural Sapphire

Natural sapphires are among the world's most beautiful and enduring gemstones.

Best known for their magnificent blue colour, sapphires occur naturally in an extraordinary range of colours, including pink, yellow, green, purple, orange and colourless.

Every natural sapphire is unique. Its colour, clarity and internal characteristics are the result of geological processes that took place within the earth over millions of years.

For someone looking for an engagement ring or special piece of jewellery that is distinctive, colourful and suitable for regular wear, a natural sapphire can be an exceptional choice.

What Is a Sapphire?

Sapphire belongs to the mineral family corundum.

Pure corundum is colourless. Trace elements present while the crystal is forming create the different colours we associate with sapphires.

Interestingly, ruby is also corundum. When corundum displays the appropriate red colour, it is classified as ruby. Other colours are generally classified as sapphire.

Sapphires Aren't Just Blue

Blue is by far the colour most commonly associated with sapphire, but the natural sapphire colour palette is remarkably diverse.

Sapphires can occur in:

  • Blue
  • Pink
  • Yellow
  • Green
  • Purple
  • Orange
  • Colourless
  • Teal
  • Parti-colour

Sapphires occurring in colours other than blue are commonly referred to as fancy sapphires.

One particularly rare variety is Padparadscha sapphire, traditionally associated with a delicate combination of pink and orange. Because the precise definition of Padparadscha can be important to its value, significant stones represented as Padparadscha should ideally be accompanied by a report from a respected independent gemstone laboratory.

What Makes a Natural Sapphire Valuable?

Unlike diamonds, coloured gemstones do not have a universally applied grading system equivalent to the diamond 4Cs.

Several factors are considered when assessing a natural sapphire, but colour is particularly important.

A beautiful sapphire should have an attractive combination of hue, tone and saturation. A stone that is excessively dark may appear almost black in some lighting, while one that is too pale may lack intensity.

The beauty of the colour should also be considered across the entire stone. Some natural sapphires display colour zoning, where areas of the gemstone show different concentrations of colour.

Other important considerations include:

Clarity – Natural sapphires commonly contain inclusions. Their presence does not automatically make a sapphire undesirable. The nature, position and visibility of those inclusions are more important.

Cut – A well-cut sapphire can maximise the beauty of its colour, brilliance and overall appearance.

Carat weight and size – Larger fine-quality natural sapphires are generally rarer than smaller examples, although carat weight alone does not determine value.

Origin – Certain geographic origins can attract premiums in the market when accompanied by appropriate laboratory evidence, although origin alone does not determine whether a sapphire is beautiful or desirable.

Treatment – Whether a sapphire has been treated, and the type of treatment involved, can have a significant effect on rarity and value.

Are Natural Sapphires Treated?

Yes. Treatment is common in the coloured gemstone market.

The most established treatment for sapphire is heat treatment, which has been used for many years to improve or modify colour and/or clarity.

A heat-treated sapphire is still a natural sapphire. The gemstone was formed naturally within the earth; it has subsequently undergone treatment.

An important distinction therefore exists between:

Natural heated sapphire – a naturally formed sapphire that has undergone heat treatment.

Natural unheated sapphire – a naturally formed sapphire for which a recognised laboratory finds no indications of heating.

All other factors being comparable, fine unheated sapphires can command substantial premiums because of their relative rarity.

There are also other forms of sapphire treatment, some of which can have a much greater impact on value. This is one of the reasons why proper disclosure and independent laboratory testing can be so important when purchasing a significant natural sapphire.

Certification – Why It Matters

When purchasing an important natural sapphire, independent laboratory certification is extremely important.

A gemstone report can help establish information that cannot reliably be determined simply by looking at the stone.

Depending on the laboratory, gemstone and testing results, a report may state:

  • Whether the gemstone is natural or laboratory-grown
  • Whether evidence of heat treatment has been detected
  • Whether other detectable treatments are present
  • The gemstone's weight and measurements
  • Its colour and identification
  • In appropriate cases, an opinion regarding geographic origin

This becomes increasingly important as the value and rarity of the gemstone increase.

A certificate should not be confused with a valuation. A gemstone laboratory identifies and describes the stone based on its testing; it does not necessarily tell you what the gemstone is worth.

At Dream Diamonds, we believe significant natural gemstones should be accompanied by appropriate independent laboratory documentation wherever practical.

Depending on the gemstone and circumstances, internationally recognised laboratories may include organisations such as GIA, Gübelin Gem Lab, SSEF and AGL, GSL, among others.

The laboratory that is most appropriate can depend on the type and value of the gemstone and the information being sought.

Does Country of Origin Matter?

Natural sapphires are found in several parts of the world, including Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Australia, Myanmar, Kashmir and other locations.

Certain origins have developed particularly strong reputations within the international gemstone market.

However, geographic origin should never be considered in isolation.

A beautiful sapphire from one location can be far more desirable than an ordinary sapphire from a more famous location.

For valuable stones where origin materially affects the asking price, we recommend relying on the opinion of a respected independent gemstone laboratory rather than accepting an unsupported claim about where the gemstone was mined.

Sapphire Hardness and Durability

Sapphire measures 9 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, second only to diamond among the commonly used jewellery gemstones.

This excellent hardness makes sapphire particularly suitable for engagement rings and jewellery intended to be worn regularly.

However, hardness does not mean indestructible.

Like any gemstone, sapphire can still be chipped or damaged by a sufficiently hard impact. The design of the jewellery, the way the gemstone is set and how the piece is worn should all be considered.

Natural Sapphire vs Lab-Grown Sapphire

Natural and laboratory-grown sapphires can have essentially the same mineral composition and many of the same physical properties, but their origins are very different.

A natural sapphire forms within the earth through geological processes.

A laboratory-grown sapphire is created under controlled conditions that reproduce aspects of the environment required for crystal growth.

Both can be beautiful, but they should always be clearly represented and disclosed as either natural or laboratory-grown.

For customers purchasing a natural sapphire because of its rarity, provenance or collectability, independent certification becomes especially valuable.

Choosing Your Natural Sapphire

Choosing a sapphire is different from selecting a diamond.

There isn't a simple formula that says one sapphire is automatically better than another.

Two sapphires of identical carat weight can look completely different and have very different values.

We recommend considering the gemstone as a whole:

Do you love its colour?

Does the stone remain attractive in different lighting?

Is the colour distributed attractively?

Are any inclusions distracting to the naked eye?

Has the gemstone been treated?

Does it have appropriate independent certification?

And, most importantly, does the gemstone appeal to you?

The Dream Diamonds Approach

At Dream Diamonds, we believe buying a significant natural gemstone should be based on more than simply choosing a colour and carat weight.

Certification, treatment, origin, rarity, cut, clarity and overall beauty all matter.

With more than 40 years of experience in diamonds, gemstones and jewellery manufacturing, we can source natural sapphires individually and help you compare stones before making your decision.

Once you have selected your sapphire, we can design and manufacture a piece of jewellery specifically around it.

Because with a natural gemstone, sometimes the most beautiful jewellery begins with finding the stone first.

Find the gemstone you love. Then let us create the jewellery around it.