1.25 Ct. Orangish Yellow Sapphire from Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

This 1.25 carat cushion shape orangish yellow sapphire presents a precise combination of balanced proportions and color harmony, supplied by The Natural Sapphire Company. The stone measures 6.02 by 6.02 by 3.59 millimeters, a compact yet substantial footprint for a classic cushion, and it displays a medium intense color intensity that reads as a warm, citrus to golden hue under daylight and standard jewelry lighting. The cut is a mixed brilliant style, executed to emphasize brilliance and scintillation while maintaining the rounded, pillow like outline that defines the cushion family. Clarity is graded as eye clean at eye level, indicating that no inclusions are visible to the unaided eye under normal viewing conditions, and the polish is excellent, delivering crisp facet junctions and uninterrupted light return from crown to pavilion. The origin is Ceylon, Sri Lanka, a source renowned for producing sapphires with lively tones and good crystallographic clarity, and the piece is beryllium diffused, a documented enhancement that has been applied to stabilize and intensify the orangish yellow body color, consistent with full disclosure practices that The Natural Sapphire Company adheres to.

The mixed brilliant faceting on this cushion combines a faceted crown of triangular and kite shaped brilliant facets with a pavilion that employs both pavilion mains and modified step or chevron elements to control light leakage and maximize return. This hybrid approach provides the scintillation pattern associated with modern brilliant cutting, while the pavilion architecture deepens color saturation without creating dead spots or excessive windowing. The measured depth of 3.59 millimeters relative to the average diameter produces a depth ratio of approximately 59.6 percent, a proportion that sits squarely in the range that yields efficient light performance and a pleasing face up appearance for a cushion form. The table is proportioned to allow broad flash of light, while the crown angle has been optimized for dispersion and sparkle without overly slimming the appearance of the pavilion. Facet symmetry is intentionally tight to maintain repeated optical patterns when the stone is rotated, and the excellent polish ensures that facet planes translate incident light with minimal diffusion, contributing to crisp fire and a lively surface appearance when set in jewelry.

Clarity and enhancement considerations are central to an informed technical assessment, and this sapphire is eye clean at normal viewing distances, which is typical for higher quality Ceylon sapphires. Internal characteristics that are common to sapphires of this origin may include fine silk rutile needles or minute crystal inclusions, and in this example, the clarity allows for uninterrupted brilliance and even color distribution across the table and crown facets. The stone has undergone beryllium diffusion, a treatment in which beryllium is diffused into the corundum lattice at elevated temperature to modify trace element concentrations and thus shift the body color toward the orangish yellow range. This treatment is stable for normal wear and is not removed by cleaning methods used in standard jewelry maintenance, however it is an alteration of the original material and is fully disclosed by The Natural Sapphire Company. Regarding long term performance and wear, sapphire is corundum and occupies position 9 on the Mohs hardness scale, which places it directly below diamond at 10, and appreciably above topaz at 8, quartz at 7, and beryl varieties such as emerald and aquamarine in the range of 7.5 to 8. The practical implication for daily wear is that this sapphire resists scratching from the vast majority of common materials and household abrasives, offering excellent scratch resistance and retention of polish over time, while still requiring reasonable care to protect against hard impacts that can produce chips along facet junctions.

From a setting and maintenance perspective, the combination of cushion shape, moderate depth, and consistent color makes this sapphire highly versatile for ring, pendant, or bespoke multi stone configurations. For high wear applications such as rings, protective settings such as partial bezels or six prong crowns that support the girdle at multiple points are recommended to reduce the chance of impact related chipping along the culet and crown facets. The inherent toughness of corundum, allied with the eye clean clarity, allows for precision setting with minimal need for filler or reinforcement, enabling jewelers to create settings that showcase the mixed brilliant faceting and the gemological characteristics imparted by its Ceylon origin. Cleaning is safely performed with warm soapy water and a soft brush, and the beryllium diffused color is stable to ultrasonic and steam cleaning under typical conditions, but any heat or chemical work in the workshop should be disclosed in advance to avoid unnecessary exposure. The Natural Sapphire Company provides full documentation of origin and enhancement status, and we offer mounting services, custom design consultation, and independent grading reports upon request, assuring that technical buyers receive both the performance they expect in everyday wear and the provenance and disclosure they require for investment quality acquisition.