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Color:
Every color except for RED (than
it's a ruby!)
Durability:
Excellent, No limitations with
wear,
Localities:
Madagascar is the major source currently.
Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma and East Africa
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Sapphire
Sapphire is an aluminum oxide, occurring
in every color of the rainbow. When it is red, it is termed
ruby. It is a stone of great hardness
and durability. It can also have phenomenal characteristics
like asterism (star sapphire) and color changing (like alexandrite).
The color changing varieties are some of my favorites, having
the ability to change color depending on whether they are
viewed in daylight or incandescent light. The history of the
sapphire dates back to at least the 7th Century BC, when they
were used by the Etruscans. The sapphires used by the Etruscans,
Greeks and Romans were imported from India and what is now
Sri Lanka. Sapphires were reputed to protect kings from harm
and envy. In the 13th Century, it was written that sapphires
had the power to protect against poverty, make a stupid man
wise and an irritable man good-tempered. |
