Fancy Colors
"Aren't all sapphires fancy?" you ask. Yes… and no. Some are fancier than others.
To learn more, let's take a short detour through the valley of Sapphire Confusion.
We can call this valley Whyisthat. Ready? Here we go…
The mineral name for sapphire is corundum. Gem occurrences of corundum have been discovered in all colors, and no color, that is to say - colorless.
All colors except blue, colorless, and
red are labeled
fancy sapphires.
Whyisthat? Because!
Blue is the expected color for
sapphire, and red corundum is the gem that we call ruby.
Yes, sapphire and ruby are the same gem except for the red color!
As for colorless stones,
they're called
white sapphire. Got it?
Next we have pink corundum. What should a gem stone of this color be called...
sapphire, or ruby?
If you have a definite answer, you're doing better than the world's gem experts. They cannot agree.
On the other hand (finger?), everyone seems to agree that the fiery reddish-orange gems from the Umba Valley, Tanzania, are
fancy sapphires.
O.K., enough of that kidding around.
Let's talk value.
Click on the link below to
continue.
Sapphire
|
n a gigantic sapphire… and that the reflection
from the gem gave the sky its beautiful blue color.