The difference between sapphire cornflower and royal blue

Every sapphire will judge its value based on its visual appearance. There is no doubt that blue sapphire is the most prestigious and high-value gemstone among sapphires. Cornflower blue and royal blue are considered the three best quality blue sapphires, so they are also more sought after by the market.

All sapphires show blue mainly because they contain two trace elements, iron and titanium, and if they contain more iron, the darker the blue color will be.

Figure 1: Color range of sapphires

In view of the welcome process of blue blue blue treasure in the market, the color treasure industry has come up with some unique names to describe gem colors, such as cornflower and royal blue.

How do you distinguish cornflower from royal blue? Is it judged by the depth of blue? In addition to blue hue, it also includes lightness and saturation.

Hue: The colors displayed by the gemstone, such as blue, yellow, red, etc.

Brightness: indicates the degree of light penetration and reflection of the gemstone, that is, the light and shade of the surface of the gemstone by the human eye.

Saturation: The shades of color presented. The higher the saturation, the darker the color.

Description of various blue colors

The hue distinction between cornflower and royal blue

Cornflower and royal blue, both blue tones.

Usually a gemstone has a main color, for example, the primary color is blue, that is, the first impression is blue, but at the same time there is a modified color, that is, the second impression is green, for example, blue has a green hue.

The primary color of the cornflower is blue. Because the saturation of the cornflower is relatively light, the blue color is also violet.

The royal blue sapphire is completely made of a strong blue tone.

Brightness distinction

Lightness and darkness, we can use the diagram to represent, the hue ranges from 2 to 8, where 2 is very bright and 8 is very dark.

Figure 2: Color gradation

The blue sapphire of cornflower is named after the color of cornflower, as shown in the picture below.

Cornflower is between 2-5 in hue, ranging from light to medium hue. At the same time, Cornflower will show the velvet feeling when cut.

Kashmir's cornflower is famous as the most precious sapphire in the world, and it is currently out of ore.

The velvety feeling like cornflower Figure 3: Cornflower

And the royal blue sapphire is scaled 6-8 in hue, and the overall color is from medium to deep hue. Dark black blue hue.

Saturation differentiation

Saturation is the most important factor in determining the price of sapphire, that is, the concentration of color.

The notification will use these to describe: Light-Medium-Intense-Vivid-Deep

Cornflower Sapphire, the sapphire with lower saturation is light blue with a hint of violet.

Royal Blue Sapphire, thicker blues, full blue. Vivid Blue and Deep Blue.

Judging the royal blue tone in the GRS certificate, it is mainly between vivid and royal blue.

Intense to vivid blue (GRS-type "royal blue")

Vivid blue (GRS-type "royal blue")

Vivid to deep blue (GRS-type "royal blue")

---

Cornflower and royal blue both have their own unique colors to appreciate. If you want to choose the ideal sapphire, you should still judge it based on three criteria, hue, lightness and saturation.

And it is likely that the color reflected by the gemstone will be different under different lighting environments. We recommend observing the color of the gemstone under normal daylight.

In addition, when buying gemstones, we need to consult the merchants to see if there is an appraisal certificate for the gemstones. Because sapphires need to be certified by a reputable laboratory before they can be recognized as cornflower or royal blue. Because different organizations have different color identification and description of gemstones.

For example, some businesses in the market also have peacock blue and velvet blue to describe blue sapphire, but these words may not appear on the appraisal certificate. At present, the mainstream is still the identification of Yacha District and Royal Blue. Then, blue blue treasures that do not conform to these two colors may only appear on the certificate Blue.