Hatton Garden Ceylon sapphire: best price for this exceptional Royal blue Ceylon sapphire, diamond and 18ct gold ring—with a Royal connection

The sapphire belongs to the corundum group, the members of which are characterised by their excellent hardness (9 on the Mohs scale). Indeed their hardness is exceeded only by that of the diamond—and the diamond is the hardest mineral on Earth. Thanks to that hardness, sapphires are easy to look after, requiring no more than the usual care from the wearer, and excellent as engagement rings.

In earlier times, people believed that the firmament was an enormous blue sapphire in which the Earth was embedded. Could there be a more apt image to describe the beauty of an immaculate sapphire? This magnificent gem comes in all the blue shades of that firmament, from the deep blue of the evening sky to the shining mid-blue of a summer’s day. It also comes in other colours: the transparent greyish-blue of a distant horizon and the gloriously colourful play of light in a sunset: in yellow, pink, orange and purple. Sapphires really are gems of the sky.

Blue is the main colour of the sapphire. We associate this colour, strongly linked to the sapphire as it is, with feelings of sympathy and harmony, friendship and loyalty: feelings which embody composure, mutual understanding and trust. That is one of the reasons why women in many countries wish for a sapphire ring on their engagement. The sapphire symbolises loyalty, and at the same time it gives expression to love and longing.

Gemstones in the corundum group consist of pure aluminium oxide which crystallised into wonderful gemstones a long time ago as a result of pressure and heat at a great depth. The presence of small amounts of other elements, especially iron and chrome, are responsible for the colouring. However, this does not mean that every corundum is also a sapphire. For centuries there were differences of opinion among the specialists as to which stones deserved to be called sapphires. Finally, it was agreed that the ruby-red stones, coloured by chrome, should be called ‘rubies’ and all those that were not ruby-red ‘sapphires’.

Sapphires lie well hidden in just a few places, and have to be brought to light through hard work. The best are found in Burma, Kashmir and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), although they are also found in Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Brazil and Africa. From the gemstone mines, the raw crystals are taken to cutters, to be turned into sparkling gemstones by skilled hands.

When cutting a sapphire, the cutter has to muster all his skill, for these gemstones are not only hard. Depending on the angle from which you look at them they also have different colours and intensities of colour. So it is the job of the cutter to orientate the raw crystals in such a way that the colour is brought out to its best advantage.

Depending on where they were found, the colour intensity and hue of the cut stones vary, which means, later on, that the wearer is spoilt for choice. Should she go for a mid-blue stone which will remind her even on rainy days of a shining summer sky? Or should she prefer a lighter blue because it continues to sparkle when evening falls? The bright light of day makes most sapphires shine more vividly than the more subdued artificial light of evening. So it is not, as is often claimed, the darkest tone that is the most coveted colour of the blue sapphire, but an intense, rich, full blue which still looks blue in poor artificial light.

Typical of the Kashmir colour is a pure, intense blue with a very subtle violet undertone, intensified yet more by a fine, silky shine. It is said that this hue does not change in artificial light. The Burmese colour is also regarded as particularly valuable. It ranges from a rich, full royal blue to a deep cornflower blue.

The oldest sapphire finds are in Ceylon, or Sri Lanka as it is known today. There, people were already digging for gemstones in ancient times. The specialist recognises Ceylon sapphires by the luminosity of their light to mid-blue colours. Having said that, most blue sapphires come either from Australia or from Thailand (the Club sapphires, however, are all mined in Ceylon).

Their value depends on size, colour and transparency. With stones of very fine quality, these are, however, not the only main criteria, the origin of the gem also playing a major role. Neither is the colour itself necessarily a function of the geographical origin of a sapphire, which explains the great differences in price between the various qualities. The most valuable are genuine Kashmir and Burmese sapphires, the political problems in both rendering them scarce, and then come the sapphires from Ceylon. The possibility of the gemstone’s having undergone some treatment or other is also a factor in determining the price, since gemstones which can be guaranteed untreated are becoming more and more sought-after in this age of gemstone cosmetics. (The Club’s sapphires are untreated.)

To view more sapphires, for expert advice, and to request an appointment with a sapphire specialist in Hatton Garden, call us on 020 7399 2960.