Stone 101
Same mineral as ruby, and second only to diamond in hardness. Here it comes rough.
Sapphire comes in blue and nearly every other colour. Here you'll find rough sapphire crystals and mineral specimens, sold by weight, not cut gems.
Shop Sapphire by shape
The basics
Sapphire is corundum, a crystal of aluminium oxide. Red corundum is called ruby. Every other colour is sapphire: blue, yellow, pink, green, even colourless.
Blue comes from traces of iron and titanium. Rough crystals often grow as six-sided barrels, and most look cloudy and greyish blue before cutting.
Rituals, not rules
These are traditions people enjoy, not promises. Pick the one you keep coming back to.
Care
Straight talk
Most cut gem sapphire is heat-treated to improve colour, which is standard in the trade. Lab-grown sapphire is common and looks flawless. Cheap blue "sapphire" beads are often dyed or glass. Rough crystals are usually left as they are. TRS names any treated or lab-made piece in the title.
Good questions
Sapphire is traditionally linked with wisdom, loyalty and truth. It's been a royal and engagement stone for centuries. The name comes from old words for blue stone.
Blue is the famous one, but sapphire also comes yellow, pink, green, purple and white. Only red corundum gets a different name: ruby.
Yes. Sapphire is the September birthstone, and it's the gem for 45th wedding anniversaries.
Most corundum looks cloudy and greyish blue straight out of the ground. The bright gems you see in jewellery are the rare clear bits, cut and usually heated. Rough is how sapphire really starts.
It's most often linked with Virgo, since it's the September birthstone.
