Sapphire

Thank you for visiting our selections of Sapphire

To find our offerings for the order of your choice, please select our Singles, Pairs, Sets, or Parcels categories. We are constantly expanding and improving our inventory so in case you fail to find your desired item, please kindly revisit our site soon, or simply place a Special Order

Singles: Thanks to slight, often almost imperceptible variations in color, sparkle, quality and size, no two natural gems are exactly alike. Yet while this poses a challenge in finding matching pairs, it also means that each and every stone is in effect one of its kind. As a result, whatever stone you select from our extensive inventory at algadgems.com, your selection will be yours alone.

Pairs: While in diamonds it's fairly easy to find identical pairs, in gems it may take weeks, or even months to get two matching stones. Yet you need much more than mere luck to spot a gemstone's twin sister: expert eyes and the knowledge of where to look. We at algadgems.com have them both and remain committed to finding the best pairs of stones available.

Sets: In a set of stones, we look for the most pleasing combination of color, sparkle, quality, and size. In addition, an arrangement's defining features have to be characteristic of every individual stone. And whereas each individual stone must be pleasing in itself, it's the harmony of all the member stones that bring out a set's unique beauty.

Parcels: For wholesalers and retailers, we offer parcels (or lots) of high-quality gems, every single one of which has been hand-selected by our experts. From small parcels to larger orders, algadgems.com can provide the world's choicest rubies, sapphires, emeralds and myriad other gems.

The name Sapphire derives from the Latin sapphirus, which in turn came from the Greek sappherios, both words meaning "blue." Whereas sapphires come in the full palette of colors (except red) from light pink to brownish orange to black, it is blue sapphires that have exercised people's imagination throughout history. The ancient Persians believed that the earth perched atop a giant sapphire and the sky mirrored the gem's radiant azure. Other peoples saw the blue sapphire as the Gem of Heavens. Understandably so: blue sapphires range in hue from dark midnight blue to the lucid blue of a summer sky, all the way to the tinged violet of twilight.

In gem lore, blue sapphires denoted honesty and fidelity. Lovers have long cherished them, especially sapphires of the royal blue variety, which remain most prized by connoisseurs. It was such a stone that Prince Charles gave Princess Diana for their engagement. Sapphires have also symbolized truth. Jewish tradition holds that Moses received the Ten Commandments on tablets of beautiful blue sapphire.

A member of the corundum family and a close gemological relative of the ruby, sapphires are resilient stones, second only to diamonds in their toughness. They are hard to break or scratch. The finest gems are mined in Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon sapphires), Thailand, Australia, Cambodia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Madagascar. Kashmir in India and Myanmar (formerly Burma) produce their special velvety blue stones highly valued by experts. Sadly, though, these have been over-mined almost to the point of extinction.

The finest sapphires retain their brilliance and consistency of color when viewed from any angle and under all kinds of lighting. (Black, green or gray tints mixed in with the blue will reduce a stone's aesthetic and material value.) As with other gemstones, visible, usually needle-like inclusions and other tiny flaws will render a gem "unclean" and so less valuable. However, expert cutters can take advantage of such blemishes. In their hands, needle-like inclusions can be brought to reveal a whirling six-rayed star in cabochon-shaped stones. These are especially popular in rings for men.

The ancients viewed star sapphires as powerful talismans, which guided and protected travelers and seekers on their quests. They were said to protect their original owner even after they changed into other hands. What can be a better gift than that?