1.23 Ct. Purple Sapphire from Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

One beautiful transparent 1.23 carat oval purple sapphire, expertly sourced from Ceylon Sri Lanka, presents with dimensions of 7.28 by 5.43 by 3.60 millimeters, and an overall presence that reflects meticulous lapidary control, offered by The Natural Sapphire Company. The stone exhibits an intense color intensity, a rich purple hue with strong saturation, and an excellent polish that produces crisp facet junctions and clean table return. The cutting style is mixed brilliant, a deliberate choice to balance face up spread and internal fire, with the length to width ratio at approximately 1.34, producing a classic oval outline that reads both elegant and substantial on the finger. The depth of 3.60 millimeters yields a depth percentage of approximately 56.6 percent relative to the average diameter, a proportion that supports optimal light return for the chosen mixed brilliant design, minimizing windowing while maintaining a lively play of light across the pavilion facets.

The mixed brilliant cut on this sapphire combines a brilliant pattern on the crown with a modified brilliant approach on the pavilion, a configuration that maximizes scintillation without sacrificing depth and color concentration. Facet alignment and symmetry have been executed to enhance contrast patterns and to direct light back through the table, yielding pinpoint flashes on movement and a pleasing overall brilliance for a colored stone of this tone. From a gemological perspective, the material is corundum, with a refractive index that ranges from 1.762 to 1.770, and birefringence that ranges from 0.008 to 0.010, contributing to the rigour of facet reflections and the stone s optical crispness. The specific gravity is in the region of 3.99 to 4.00, so the stone sits with reassuring heft relative to its dimensions. The excellent polish noted on the grading observation ensures minimal light leakage at facet interfaces, and the mixed brilliant architecture works effectively with the stone s pleochroic tendencies, allowing the purple to shift subtly through slightly different blue violet and red violet directions as the stone is viewed from different angles.

Clarity is graded as very very slightly included when evaluated at eye level, a designation that indicates the sapphire is essentially eye clean, with only minute internal characteristics that are visible under magnification or with careful scrutiny. These minor inclusions have been accommodated during cutting to enhance color saturation and to maintain structural integrity, rather than eliminated at the expense of weight or face up color. The gem has undergone standard heat treatment, a common and stable enhancement for Ceylon sapphires, applied to improve both color uniformity and to reduce the visual impact of minute inclusions. Heat treatment in corundum is a time-tested procedure, and when performed and disclosed correctly, as with this stone from The Natural Sapphire Company, it yields a stable result suitable for everyday jewelry, provided conventional care is observed during mounting and subsequent manufacturing work.

On the Mohs hardness scale, corundum registers at nine, making this purple sapphire highly resistant to scratching and well-suited to daily wear applications, while still being second only to diamond, which rates ten. For practical comparison, common jewelry minerals such as topaz register at eight, and quartz at seven, so this sapphire offers a significant advantage in abrasion resistance over those materials, and will resist surface wear and retain polish far longer in normal use. Corundum also lacks true cleavage, which improves its resistance to splitting, though it remains important to avoid substantial impact as with any hard gemstone. For secure daily settings, we recommend traditional prong designs when the goal is to maximize visible color face up, or a bezel setting where the priority is protection for frequent wear, each approach taking advantage of the stone s robust hardness. Cleaning may be carried out using warm soapy water and a soft brush, and heat-treated sapphires of this clarity are generally compatible with ultrasonic and steam cleaning; however, customers should consult with The Natural Sapphire Company to confirm the most appropriate cleaning protocol once the stone is set, and before any jeweller s soldering or high-temperature work is undertaken.