1.72 Ct. Blue Sapphire from Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

This 1.72 carat oval blue sapphire from Ceylon is presented by The Natural Sapphire Company with meticulous technical documentation, and it exemplifies precise cutting, controlled enhancement, and a naturally derived inclusion fingerprint. The gem measures 7.59 by 5.93 by 4.48 millimeters, and its mixed brilliant cut combines a modified crown geometry with a brilliant style pavilion to balance face up brightness and deep color saturation. The cutter retained a slightly deep profile, resulting in a depth of approximately 66.3 percent relative to the average of length and width, a proportion that contributes to concentrated color in the face up view while preserving strong light return. The excellent polish across all facets produces crisp facet junctions and mirror like reflection, and the oval outline exhibits good symmetry that optimizes the visual table and the transition of light from crown facets into the pavilion. Enhancement has been limited to heat treatment, applied to stabilize and intensify the blue hue, while the cutting philosophy focused on maximizing natural color rather than removing material to achieve size.

Color assessment for this sapphire is classified as intense, with a saturated blue that reads consistently across multiple viewing angles in controlled white light. Origin from Sri Lanka influences the tonal range, which sits in a classic Ceylon zone, exhibiting a lively medium to slightly deep tone and strong saturation. The mixed brilliant faceting pattern plays a central role in translating the stone s inherent refractive properties into vivid face up color, with smaller crown facets breaking reflected light into well defined flashes and a pavilion arrangement that returns concentrated blue rather than dispersing it into paler tones. Pleochroic behavior is subtle yet perceptible under oblique viewing, with the stone showing marginal variation between slightly deeper blue on the long axis and a more electric blue along the short axis, a characteristic that conservatively enhances personality without creating unattractive zoning. The heat treatment applied to this stone has been executed to homogenize hue distribution and to reduce the prominence of any coarse silk, while preserving the microscopic features that confirm natural origin.

The inclusion suite of this sapphire is the element that provides its unmistakable signature, and these features are primarily microscopic in scale, consistent with a clarity grading of very very slightly included when evaluated at eye level. Under high magnification, the stone reveals oriented silk formed of fine rutile needles that lie in discrete sets, defining subtle internal planes that scatter light and create a soft velvety diffusion in certain viewing conditions. These oriented needle networks act as micro light scatterers, producing a gentle silk glow that deepens apparent color when viewed face up, and they are layered with isolated pinpoint crystal inclusions that function as micro reflectors, producing minute scintillation as the stone moves. Occasionally there are tiny angular mineral crystals and minute negative crystal cavities that refract light differently from surrounding corundum, and a few healed feather boundaries are visible only under loupe magnification, their margins smoothed by internal recrystallization. Together these micro features create a reproducible internal topology, a fingerprint that is indicative of natural growth in a Ceylon environment and that survives the applied heat treatment in a way that enhances optical depth without compromising clarity to the unaided eye.

From a craftsmanship and practical perspective this sapphire is an exceptional candidate for high end jewelry applications where both color intensity and optical texture are prized, and The Natural Sapphire Company recommends settings that showcase the face up blue while allowing side light to animate the internal silk and pinpoints. The mixed brilliant design supports a slightly larger visual face up area than some deeper traditional cuts, which is advantageous for solitaires or halo mounts that depend on saturated color as the primary attribute. Routine care for a heat treated sapphire is straightforward, using warm soapy water and a soft brush for cleaning, and technical services such as ultrasonic or steam cleaning should be discussed with a qualified jeweler to account for any delicate settings or mounted repairs. Documentation accompanying the stone will confirm origin, treatment, and measured parameters, and our gemological team at The Natural Sapphire Company is available to supply magnified inclusion images and facet maps on request, providing technical buyers with the full data set needed for appraisal, bespoke design, or scientific comparison.