In ancient times, the world “sapphire” was used to refer to all blue stones, and until the Middle Ages “sapphire” referred primarily to lapis lazuli. Since the seventh century B.C., sapphire has been used in jewelry in Greece, Egypt, and Rome, and during the Middle Ages it was a favorite gemstone of many European monarchs.  Marco Polo, who visited Sri Lanka in the 13th century, highly praised both sapphire and ruby in his writings.

Sri Lankan rubies are light in color. Though generally lower in value than those from Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lankan sapphires are extremely important. Sapphire and ruby are often mined from the same deposits, but the ration differs greatly from one source to another. In Sri Lanka, sapphires far outnumber rubies.

Sapphire and ruby are the same mineral, corundum, but whereas ruby is colored red by chromium impurities, the blue color in sapphire is caused by iron and titanium impurities. Corundum of any color other than red is called sapphire, but the word “sapphire” by itself usually refers to blue mineral, with stones of other colors called “fancy-colored sapphires.” Fancy-colored sapphires occur in colors such as yellow, green, and orange, to name a few. The different colors are caused by various chemical impurities or differences in crystal structure. Sri Lankan sapphires are often heat treated in Thailand to enhance their blue color, resulting in a characteristic very slightly purplish blue.

As seen in the photograph to the next page, it is a beautiful material with a high level of transparency that is unequaled by sapphires from any other source. The color in Sri Lankan sapphire is not distributed evenly, often being concentrated in different areas of the stone. In extreme cases, material may have just a small area of blue near the culet ( the bottom of a faceted stone), yet show an exceptionally beautiful color when viewed face-up. Although a beautiful face-up color is important, if the colored areas are polished away when such a stone is recut, the result will be a colorless sapphire. Therefore, a cutter must pay careful attention to the location and nature of color conceptions, and orient the stone accordingly when polishing.