Facts About Fancy Sapphires

Blue sapphire is the most sought after sapphires. It is cherished for its intense hues and considered the stone of heaven. But sapphire is not only found in blue color. There are many shades of sapphire from pink, yellow, green, orange to peach, white and colorless. All these various shades of sapphire which are non-blue are called fancy sapphires.

These fancy sapphires are just as beautiful as blue. They are gaining popularity among the jewelry lovers and collectors. The most expensive fancy sapphire is Padparadscha which is a sapphire with orange-pink hue from Sri Lanka. Padparadscha is a Sinhalese word for lotus flower and the stone reflects beautifully intense pinkish orange lotus color. It is a rare sapphire with approximately $20,000 per carat.

Next most popular fancy sapphire is pink sapphire. It is made up of corundum and traces of titanium oxide which is responsible for its pink color. High quality pink sapphires are very rare. They are mostly found in Sri Lanka and Burma. Pink sapphires are next to padparadschas in price. They are very expensive because of their saturated hot pink color and as the color get lighter the value decreases.

Other fancy sapphires are orange sapphires which are mined from Tanzania’s Umba River Valley. They often range from yellowish-orange to orange-red. Purple and color-change sapphires are also famous fancy sapphires. The medium-dark, red-purple stones which are also called plum sapphires are highly expensive purple sapphires. They sometime show pleochrosim.

Unlike pink or purple sapphires, yellow sapphires are easier to find. They have strong yellow color and their value is similar to purple sapphires. Green sapphires are relatively low-priced sapphires due to their dull color.

The world of fancy sapphires is rich and vibrant so next time when you think of a sapphire you can imagine the rainbow.