Some knowledge about sapphire raw stones

We all like to have experienced gemstone cutters use exquisite cutting techniques to cut out sparkling sapphires. But have you ever wondered what sapphires look like when they are found as stones?

What was the process from excavating a rough gemstone to making an engagement ring?

First of all, we want how the sapphire raw stone was found.

In which countries are sapphires mined?

Nature is a magical creator. Under ideal pressure and temperature, these magical crystals will be produced naturally.

The most common sources of sapphire are Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Myanmar, and Kashmir.
These countries have a very long history of sapphire mining. For example, Sri Lanka (Ceylon) can be traced back thousands of years. Later, Brazil, Thailand, Kenya, Madagascar, Australia, and even the United States also joined the sapphire mining industry.
The mining and excavation of sapphire is a relatively tedious and labor-intensive process. The mine cave of sapphire is not as deep as the mine of diamond. But sapphire can also enter the deeper crust.

Yellow sapphire

A part of the Yellow Sapphire Original Stone Corundum family, which has the same attributes as the Blue Sapphire, except for a different color.

White sapphire

The white sapphire was mainly used in engagement rings as a substitute for diamonds. Compared to diamonds, it had much lower brightness and almost no fire colors. But the white sapphire looked beautiful even in the pile of raw stones.

Starlight Sapphire

The stone exhibited a milky-white glossy appearance, even unpolished. Very slight constellations could be seen. These were not circles cut to show the constellations.

Papalacha

Unique and rare sapphire color. The color can change from pink to orange. The most accurate padpardscha shows a unique balance between orange and pink hues, like the horizon sky at sunset.

How to determine whether it is a real sapphire raw stone

If you want to identify the sapphire raw stone, it is mainly through the luster of the surface of the raw stone and the light transmittance of the raw stone. You can use the flashlight light source to check.

If you use the naked eye to identify sapphires, you first need to have received professional training and participated in sapphire raw stones. For example, if you have practical experience in identifying sapphires and other gems, such as garnet and spinel, it will be relatively easier.

On the other hand, if you are often engaged in this industry, there must be a stable supplier. Generally speaking, you will not use fake raw stones to act as it.

However, it should be noted that buying raw stones is risky, because even if you look at better stones, the final cut will definitely look very good.

How much is the raw stone of the sapphire worth?

The quality of the raw stone is determined by naked eye observation and inspection of the clarity of the raw stone under magnifying glass.
If there are more inclusions visible to the naked eye and the surface is rough, it is likely that these inclusions will go deep into the inside of the raw stone, thus greatly reducing its quality.
Because the inclusion content of rutile needles is high, it will cause low transparency or opacity, so sapphire raw stones that look milky white outside are usually not good sapphires.

However, the amount of precious stones with lower value, after some heat treatment, will melt the inclusion and become sapphire with better clarity.