The birthstone for September is the sapphire.
Over the millennia the sapphire has come to symbolise honour, sincerity and faithfulness and has for centuries been associated with royalty and romance. Just think of the buzz that surrounded the engagement ring chosen for Diana by Charles, the Prince of Wales, in 1981 and then again when Prince William presented the same ring to his true love, Kate.
In ancient times it was believed that that blue sapphires protected their owners from envy and harm, making it very popular with rulers and despots of all kinds: rather a lot of those same rulers were assassinated over the years however, so it’s unlikely the blue gemstone was much use other than decorative. Unless the assassin was wearing a ruby of course, to bring success in his career… I digress, back to the birthstone for September, the sapphire!
The sapphire has always been associated with the colour blue and indeed its name comes from the Greek word sappheiros, which probably actually referred to the blue gemstone lapis lazuli. However, quite delightfully, sapphires come in many, many colours.
Sapphires, in all their shades, form the corundum family. As well as the blue sapphire we all know so well, they come in pink, violet, lilac, green, yellow, orange, purple and even grey, black, or brown.
When is a sapphire not a sapphire?
One colour you won’t find in a sapphire however is red – as the red corundum stone is called a ruby, and is the rarest colour of all. Ooh – those rubies again! Maybe in the world of gemstone mystical powers ruby trumps sapphire…
Another sapphire has been given the honour of its own name too, the simply gorgeous padparadscha sapphire. This means ‘lotus flower’ in Sinhalese, the language spoken in Sri Lanka, where these beautiful stones were first found. Their pinky-orange colour is impossible to describe in mere words, but trust us when we say it’s unforgettably beautiful.
As well as being the birthstone for September, the sapphire is of course the gemstone chosen to celebrate the 45th wedding anniversary.
Bespoke sapphire jewellery
We love working with sapphires here at Christopher Evans and have created some breathtaking pieces over the years. As well as the rings you see here, we’ve worked on countless engagement rings, brooches, earrings and pendants.
We even designed and crafted a stunning brooch using multiple sapphires in varied shades of lilac, pink and green – an Elephant Hawk Moth, for a lovely lady who just adored this colourful creature.
To learn more about this beautiful gemstone, and how we can create the perfect piece for you, call in or call us!
The Padparadscha is a special variety of sapphire. The sapphire is a corundum crystal, and comes in all shades of the rainbow. Only two have been awarded their own special name though – the very rare red sapphire, which is called a ruby, and the also very rare orange-pink sapphire, named the padparadscha.
The gemstone is neither pink, nor orange, but a glorious combination of the two, reminiscent of a an unforgettable sunset.
