Everything you need to be aware of before purchasing a Blue Sapphire gemstone

What is Blue Sapphire?

Blue Sapphire is a precious colored gemstone that belongs to the corundum mineral family. Blue Sapphire is a member of the major nine Navratnas and has significant astrological value. This stone comes in different shades of blue such as light blue, medium blue, and dark blue, depending on their chemical composition. Due to its color, Blue Sapphire is referred to as the indraneelam stone. Apart from its primary color that is blue, Blue Sapphires may also occur with secondary hues of green and violet colors. It is a sturdy gemstone with a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, making it suitable for using it regularly. In astrological terms, the Neelam stone is linked with Saturn and is the birthstone of September-born people.

Origin

When buying a Blue Sapphire stone, being aware of the place it is mined from is a must, as the quality and price of the stones are different for different origins. Different origins of Blue Sapphire include Kashmir (India), Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand, and all these origins produce stones with different varieties of blue color. Kashmir is the origin of the most superior grade Blue Sapphires that come with a mesmerizing cornflower blue shade. Burmese and Ceylon Blue Sapphires mined from Myanmar and Sri Lanka, respectively, offer a deep blue hue, whereas Thai Blue sapphires are generally treated with heat making them darker and leading to reducing their worth.

Chemical composition

The chemical composition of Blue Sapphire includes Aluminum oxide in a trigonal crystal system, and its chemical formula is Al2O3. The blue hue of these sapphires occurs because of the presence of magnesium, titanium, and iron in the stone. Depending on the presence of the above-mentioned elements, the shades of Blue Sapphire vary accordingly.

Quality parameters

The quality parameters of Blue Sapphire gemstone include its cut, color, carat weight, and clarity.

Cut

Gemstones are cut so as to improve their characteristics or hide their internal flaws. Blue Sapphire, with a decent cut, is priced higher as compared to a Blue Sapphire rough. Various kinds of cuts are utilized for Blue Sapphire stone, such as round, prince, angel, square and oval, among which oval-cut blue sapphires are the best.

Color

The corundum mineral family is usually colorless, but the Blue Sapphire gets its color due to the presence of impurities in it. Blue Sapphires from different origins mostly have a distinct variety of blue colors. The most superior-grade Blue Sapphires come in royal blue or cornflower blue.

Carat Weight

The weight of a gemstone is measured in carats, and its unit is ct. It is very hard to find a blue sapphire that weighs more than a few carats, even though Blue Sapphires weigh more than other gemstones. The price of blue sapphire is directly proportional to its weight. As this stone is mostly mined from rocky areas, its size varies accordingly.

Clarity

Inclusions are quite common in the case of Blue sapphires; therefore, the less the visibility of inclusions on a gemstone, the more will be its price. However, sometimes inclusions can also assist in enhancing the worth of a stone in a positive way when the light reflected by the gemstone does not affect its clarity and offers a velvety look. In general, the transparency of the Blue Sapphire is directly proportional to its worth.

Treatment

Treatments on gemstones are done so as to improve their clarity and color; however, treated gemstones are priced lower than natural or untreated gemstones. There are various treatments available for treating Blue Sapphires, such as heat treatment, lattice diffusion, and glass filling with cobalt. Heat treatment is the most common practice followed in the gemstone market to improve the clarity of Blue Sapphires. These stones are heated at around 1600 C so as to offer the same color and clarity as that of a natural Blue Sapphire; however, they still cost less. Another common practice is glass filling with cobalt, in which a cobalt compound is utilized to fill the gaps. Lastly, the lattice diffusion method involves utilizing a crystalline lattice.

Price

The price of a gemstone is dependent on various factors such as its origin, color, cut, clarity, carat weight, and many more. However, generally, natural Blue Sapphire prices are around 5000 to 15000 INR per carat, and it may go up to around 100000 INR per carat if the stone is of superior quality. The most priced Blue Sapphires are found in Kashmir, India, and are called Kashmiri Neelam. Ceylon and Burmese Blue Sapphires are quite costly; however, Thai Blue Sapphires are priced less in comparison.

Benefits of Blue Sapphire Gemstone

The Blue Sapphire gemstone is considered to be the most cosmic gemstone due to its association with Saturn and has both astrological and health-related benefits for wearers. However, due to its extraordinary powers, this gemstone can either make or break the destiny of the wearer. People most suitable to wear this stone are born in September or belong to Capricorn or Aquarius zodiac signs.

Astrological benefits

As the Blue Sapphire stone is associated with the planet Saturn, it instills discipline and patience in the wearer of the stone, leading to enhancing the lifestyle of the wearer in a positive manner. Another major astrological benefit of Blue Sapphire is that it helps in turning the destiny of the wearer by offering new opportunities in their work life.

Health-related benefits

The Natural Neelam stone helps relieve the wearer from muscle and joint pains and assists in making the bones stronger. It also negates the negativity in the minds of wearers so that they do not stray from their goals and keep their mental health in check. Also, it helps boost the wearers' metabolism so they can easily lose weight and stay healthy.

Where to buy Natural Blue Sapphires?

Nowadays, most of the gemstones available in the market are either synthetic or treated, which makes it hard for customers to buy natural gemstones with genuine astrological significance, and that is why gemstone certification laboratories have become so essential. These laboratories offer certificates in order to prove the authenticity of Natural Blue Sapphires. We at Navratan, the online gem bazaar, sell only natural and Certified Blue Sapphires and offer gemstone certificates along with them so that customers are aware of the necessary information related to the gemstones.