Outrageous luxury items have become all the rage these days. Take for example Prince Walid’s diamond encrusted car, and the amount of diamond collars and accessories owners can purchase for their pets.  These items are a way for these people to show us their high social status, and wealthy sense of style.  Well a new product has hit the market, and is sure to turn heads.

24k Gold Plated Macbook Air with Sapphires (Open)

A company called Computer-Choppers has released a 24k gold plated Macbook Air with natural Sapphires set inside the apple.  For a wealthy tech driven Businessman or woman this may become a must have to show off to your partners.  We are used to seeing mostly Diamonds used in these high priced accessories, but it is nice to see sapphires finally making their way into the world of luxury accessories.  As you can see in the picture, the wide range of colors that sapphires come in make them a perfect choice to create the rainbow colored apple.

24k Gold Plated Macbook Air with Sapphires (Closed)

Pictures courtesy of Computer-Choppers.com, and for more information visit their website.

Often I am asked what is the ‘largest’ and ‘most expensive’ sapphire?

The largest sapphire in the world is probably still well protected underground, and maybe it is a billion karats or more, but will it be a ‘fine’ sapphire?  That is very doubtful.  What is rare and costly in a sapphire is a combination of its color, clarity, size, cut and of course if it has been treated in any manner. ?
I think that some of the rarest sapphires  we see are our 1-2ct size rare color sapphires, many of these are irreplaceable and are literally more rare than the sapphire below:

The World Record price ever paid for a sapphire (any color) is the 22.66ct Blue Sapphire sold at Christies Auction House in April 2007.

The following details is from Christie’s Auction House:

22.66cts; sold for $3,064,000 ($135,216/ct) at Christie’s NYC 25 April, 2007 sale (Lot 261).

The Empire Builder: James J. Hill

An Exceptional Sapphire Sold on Behalf of the Minnesota Historical Society

A great figure of America’s Gilded Age, James J. Hill (1838–1916) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful industrialists of the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries. He was best-known as the builder of the Great Northern Railway (now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe) and was involved with banking, agriculture, copper and iron-ore mining, and the timber and milling industries in the Northwest.

Mr. Hill came to St. Paul at age seventeen from Ontario and soon established himself in the shipping business on the Mississippi and Red rivers. He married Mary T. Mehegan in 1867 and had ten children. At the time of his death in 1916, James J. Hill had amassed a personal fortune of $63 million, plus $200 million in related assets. His collection of French Barbizon and Romantic artworks forms the core of the European paintings at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and his St. Paul home is now a National Historic Landmark owned and operated by the Minnesota Historical Society.

Along with his collections of landscape paintings, bronze sculpture and rare books, Mr. Hill collected gems and jewelry for his wife and children as well as for investment purposes. This remarkable Kashmir sapphire of 22.66 carats was set as a pendant and was incorporated into a necklace purchased by James J. Hill for his wife in 1886. At the time, he paid $2200 for the sapphire pendant. The necklace was later dismantled and given to various Hill children. The pendant remained with one of the daughters, Gertrude Gavin, who gave it to her sister Rachel Boeckmann. After her death, the pendant was left to one of her daughters who later donated it to the James J. Hill House Historic Site in 2006.

The Kashmir sapphire conjures up only one image in a collector’s mind: its unrivalled, magnificent blue color. This mesmerizing stone of significant size is perhaps one of the most important sapphires currently on the market and is unsurpassed in richness and life.

DESCRIPTION
AN ANTIQUE SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND PENDANT
Set with a cushion-cut sapphire, weighing approximately 22.66 carats, within an old European-cut diamond surround, mounted in gold, circa 1886.

With report 0702554 dated 20 February 2007 from the Gübelin Gemmological Laboratory stating that gemmological testing revealed characteristics consistent with those of sapphires originating from Kashmir. No indications of heating.

Accompanied by an appendix stating that the 22.66 carat natural sapphire described in this report possesses a combination of outstanding characteristics. Besides its large size, this extraordinary gemstone displays a richly saturated and homogeneous colour, combined with a very high degree of transparency. The pleasant shape and finely proportioned cut provide many vivid, internal colour reflections and the high clarity of the gemstone makes it practically eye-clean. In addition, this remarkable gemstone has been spared of thermal treatment.

Natural, non-enhanced sapphires from Kashmir of this large size, endowed with such intrinsic qualities as a high clarity and transparency, combined with a saturated colour and a fine cut, which compliments its visual appearance, are very rare.

With report 91017610 dated 24 January 2007 from the AGTA Gemological Testing Center stating that the data obtained during the examination of this natural untreated blue sapphire indicates that the probable geographic origin is Kashmir. No indications of heating.

The Current World Record Price for a Sapphire 22.66cts $3,064,000.  April 2007

The US dollar is falling in value.   This is good news for international buyers!

We are working to implement a currency converter on our website now.  Instead of our clients having to visit a currency trading site we will have a real time function directly on our website.

Clients in England tell us they feel like they can buy our natural sapphire rings at 1/2 price!

But as we are importers of natural untreated sapphires we are in turn having to pay a good deal more to our sapphire rough suppliers overseas.  So although some of our clients are reaping the rewards of a falling USD, we are struggling with purchasing new inventory at steady prices.

The global market for natural untreated sapphires is growing rapidly at the same time.  The Asian and Indian markets have a strong interest in sapphires and are driving up prices for all colors.  Almost 50% of all natural untreated yellow sapphires are sold to India, as they have a strong belief in Vedic astrology.  Yellow sapphires are used to ‘cool’ the body and mind in Vedic science.

There is a world market for these precious gemstones, and sapphires seem to be hotter than ever…as long as ours are cool and untreated we’ll be ok!

As a company which specializes in natural untreated sapphires we often receive letters from our customers.  The answers to their questions I feel are beneficial to anyone who is interested in purchasing gemstones.
Recently we received this letter:
Hello:  I recently purchased a stone through you and I am quite happy with it.
I do have a few questions, however. First, you make the claim that certain sapphires “show no evidence of treatment.” I understand that it is easy to tell if a gemstone has been treated, but not so easy to tell if one hasn’t. Can you explain to me how you make these judgments, perhaps what tests you use? What makes you confident that they are not treated?

American Gem Trade Association, AGTA, Certificate

There are many tests that are performed which look for certain treatments, however the best way to determine if a sapphire is untreated is under the microscope. The most common treatment is heating and this is preformed on over 95% of sapphires in the industry.

Under a microscope you look at the natural inclusions which occur during the crystals growth. If the inclusions are undisturbed then that is how we can determine that there is no evidence of heat treatment. Natural inclusions such as silk and crystals will have a severely different appearance after treatment. In treated stones, the silk (a type of inclusion named for its appearance) will be broken and diffused. The heat will cause any fluid inclusions to rupture, crystals or mineral inclusions will break up and will often form a fracture around the crystal which we call a halo.
For other treatments such as lattice diffusion there are different equipment that test the stones for its element and concentration properties, also the microscope is a wonderful tool here as well. The sapphire would be viewed while submerged in a special liquid which helps see if there is a strong concentration of color around the edge of the stone and to what depth the color penetrates. A stone can have a stronger concentration in a particular area, however the concentration will be throughout the stone. Certain diffusion treatments such as Beryllium treatment does penetrate further into the stone, so there are specific tests that are run to determine that it is not treated in this manner.

Images Provided by John Koivula

Please email any jewelry or gemological questions you might have to Info@TheNaturalSapphireCompany.com and we will be happy to share the questions and answers with all gem enthusiasts.

I had the pleasure of working with an extremely nice customer recently and we collaborated for a little while as she was looking for a sapphire engagement ring so we wanted to get everything perfect for her. She finally received her natural untreated sapphire engagement ring and was very happy with the outcome but she had one more very important question.

Her pear shaped pink sapphire set in a halo setting with a tapered pave set band.

She wrote:

I thought I was done but I do have one last question regarding the cleaning of the ring – with the pave design what is the best way to keep the stones and setting clean?  Would you advise using an ultrasonic cleaner, or would this cause the stones to loosen? Is there another option you think would be preferable?

That is a great question. I advise against an ultrasonic cleaner, if used improperly it can loosen or damage gemstones. The best way to care for your ring, which holds true for most jewelry, is to have it professionally cleaned and have the stones checked approximately every six months. In between professional cleaning you can wash your jewelry with simple warm soapy water (diluted dish soap works well), making sure you rinse thoroughly to remove the soap residue. Do not use toothpaste as it is an abrasive. If needed gently use a soft brush. Do not soak your jewelry.

Ideally you should remove jewelry when washing your hands and showering, however you should make sure they are not in a place where they can fall in the drain or be forgotten. Also remember you should always remove sapphire jewelry when you are using cleaning products or when swimming in a chlorinated pool as bleach and other chemicals will affect the color of the metal. Most importantly enjoy your sapphire ring and other sapphire jewelry!

Sapphires, a variety of corundum, are formed deep in the earth’s mantle as well as the lower crust.  They form in the hexagonal crystal system, but are often formed in what people call a bipyramidal shape, or just two elongated pyramids stacked on top of each other.  In its purist form corundum would be colorless with the chemical makeup of Al2O3, Aluminum Oxide, but when small amounts of trace elements find their way into the chemical makeup and crystal structure of the corundum, the variety of colors in natural untreated sapphires come in are born.

In order for a sapphire to become blue, which is by far its most popular and available color, the trace elements titanium and iron must be present.  For a sapphire to be pink there must be a small amount of chromium present, and for that pink color to turn more saturated and red, a larger amount of chromium must be present, and then  ruby can form.  Green and yellow sapphires form with simply iron as their trace element, where as orange or the more popular padparadscha sapphire needs both Iron and chromium.  Last but not least are purple sapphires which form with a small amount of the trace element vanadium, but a larger amount of vanadium in the chemical makeup will cause the creation of a color change sapphire.

.62ct Natural Untreated Color Change Sapphire U2311

This beautiful .62ct natural untreated color change sapphire has strong intensity and deep saturation.  This stone would look great in a pendant or a well designed solitaire ring.  The reason why the color change does not spread throughout the whole stone is due to the distribution of the trace element vanadium inside the stone.

2.24ct Natural Untreated Color Change Sapphire U2306

This 2.24ct natural untreated color change sapphire is an amazing example of a full stone color change instead of the above stone that only changes in areas.  The reason this stones color changes throughout is because the trace element vanadium is evenly distributed throughout the stone instead of just in areas.  This is another stunning stone that would look great in a solitaire ring or even a three stone ring with this being your center stone.

3.98ct Natural Untreated Bi-Colored Sapphire U2456

This 3.98ct Natural Untreated bi-colored sapphire is truly a one of a kind stone that you should not let pass you by, because you will never find another quite like this.  This stones coloration is very odd but it is due to the trace elements found inside of the stone.  The areas of yellow are simply colored by iron, where as the orange part is using that iron along with some chromium, and the blue is also using the iron but combining it instead with titanium.  This truly is a unique stone with a lot going on, but it would make an extremely elegant pendant and would look lovely around any woman’s neck.

7.56ct Natural Untreated Bi-Colored Sapphire U2360

This 7.56ct natural untreated bi-colored sapphire is another great example of the wide variety of colors and combinations of colors that sapphires can come in.  This stone appeared to have started out its crystal growth with simply iron inside of it and as a yellow crystal, but at some point some titanium got in there as well and started to form the blue area.  The color is intense and the saturation is vivid, making this another gorgeous sapphire to own.

I can’t say I was happy to hear about a new lawsuit against JewelryTelevision

Here is the link that discusses the pending litigation.

The principle issue of the lawsuit is that JewelryTelevision sold massive quantities of a ‘rare’ sunstone for very high prices.

In fact the gemstones were not rare at all, and worse they were potentially treated.

The lawsuit was brought on by a customer of Jewelry Television who decided they wanted to know more about the item they purchased.

No verdict has been decided, but it shows that consumers are intelligent and do their due diligence in learning about what they buy.

Here at The Natural Sapphire Company we are working towards purchasing some very advanced equipment that will allow us to issue reports on our natural untreated sapphires that will show every detail about the attributes of the sapphire.  Trace elemental analysis, spectrums, X-ray florescence and other high technology reports that will give proof positive results in our clients hands that what they purchase is what it is, no questions.

Sapphires have always been one of the most sought after gemstones.  Sapphires grouped along with diamonds, rubies and emeralds make up the “BIG FOUR” which are the most rare and valuable, not to mentioned desired, gemstones.  It is not a surprise that natural sapphires have adorned the rich, and famous for centuries.

Katie Holmes wore sapphire and diamond studs while wedding Tom Cruise

Katie Holmes wearing the classically beautiful blue sapphire and diamonds studs that she received from Tom Cruise to wear on their wedding day.

Keira Knightley wearing a gorgeous sapphire, ruby, emerald and diamond necklace on the red carpet.

Jessica Simpson wears a sapphire and diamond necklace to her movie premier.

Nicollette Sheridan looks stunning in her diamond and sapphire earrings at the golden globes

Grey’s Anatomy’s Chandra Wilson in brilliant blue sapphire and diamond briolette drop earrings

Emmy Awards

Marissa Jaret Winokur star of the movie Hairspray and a 2008 Dancing with the Stars contestant shows off her natural sapphire engagement ring.

Actress and comedian Tachina Arnold actress picks out her red carpet jewels she will be wearing sapphire and diamond earrings.

Helen Mirren makes a statement with the pear shape sapphire necklace at the Golden Globes.

Jenna Fischer at the SAG Awards wearing Bochic rose cut diamond, sapphire, and Lucite earrings.

Nicole Richie’s pink sapphire and diamond engagement ring to ex-fiancé Adam Goldstein better known as DJ AM

Elizabeth Hurley accents her gown with this pear shape, pink sapphire solitaire pendant.

I just wanted to share a little bit of the re-branding work we’ve been doing for the Natural Sapphire Company.  In order for our customers to easily recognize our company it’s very important we present a consistent brand image for our sapphire jewelry.

So, after discussing what design directions we wanted to work with, we decided on a brand image inspired by the art deco era of the 1920’s and 1930’s .

Art deco’s focus on geometric, stylized patterns lends itself well to sapphire jewelry because of the resurgence of a popular design during the era – the pave diamond setting.

But it’s not just the settings that work well with this theme. Certain  natural untreated sapphire cuts and faceting also fit.

This natural untreated blue sapphires angled emerald cut is very reminiscent of a popular deco shape. The angled or notched rectangle shows up everywhere from vintage 1920’s jewelry…

to building doors…

and even tea pots from the era…

So this shape was a natural choice as the inspiration for our new business card.

Hi.  My name is MiMi and I am in charge of the photography here at The Natural Sapphire Company.  Each custom natural sapphire ring and loose sapphire stone is hand photographed.  This process can take a while, because we need to be sure to replicate the exact color of each natural sapphire, so what you see on your web browser is the mirror image of the actual stone/jewelry piece.  In fact, we wholeheartedly guarantee this, something no other jewelry company does, and one of the things I am very proud of.

I took special interest in this one natural untreated sapphire ring because it reminds me of family and love. The main attraction of this ring is the heart shape blue sapphire in the center which is surrounded by two beautiful diamonds. This arrangement makes me imagine love between family members. The color blue is the color of peace and the heart shape can only stand for love. Together, I can imagine a peaceful love.

Three Stone Blue Sapphire and Diamond Ring Item J1163

In my opinion, jewelry is supposed to make you feel some emotion when you see it.  If it doesn’t, then it is not the right jewelry for you. Every piece has it own special ability to change people.  Emotions such as joys, sorrow, love, hate, etc. So far this special blue sapphire makes me feel joyful and lifted my spirit in a glorious way.  Every sapphire jewelry piece I have taken pictures of so far makes me feel good and makes me enjoy working with them…..

Recently we have added a new section called “Bands” under the “Jewelry” menu.   We are receiving many requests for custom natural sapphire wedding bands from our customers through our  Jewelry Suggestion link on our site. Therefore, we have added this section in a  very short period of time though we have not yet added an auto pricing function.

This new section will have a variety of selections for custom sapphire wedding bands daily.  We are adding new designs to the selections every day. Each Sapphire Band will be custom made per customer request and every piece will be unique.

Currently the pricing function is under development as we create accurate mathematic formulas to generate precise pricing. Each amount will be calculated based on the band design, setting type, stone type (if any), stone size (if any), ring size, metal option, and band width.  This pricing function is near completion and will be added to the bands section in  the near future.

There are a lot of new projects going on to improve our web site at the moment. One of these projects is to add a new section called Bands under jewelry and was started a couple months ago. The project went well and is now available for our customers. I am so excited to see one of our projects have come to life, especially because one of my jobs is to render these beautiful sapphire bands for our customers.

These are a few of the natural sapphire bands that can be found in our new section Bands under Jewelry.

Another project that I am working on at the moment is to replace the old custom mounting pictures with the new ones we have created. Some of them are already replaced with the new pictures but we still have a long way to go with our thousands of designs.

Wedding bands or wedding rings, are a custom that have gone back for centuries.  The material of the bands have dramatically changed since ancient wedding bands were made of hemp, leather, bone or ivory, wedding rings are now made of precious metals. The metal wedding ring gradually started to replace the earlier rings during the 3^rd century BCE in Rome. The metal that was often used at this time was iron. Gold or silver rings were given to a select few women to prove that their husband trusted in them to take care of their valuable property.

The wearing of a wedding band is the physical representation of the wedding vows. Today, exchanging wedding bands symbolizes a promise to your partner to have loyalty, devotion and never ending love for them.

The ring is shaped as a circle because it has no beginning or end, which means that the marriage is endless. The circle is a representation of an unbroken promise of love and commitment to your husband or wife.

Simple and elegant this platinum wedding band will be a beautiful addition to your wedding vows.

Band ID: JS716PT

Wedding bands and engagement rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand or the “ring finger”.  This tradition was passed down from classical times. The ring finger was believed to have the vena amoris which literally translated means: “vein of love” it was believed that this vein ran from the fourth finger on the left hand directly to the heart.

Even after the discovery that the vena amoris did not exist, the tradition stayed in place. In the early Christian marriages, the priest would recite the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost while touching the previous fingers, and when he came to the ring finger, he would place the ring on and say amen ending the prayer.

In the Church of England the bride and groom recite the prayer “With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” while placing the ring on the finger of their love.In the Jewish temple the prayer “With this ring, you are consecrated to me according to the law of Moses and Israel.” is said in Hebrew by the groom at an Orthodox Jewish wedding and by both the bride and groom at a Reform Jewish wedding In the Roman Catholic Church the couple repeats ” take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  as they place the ring on their husband or wife.Until recent times, men did not wear wedding bands. Wedding bands were only worn by women to show that they were already possessed by a man.  All of this changed during World War II. During the time of war, men started to wear the ring, so that while away, it would remind them of their loving wives who were home waiting for their return. The use of wedding rings amongst men increased again during the Korean War and today most men wear a wedding band regardless of any military status. We here at the Natural Sapphire Company have recently updated the Sapphire Bands Section of our website in order to bring the best fit and a broader range of design options to our clients.

This prong set band with light blue sapphires will look great by itself or compliment any engagement ring beautifully.

Band ID: JS719PT_LB

As many of the bands on our site are unable to be sized, in the past we were only providing rings upon special request. Since we were not able to provide images of the bands on our site many customers were not aware of our ability to provide custom bands. Now all this has changed with our up to date advanced technology. We now currently have a custom portfolio digital library of designs, and we will continue to add designs in order to provide you with the ring that you can be proud to exchange during your wedding vows. These rings will then be custom made for each individual.

This band has round bezel set pink sapphires and diamonds.

Band ID JS718PT_PD

Remember we are dedicated to helping you find the perfect ring, so if you have pictured a specific ring and style and you do not see it in our database, we would be happy to custom make your dream sapphire ring for you.

The Natural Sapphire Bands are also great as stackable rings and anniversary bands.

Beyond just performing touch-ups and color correction on finished pieces of beautiful sapphire jewelry, I also perform the same tasks on magnificent loose natural untreated sapphires.  Recently I have been lucky enough to see some really stunning sapphires here at the Natural Sapphire Company, and I would like to share a few of my favorites with you.

The first sapphire I would like to share with you is this striking 10.18ct cushion cut natural untreated vivid yellow sapphire that is also GIA certified.  For a stone to be this large with such a gorgeous and vivid saturation, which was only brought about by natural occurrences and not treatment, is extremely rare.  This stones color is so warm and dazzling, it is as if the sun’s rays are radiating outward from inside this stunning natural untreated sapphire.  This natural wonder would look outstanding set in just about any style of jewelry, and the lucky lady who eventually gets to wear this stone will be turning heads on a daily basis with this stately sapphire.

Natural Untreated Yellow Sapphire

The next stone I would like to show you is this beauteous 6.96ct cushion cut natural untreated intense pink sapphire that also comes with GIA certification.  This stones extremely deep and intense saturation, along with its size, is what makes this stone so rare and attractive.  You will be hard-pressed to find another stone of this size, quality, and exceptional color anywhere else on the market, and if you do chances are it may not be natural.  This sapphire’s elegance and charm make it a great candidate for an exquisite piece of jewelry, and I guarantee your significant other will feel like royalty wearing this stunner around town.

Natural Untreated Pink Sapphire

Flawlessly setting a gorgeous natural untreated sapphire in a simple yet elegant pendant can result in a fantastic gift idea that your significant other will cherish wearing around her neck daily.  To crazy or bulky of a design can take away from the true beauty of the sapphire, and can end up just being another tacky piece of jewelry that you keep in your top drawer.  But these basic yet chic designs take nothing away from the stunning beauty of our natural untreated sapphires.

Take for example this attractive 1.02 ct. oval cut natural untreated intense blue sapphire prong set in 14K white gold with a 16” cable chain.  It is a sightly four prong setting that really allows for the radiance of this natural untreated blue sapphire to be viewed by all, and I guarantee all will want a view of this exquisite piece when you were out for a night on the town.

Natural Untreated Blue Sapphire Pendant

This next charming pendant contains a lovely 1.34ct. Pear shaped natural untreated unique vivid lilac sapphire prong set in 14K white gold with a 16” cable chain.  This stunning lilac sapphire is magnificently presented in a classic three prong setting that takes absolutely nothing away from this enchanting natural untreated sapphire, and is guaranteed to leave passerby’s and onlooker’s captivated with its beauty.

Natural Untreated Lilac Sapphire Pendant

Finally, this alluring pendant contains a striking 2.59ct. cushion cut natural untreated intense blue sapphire prong set in 18K white gold with a 16” cable chain.  This majestic intensely saturated blue sapphire is truly one of a kind, and the flawless prong setting allows for the stones true brilliance to shine through while leaving bystanders breathless with its splendor.

Natural Untreated Intense Blue Sapphire Pendant