September Birthstone - Sapphire

September Birthstone - Sapphire

Sapphire is the September birthstone. Sapphire is well known for its blue color but sapphire can actually come in many colors besides blue. Sapphire is derived from sappheiros the Greek word for blue. This gemstone does produce some of the most beautiful blue colors.

Sapphire is a variety of corundum. Ruby is the red variety of the mineral corundum. Sapphire is the name for all other colors of corundum other than red. The gemstone sapphire is allochromatic which means it can be in every color. A gem quality sapphire is rarer than diamonds. Sometimes sapphires are found with a star light phenomenon called asterism.

Sapphire is well known as a blue color but the padparadscha sapphire, a pink orange color, is actually the rarest color and most sought after by gem collectors. The padparadscha sapphire is found in Sri Lanka. The royal blue sapphire is found in Kancha Thailand and the cornflower blue sapphire is found in Montana. White sapphires have been used as diamond substitutes. One of the most popular sapphire colors lately are the pink sapphires. Some jewelers like to make bracelets with every color of sapphire displayed. They are called rainbow sapphire bracelets.