Fancy That… from life in the facet lane by Diana Jarrett

Blue and fancy-color Sri Lankan rough sapphires
courtesy Mt. Zion Gems & Jewellry

Plenty of avid jewelry lovers collect both sapphire and ruby. But they don’t always know that these vibrant gems are related. In fact, the mineral species for these two colorful jewels is corundum. What turns one blue and the other red is the addition of trace elements occurring inside the corundum.

Wait, there’s more!
But there’s more to explore. A dazzling sub-set of sapphire called fancy-color sapphire refers to the rainbow of other colors found naturally in corundum. Vivid pink, sunny yellow, delicate lavender, cool green and other striking hues discovered in corundum are collectively called fancy-color sapphire. And what a stunner they are. These exciting stones have more charisma than merely their                                               unexpected coloration

Special Sparkle                                                                                                                                                             All corundum, both ruby and sapphires are the hardest natural gemstones next to diamond, rating a 9 on the Mohs scale. That’s a big deal. Diamonds can take a spectacular polish to dazzle the eye of the beholder. And that’s the result of its extreme hardness—rating 10 on the Mohs scale. This also means it can be polished to super-high reflectivity and deliver a scintillation to thrill the viewer.  Since all corundum is next to diamonds in hardness, these stones also deliver that jaw-dropping sparkle we crave.

What Colors Fascinate You?

ROSEBAY pink sapphire
and diamond bracelet;
Courtesy Yael Designs

Now may be the time to learn which fancy-color sapphires might capture your heart. So many colors—so much eye candy to adore. Sri Lanka is most celebrated for producing some of the world’s finest fancy-color sapphires. The color varieties are endless—but so is your creativity for adding these special jewels to your wardrobe.

Contact Diana Jarrett at diana@dianajarrett.com and read color-n-ice.blogspot.com  www.dianajarrett.com