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September's birthstone is Sapphire

September's birthstone is Sapphire

Dec 14th 2018

Sapphire, the September birthstone, has been popular since the middle Ages and, according to folklore, will protect your loved ones from envy and harm. Medieval clergy wore sapphires to symbolize heaven, while commoners thought the gem attracted heavenly blessings. Blue sapphires range from very light to very dark greenish or violets blue, as well as various shades of pure blue. The most prized colors are a medium to medium dark blue or slightly violets blue.

Through history, sapphire symbolizes truth, sincerity, and faithfulness in relationships, and to bring peace, joy and wisdom to the wearer and owner. In the past, the sapphire was also believed to be a talisman that would protect you against evil spirits and other unsavory creatures of the night. The ancients regarded star sapphires as a powerful talisman protecting travelers and seekers. They were so powerful, they would continue protecting the wearer even after being passed on to another person.

Abbes Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) chronicled the healing powers of gemstones in her book Physica. According to her view, gemstone are formed through the powerful combination of water and fire, therefore they hold powers corresponding to these phenomena. She also believed that each stone had a certain, divine blessing from God. She said this about sapphire: Who is dull and would like to be clever, should, in a sober state, frequently lick with the tongue on a sapphire, because the gemstone's warmth and power, combined with the saliva's moisture, will expel the harmful juices that affect the intellect. Thus, the man will attain a good intellect.

Fancy color sapphire

Sapphire naturally comes in variety of colors. Pink, purple, green, orange, or yellow corundum are known by their color (pink sapphire, green sapphire) known as fancy color sapphire.

Yellow and green sapphires are also commonly found. Pink sapphires deepen in color as the quantity of chromium increases. The deeper the pink color the higher their monetary value as long as the color is tending towards the red of rubies.

Sapphires also occur in shades of orange and brown and colorless sapphires are sometimes used as diamond substitutes in jewelry.

Treatments

Sapphires may be treated by several methods to enhance and improve their clarity and color. It is common practice to heat natural sapphires to improve or enhance color. This is done by heating the sapphires in ovens to temperatures between 500 and 1800 °C for several hours,

Clarity

Sapphire tends to be cleaner than ruby. Look for stones that are eye-clean. This means no inclusions that are visible to the naked eye. Actually, extremely fine silk throughout the stone can enhance the value of some sapphires. The famous sapphires from Kashmir have a velvety blue color which is caused by this fine silk. This silk is needed for the star effect in star sapphire, however, too much silk weakens the color, making it appear undesirably grayish.

Cut

Various shapes and cutting styles are common with sapphires. Ovals, cushions, and rounds are seen, as are other shapes, such as the heart or emerald cut. Round stones can command a small premium. Cabochon-cut sapphires are also common. Used for star stones, the best cabochons are somewhat transparent, with smooth domes of good symmetry.

Sapphire location and deposits

Sapphires come from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Tanzania and Australia. The United States, Cambodia, Nigeria, Kenya and China also produce some sapphires. Perhaps the most famous sources for sapphires are the Kashmir region of India, and Burma. Discovered over 100 years ago, the Kashmir sapphire has a lovely, velvety blue color prized by gem lovers. Burmese sapphires can also be fine, but like the Kashmir region, these two areas today produce very little material.

  • Gold is durable, sturdy, dependable, and makes an ideal setting for your precious diamond jewelry. Gold also comes in a variety of colors -- yellow, white, and rose (or pink).
  • The karatage of the jewelry will tell you what percentage of gold it contains: 24 karat is 100 percent, 18 karat is 75 percent, and 14 karat is 58.5 percent gold. When comparing gold jewelry, the higher the number of karats, the greater the value.
  • When buying gold jewelry, always look for the karat mark. All other things being equal, the higher the karat, the more expensive the piece. In the United States, 14-karat gold, or 585 parts pure gold, is the most common degree of fineness. Nothing less than 10 karats can legally be marked or sold as gold jewelry in the U.S. However, lower karatages, such as 8-karat gold and 9-karat gold, are popular in other countries
  • Approximate Metal Weight is intended use is for you to have an indication of Approximate weight of the metal. While being accurate is very important to us at Sarraf.com, due to factors beyond our control it is impossible to be exact each and every time, therefore we strive to maintain an accuracy of ± 5%.
  • In its pure form silver is almost as soft as gold, and therefore is usually alloyed with copper for strength. Karatage is not marked because, legally, anything called "silver" or "sterling silver" is 92.5% pure.
  • Fine Silver in its natural state, 999/1000 pure, is too soft an element for practical jewelry. To make it workable, an alloy such as copper is added. Here are the main silver alloys. Sterling Silver is a mixture of 92.5 % pure silver (925 parts) and 7.5 % metal alloy.
  • "Carat Weight" is simply the weight of the diamond.
  • By definition, 1 carat is exactly 200 milligrams. Since most diamonds sold in the jewelry industry weigh less than 1 carat, the carat is usually subdivided into "points." There are 100 points in 1 carat, so that a diamond weighing 3/4 carat would be a "75 point diamond." In summary:

    1 carat = 200 milligrams = 100 points
  • Carat is the simplest and most objective of the four C's. A 1.00 Carat diamond weighs 0.2 gm on scales weighs. In the trade we call 1/2ct - 50 points.
  • Naturally more Carat weight means more cost because BIG diamonds are very rare. A diamond of double the weight costs around 4 times more. Add the magic weight idea to rarity: a 1.00ct D color Flawless costs 1.7 times more than a 99 point D Flawless.

Diamonds are graded on a letter scale from D to Z: D, E, or F diamonds have no color detectable to the unaided eye; grad G, H, I, or J are nearly colorless, but a trained gemologist can detect a slight yellow cast. J through Z colored diamonds have yellow or gray color visible to the unaided eye. Diamonds rated lower than I have color that is detectable even to the untrained eye. Those rated J to M have a trace of color, while any diamond with an N or higher carries a noticeable yellow tint

The charts above are clarity plots, which is a representation of the number and size of inclusions typically present in diamonds of a particular clarity grade. Look for a clarity plot on a diamond certificate, or grading report, to get a clear idea of the number and size of inclusions in a particular diamond. From this map, you can perfectly determine a diamond's clarity without even

Gemologists use grades of clarity to describe how many inclusions a diamond has. These grades range from flawless (FL) or internally flawless (IF) to included (I3), with the numbers indicating varying degrees of quality within a grade (1 being the best). Most commonly diamond sold are diamond that has no inclusions visible to the unaided eye, like VS1 and SI1-2. Diamonds of this clarity are much less expensive than flawless diamonds, and will not contain inclusions that would reduce from the splendor of the diamond

MM
Inches
Inches
MM
Inches
Inches
1
0.04
1/32 inch
2
0.08
1/16 inch
3
0.12
3/32 inch
4
0.16
1/8 inch
5
0.20
3/16 inch
6
0.24
Just under 1/4 inch
7
0.28
Just over 1/4 inch
8
0.31
5/16 inch
9
0.35
Just under 3/8 inch
10
0.39
Just over 3/8 inch
11
0.43
7/16 inch
12
0.47
Just under 1/2 inch
13
0.51
Just over 1/2 inch
14
0.55
9/16 inch
15
0.59
Just under 5/8 inch
16
0.63
5/8 inch
17
0.67
Just under 11/16 inch
18
0.71
Just over 3/4 inch
19
0.75
Just over 3/5 inch
20
0.79
Just under 13/16 inch
21
0.83
Just over 13/16 inch
22
0.87
Just under 7/8 inch
23
0.91
Just over 7/8 inch
24
0.94
15/16 inch
25
0.98
1 inch
26
1.02
1 and 1/32 inch
27
1.06
1 and 1/16 inch
28
1.10
1 and 3/32 inch
29
1.14
1 and 1/8 inch
30
1.18
1 and 3/16 inch
31
1.22
Just under 1 and 1/4 inch
32
1.26
Just over 1 and 1/4 inch
33
1.30
1 and 5/16 inch
34
1.34
Just under 1 and 3/8 inch
35
1.38
Just over 1 and 3/8 inch
36
1.42
1 and 7/16 inch
37
1.46
Just under 1 and 1/2 inch
38
1.50
Just over 1 and 1/2 inch
39
1.54
1 and 9/16 inch
40
1.57
Just under 1 and 5/8 inch
41
1.61
1 and 5/8 inch
42
1.65
Just under 1 and 11/16 inch
43
1.69
Just over 1 and 3/4 inch
44
1.73
Just over 1 and 3/5 inch
45
1.77
Just under 1 and 13/16 inch
46
1.81
Just over 1and 13/16 inch
47
1.85
Just under 1 and 7/8 inch
48
1.89
Just over 1 and 7/8 inch
49
1.93
1 and 15/16 inch
50
1.97
2 inches

In order To get clearer understanding of how thick or wide is a piece of jewelry, you can use US coins for reference. For thicker items you can stack multiple coins to acquire the approximate thickness or the width of your selected jewelry.

  • Dime Thickness is 1.35mm and Diameter is 17.9mm
  • Penny Thickness is 1.55mm and Diameter is 19.05mm
  • Nickel Thickness is 1.95mm and Diameter is 21.21mm
  • Quarter Thickness is 1.75mm and Diameter is 24.26mm