The History of Sapphire
Tracing September's birthstone from ancient legends of the sky to the British Crown Jewels
The Ancient Origins of Sapphire
Sapphire's name traces back to the Greek "sappheiros," but there is a catch: scholars believe the word originally described lapis lazuli, not the corundum gem we call sapphire today. True sapphire rarely if ever occurs in the large slabs ancient writers described, which is a strong clue that something got mixed up along the way, much like peridot's centuries-long mix-up with emerald.
That mix-up shows up in one of the stone's oldest legends. Kunz records the tradition that the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai was engraved on tablets of sapphire, a story almost certainly referring to lapis lazuli rather than true corundum. The confusion did not stop scholars and poets from treating the two stones as one for centuries, and the legend persisted long after gem cutters could tell them apart.
Sapphire is a variety of corundum, the same mineral family as ruby, and its blue color comes from traces of iron and titanium locked into its crystal structure. Ancient writers had no way of knowing that. What they did know was the color itself, and they built an entire mythology around it. A widespread Persian legend held that the earth rests on a giant sapphire, and that the sky's blue color is simply the sapphire's own reflection. It is a beautiful explanation. It is also just a legend, but it explains why "sapphire blue" became shorthand for the color of heaven across so many cultures.
Sapphire also has a biblical footnote of its own. The sixth stone on the high priest's breastplate in the Book of Exodus is traditionally translated as sapphire, though most scholars believe it, too, likely referred to lapis lazuli, since true sapphire of that size and quantity was simply not available to ancient stone-setters. The confusion between the two blue stones runs through nearly every ancient text that mentions either one.
Sapphire Through the Medieval and Renaissance Periods
Sapphire's reputation only grew once Europe entered the Middle Ages. Marbode, the medieval bishop-poet of Rennes, wrote a widely read treatise on gemstones that praised sapphire above nearly every other stone, calling it sacred and fit for kings. His writing helped cement sapphire's status as the preferred gem for ecclesiastical rings, a role it held for centuries.
Medieval physicians and lapidaries credited sapphire with protecting against poison. Kunz records a striking claim, repeated by the writer Bartolomaeus Anglicus, that a spider sealed in a box would die almost instantly if a sapphire was held to the opening. The same writers believed sapphire preserved eyesight and kept the eyes clear of infection. None of it holds up under modern scrutiny, but it shows how much medicinal power people assigned to the stone, and how eager medieval Europe was to find proof for beliefs it already held.
Necromancers and, according to Bartolomaeus, witches were said to favor sapphire above other gems, believing it let them hear and interpret the most obscure oracles. Kunz also preserves a curious eighteenth-century tale about a color-shifting sapphire, blue in daylight and violet by candlelight, once owned by a Polish nobleman and later fictionalized as "Le Saphire Merveilleux," a story in which the stone was used to test a woman's fidelity by watching whether its color changed while she wore it. Charming as folklore, and worth noting that genuine color-change sapphires do exist, though not for the reasons medieval writers imagined.
Sapphire Across Cultures and Continents
Sapphire's color did more than decorate crowns and rings. Across very different cultures, separated by continents and centuries, it became a stand-in for the sky itself, and for the wisdom and protection people associated with it:
Persian and Near Eastern Legend
The legend that the earth rests on a giant sapphire, coloring the sky with its reflection, spread across Persia and the ancient Near East. It gave sapphire a cosmic status few other gems could claim.
Medieval Christian Europe
Bishops and clergy adopted sapphire as the ideal stone for ecclesiastical rings, prized for its color and its supposed power to guard against poison, envy, and impure thoughts.
Sri Lankan Traditions
Sri Lanka, historically called Ceylon, has mined sapphire for well over a thousand years. Kunz notes that the Cingalese regarded the moving star inside a star sapphire as protection against the Evil Eye and witchcraft. The island also gave the gem world padparadscha, a rare orange-pink sapphire named for the Sinhalese words for lotus blossom.
Ancient Greece and Rome
The writer Damigeron called sapphire a regal gem, claiming kings wore it as defense against harm and a way to attract divine favor. Roman and Greek nobility set sapphires into bracelets and necklaces as symbols of rank, and Greeks reportedly wore the stone when consulting oracles, believing it sharpened the answers they received.
Famous Sapphire Specimens
The Star of India
At 563.35 carats, the Star of India is the largest gem-quality blue star sapphire in the world. Mined in Sri Lanka and unusual for showing a star on both sides, it was acquired by gemologist George Frederick Kunz for J.P. Morgan and now resides at the American Museum of Natural History.
The Logan Sapphire
Weighing 422.99 carats, the Logan Sapphire is one of the largest faceted blue sapphires on public display. Mined in Sri Lanka and never heated or treated, it was donated to the Smithsonian in 1960 and has been part of the National Gem Collection since 1971.
The Rockefeller Sapphire
This 62.02-carat, internally flawless cornflower blue sapphire takes its name from onetime owner John D. Rockefeller Jr., who had it reset by Cartier as a ring. It has changed hands at auction more than once since, each sale reinforcing its reputation as one of the finest large, unenhanced sapphires in existence.
Princess Diana's Engagement Ring
In 1981, Prince Charles gave Lady Diana Spencer a 12-carat Ceylon sapphire engagement ring, instantly making it one of the most recognized jewels in the world. Catherine, Princess of Wales, now wears the same ring, keeping sapphire firmly linked to modern royalty.
Sapphire in Modern Times
Scientific Understanding
- Sapphire and ruby are both corundum, an aluminum oxide mineral. Traces of iron and titanium produce sapphire's blue, while chromium produces ruby's red, so the two gems are chemical siblings separated mainly by trace elements.
- In 1902, French chemist Auguste Verneuil developed the flame fusion process for creating synthetic corundum, and by 1907 his lab was producing roughly 1,000 kilograms of synthetic ruby and sapphire a year. It remains one of the most widely used methods for lab-created corundum today.
- Padparadscha, the rare orange-pink sapphire named for the Sinhalese words for lotus blossom, remains one of the most sought-after and expensive sapphire varieties on the market.
Mining and Production
- In 1881, a landslide in the Padar region of Kashmir's Zanskar range exposed a sapphire deposit that would go on to produce the most coveted blue sapphires ever found, prized for their velvety, cornflower-blue color.
- The main Kashmir deposit was largely worked out within a decade, and stones from that brief window still command extraordinary prices at auction, decades after mining effectively stopped.
- Sri Lanka has supplied fine sapphire for well over a thousand years, and Myanmar's Mogok region and Madagascar's deposits, discovered in the late 1990s, are now major modern sources alongside smaller finds in Montana, where the Yogo Gulch deposit produces sapphires prized for their natural, untreated cornflower-blue color.
- Unlike Kashmir's brief, legendary output, most of today's supply comes from mines that have operated steadily for decades, giving the modern market a stability that nineteenth-century buyers never had.
Cultural Significance Today
- Sapphire has been the recognized birthstone for September since the modern birthstone list was standardized in 1912 by the American National Retail Jewelers Association, now known as Jewelers of America.
- Jewelers of America also lists sapphire as the gemstone for the 45th wedding anniversary.
- The gem's long association with royal engagement rings, from Princess Diana to Catherine, Princess of Wales, has kept sapphire firmly in the public eye well beyond September birthdays.
- Blue remains the color most people picture, but sapphire occurs in nearly every hue except red, which is classified as ruby instead. Colorless, pink, yellow, and padparadscha sapphires have all found their own devoted collectors in recent decades.
