The chart below features common gemstone shapes. The most popular shapes for colored gemstones are round, cushion, emerald, radiant and princess. If you would like more information regarding the characteristics of each shape, please call us to speak with a gemologist who will be happy to help you select your sapphire.

To view a PDF of millimeter dimensions for each shape, please click here

While diamonds have an internationally established grading system, there is no standardized method to analyze clarity in sapphires and other gemstones. No natural gemstone is flawless. Diamond clarity is graded under 10x magnification.  If viewed under 20x magnification a diamond with FL (Flawless) clarity would still have inclusions.  Natural untreated sapphires inherently have more inclusions than diamonds at the standard 10x magnification. Therefore, we grade our sapphires at eye level, as almost no natural untreated sapphire would be considered flawless under 10x magnification.

At The Natural Sapphire Company we grade the clarity of our sapphires on a comparative basis.  We have over 70 years of experience dealing exclusively with sapphires. We have borrowed some of the standard diamond grading terms and applied them to sapphires to better assist customers who may be familiar with diamond clarity terminology (example: VS1, SI2).

Below is the scale we use to grade clarity in our sapphires at eye level :

The “per carat price” is a jewelry trade term that explains how gemstone prices are calculated. Fine quality gemstones are priced by multiplying their weight by the “per carat” price (ex: 2.50ct. x $1000 per/ct = $2500 total cost).

The greater the per carat price, the higher the inherent quality of the 4 C’s (cut, clarity, ct. size, and color) in the gemstone.

For example, a 1.00 ct sapphire with very poor clarity could sell for $10 per/ct while a 1.00 ct sapphire with excellent clarity could sell for $100 per/ct. even though they are the same size. If another 1.00 ct. sapphire is priced at $50 per/ct. then one can assume the clarity is slightly included.