Pendant – Sapphire

Sapphire is a type of Corundum that is famed for its blue colour. This is not the only colour though, a large variety of colours is possible, like yellow, green, orange, purple and many others. After blue, the most popular colour for Sapphire is peachy-pink, the Padparadscha Sapphire. The name is Sinhalese for lotus flower, because of the colour of both. The name Sapphire itself comes from the Greek sappheiros, which was a word for any blue stone at that time. Sapphire, just like other Corundum, is on of the hardest minerals on earth, with its hardness of 9. It has been a very popular gemstone for a long time for rings and other jewelry, thanks to its scratch resistance. Sapphire has been used for around 3000 years, described first around 1000 AD. Almost all Sapphire on the market is heat-treated, which improves and stabilizes the colour. The most valuable Sapphire, the Blue Belle of Asia, was auctioned in 2014 for more than 15 million euro’s.