The Lab Gem Supplier

September’s birthstone is the exquisite blue sapphire. Highly prized from ancient times, the name “Sapphire” derives from the Greek “sapphiros,” meaning beloved of Saturn, the ancient god of agriculture and fertility. Ancient peoples believed that the deep blue sky was  reflected from an enormous sapphire upon which the gods had placed the earth. A symbol of wisdom, purity and fertility, sapphires were chosen for the crowns of kings and queens. Prince Charles presented Princess Diana with a sapphire ring at their engagement.

Although natural sapphires exist in many colors, including yellow, black, white, orange, pink, colorless, brown and several shades of blue, lab created sapphires are usually produced in the traditional cornflower blue, the most popular sapphire hue. A variety of the mineral corundum, sapphires share the same characteristics as rubies which are red corundum. The most famous sapphire is the 563-carat Star of India on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Sapphire’s durability — it’s a 9 on the Mohs mineral hardness scale, just under the 10 given diamonds — makes it a popular choice for rings and jewelry and led to its use in watch crystals, optical instruments, high-durability windows and semiconductor technology. But it is for their exquisite rich blue color and alluring sparkle as an adornment that sapphires are most prized. Found naturally in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Americas, including Helena, Montana, sapphires are mined primarily in Australia, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

The successful lab creation of highly-prized blue sapphires of excellent quality has driven down prices and placed ownership of stunning lab created blue sapphires within the financial reach of custom jewelers, artists and quality crafters. So perfectly crafted are lab sapphires that they can be impossible to distinguish from natural stones. In fact, because of the depth of color and exceptional clarity that can be achieved in lab sapphires, many people prefer them to natural stones.