A Brief History Of The Gem Sapphire

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Sapphires have been highly sought after for thousands of years. Known today as the birthstone of September, along with the 45th wedding anniversary, sapphires are beloved throughout the world for a wide range of reasons.

The most common perception is that all sapphires are blue. While sapphires are known for their beautiful dark blue color, they can actually come in many different colors and shades. Other colors include pink, orange and yellow. However, there is no such thing as a red sapphire, because any sapphire that is red is actually a ruby. That is because both sapphires and rubies fall into the corundum family, which is crystallized aluminum oxide.

The discovery and usage of Sapphires dates as far back as the Roman and Persian Empires. The Persians had grandiose beliefs that the entire Earth was encased in a massive sapphire and that the sky was blue reflecting their color. The Romans are believed to be the first to distinguish sapphires from blue gems in general.

Prior to that, sapphiros, the Greek word for sapphires, applied to any and all blue gemstones. Buddhist culture places an emphasis on sapphires, and many other societies from the ancient Chinese to societies of the Middle Ages had firm and specific beliefs centered on the sapphire.

Today, sapphires can mean many different things depending on the context and the culture. For some they symbolize prayer and harmony, and for others sapphires represent loyalty, constancy, friendship and trust.

They are mined throughout the world, with the largest producers being Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Australia. In addition to these countries, other producers include Myanmar, China, Kenya, Thailand and the United States, and there are many other sapphire mines throughout the globe as well.

The majority of sapphires in jewelry today have been heated in order to improve clarity and color. This is due to the fact that only a tiny percentage of sapphires taken straight from the mines are of gem quality. A sapphire that has not been heated will be noted and any other treatments such as diffusion that a sapphire receives must be disclosed.

Synthetic sapphires are used for a variety of applications including for watch crystals, lasers and infrared optics. This is because of their extreme hardness. Sapphires are the hardest minerals besides diamonds.

Sapphires have been popular for thousands of years and their amazing beauty will continue to make them a favorite across the entire world for many more years to come.


About the Author:
Steve is a jeweler, writer, artist and gear head. You can find his custom jewelry at Kansas City Jeweler, Jewelry by Morgan.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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