The Heavenly Sapphire – September Birthstone
Sapphires are truly beautiful gemstones, well known for their amazing blue color, which can range from pale blue right through to deep violet. Sapphires can also appear as colorless, yellow, pink and gray but the most sought after color of sapphire is a rich and deep blue.
The sapphire gemstone is considered a precious stone, along with rubies, diamonds and emeralds. Sapphires are made from the mineral “corundum”, which is also what rubies are made out of too (called red corundum).
The origin of sapphires
The best sapphires are currently found in Australia, Sri Lanka and Madagascar, although they are also sourced from Myanmar, India, China, Thailand and the USA. This is a gem that has been around since ancient times and has been used throughout history as royal ornaments by medieval kings or as talismans worn by priests.
To this day, sapphires are still popular among royals. There is a famous sapphire called the St. Edward’s Sapphire which forms part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. This particular sapphire stone was worn by Edward the Confessor in his ring.
In addition, sapphires are worn by many others who appreciate the unrivaled beauty of this precious blue stone and they can often be found in romantic engagement and eternity rings.
Meanings, symbolism and healing powers of the sapphire
It’s believed that the sapphire is a stone of protection and symbolizes purity, truth and faithfulness. Sapphires also symbolize heaven, and in the middle ages, priests believed that wearing sapphires would protect them against temptation and evil or impure thoughts.
Ancient warriors gave sapphire necklaces to their wives in a bid to ensure they remained faithful while they were apart from each other. Sapphires were thought to darken in color if worn by someone who was untrustworthy or if they had committed adultery.
The sapphire is said to bring about inner peace and calm to its wearer as well as increased focus and clarity. In terms of physical healing powers, sapphires are believed to reduce inflammation, treat high temperatures or fevers along with nosebleeds and joint problems too.
The value of sapphires
Because sapphires are classed as a precious gem, they can be quite expensive to buy. Sapphires are graded on the origin, color, clarity, size and cut of each stone. Sapphires that are a deep rich blue are considered the most valuable along with those that are tinged with violet and purple. Sapphires with hints of green or gray are not as sought after, especially because gray hues can negatively affect the clarity of a sapphire.
We hope you enjoyed this article about sapphires, the birthstone for September! For more articles like this, take a look around our product guides section. Please take a moment to share this post with your social media followers!
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*Main image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons. Other images sourced from Google and labelled for reuse with modification.
