0.42 Ct. Pinkish Purple Sapphire from Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

This 0.42 carat round pinkish purple sapphire carries with it the patient authority of gemstones that have shaped civilizations. Measuring 4.57 x 4.62 x 2.62 mm and cut in a mixed brilliant style, it reads as a compact statement of classical beauty, entirely transparent, with a clarity grade described as very very slightly included when evaluated at eye level. Its color intensity is intense, and the excellent polish allows every facet to perform in the light, returning a play of fire and depth that feels both modern and ancient. This sapphire is unheated, with no enhancement, and its provenance is Ceylon Sri Lanka, a land whose gem lore stretches back through millennia of trade routes and royal treasuries. The stone embodies that heritage, offering a wearable fragment of the legendary mines that furnished crowns and talismans, and which continue to be prized today for the liveliness and clarity of the material they produce.

When you consider its hue and tone alongside sapphires and related gems from other famous locations you begin to appreciate how place sculpts character. Kashmir sapphires are celebrated for a velvety cornflower blue that seems to float within the stone, a softness imparted by silky inclusions that this Ceylon pinkish purple does not emulate, because it responds with crystalline brilliance rather than powdered depth. Burmese gems are often richer and denser in saturation, leaning toward royal blue or deep purplish blue when not redder, whereas Madagascan sapphires can range widely from electric brights to more inky tones, sometimes matching Ceylon clarity but often with a cooler or darker cast. Montanan sapphires from the American West usually present cooler, steelier tones, especially in the purples and blues, giving them a rustic quietude that contrasts with the lively mid spectrum intensity of this Sri Lankan example. Tanzanian and Umba region stones are known for purplish variants that flirt with magenta, while Zambian sapphires more commonly carry a deep cool blue, so this Ceylon pinkish purple sits in a distinct niche, more luminous and pink leaning than most Tanzanian purples, and brighter and less brooding than many Zambian blues.

The mixed brilliant cut of this round sapphire is a deliberate choice that honors classical proportions while maximizing scintillation, a strategy familiar to cutters for centuries. The pavilion facets deepen tone without swallowing light, and the crown facets lift hue so that the pinkish purple reads differently as you move the stone, sometimes warmer and more rose kissed, sometimes cooler and more violet at the edge, a living color that changes with context much like the storied jewels that passed from hand to hand in royal courts. Unheated sapphires from Ceylon have always been prized because their color is an honest record of geological artistry, not a result of applied treatment, and collectors and connoisseurs often consider such stones to carry greater historical and market value. Compared with the famed padparadscha varieties also found in Sri Lanka which present a delicate pinkish orange, this gem is resolutely in the purple family, aligning more with the romantic purple stones that have long been associated with nobility and spiritual contemplation, yet it remains brighter and more transparent than many naturally occurring purples from other localities.

At The Natural Sapphire Company we take particular pride in presenting pieces like this unheated Ceylon sapphire, because the story of the stone is inseparable from the care with which it is presented and the confidence of its origins. The gem sits at a gracious 0.42 carat where the mixed brilliant proportions will make it appear lively in a solitaire ring, as the focal point of a delicate halo, or as a colored accent in bespoke heirloom designs, functioning equally well in modern minimal settings and in vintage inspired mountings that emphasize timeless lineage. This sapphire will appeal to someone who values provenance and the continuity of craft, who appreciates how Sri Lankan geology yields colors that sit between pink and violet with an intensity that reads as both romantic and regal, and who prefers stones that have not been altered after they left the earth. If you wish to discuss setting options, historical context, or certification and delivery, we at The Natural Sapphire Company are ready to help you imagine this gem in a form that will be treasured for generations, a small but potent link to the long and luminous tradition of gem cutting and adornment.