Striacroft Jewellers

Sapphire is a gemstone variety of a mineral called corundum. On the Mohs scale it has a hardness of 9 which is just one behind diamond. This means that this gem is resistant to wear and tear and can be worn every day.

This gem is usually blue, though it can come in a variety of other colors like black, yellow, orange, grey, pink, purple, orange, brown, and even colorless. One of the most popular and timeless tints of the gem is velvety royal blue. You can also say that ruby is a red variety of sapphire. The rarest in nature and the most expensive non-blue sapphire is called padparadscha. It is an exquisite pink stone adored by many people.

Ancient Hebrews believed sapphire was a gem of wisdom. It was the stone of Joseph the Wise who was famous for resisting temptations. Some also believe that sapphire was set in the ring of King Solomon himself, and Queen of Sheba sang in a Song of Songs to him mentioning this gem. One of the sapphires was in the holy of holies and was a special talisman for the Jewish people. This gem was hidden when Roman Emperor Titus conquered Jerusalem.

Egyptians valued sapphire for its deep blue colour which symbolized the purity of character. They often engraved the gem with rays of the sun and inlaid the carving with gold.

SHOP sapphire