Prince Charles

Prince Charles

Prince Charles proposed to Princess Diana with an immaculate blue sapphire

Sapphire, with its deep historic roots and its many different colors, shapes and sizes, is the most popular colored gemstone for jewelry. There are many legends surrounding sapphires; ancient tribes believed sapphires exuded heavenly rays that had the power to kill poisonous creatures, and were used for protection. The Persians even believed that the earth rested on a giant sapphire, and that the blue of the heavens in the sky was its reflection. Sapphire was a major part of the British Crown Jewels, prominently featured in important pieces like St. Edwards Crown (which was used for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II) and the famous Stuart Sapphire in the Imperial State Crown.

In more recent times, Sapphire has become a symbol of love, often replacing diamonds as a popular choice for an engagement or commitment ring. Though this was common in royal circles for generations, it became much more popular after Prince Charles proposed to Princess Diana with an immaculate blue sapphire in the early 1980s. Since then, the mesmerizing and romantic blue of the sapphire has become the choice for a woman who appreciates something rare, beautiful and more unique than a diamond.

Sapphire is an exceptional choice for jewelry for three reasons: Strength, Beauty and Price.  Sapphire is a “9” on Moh’s hardness Scale, only one grade down from diamond. This means that it is also one of the hardest substances known to man, and will not only look beautiful when you receive your piece, but for generations and centuries to come. Sapphire is also exceptionally beautiful: it comes in hundreds of shades of blue, pink, yellow, green, and even white (which often get mistaken for diamond!). This means you can get almost any look by just using sapphires.  Sapphire also exhibit stunning optical properties – they have lovely luster, homogeneity of color and rich color depth.  Technical terms aside, they are simply incredible to look at.  Though Sapphire is a precious gemstone (as apposed to the cheaper, semi-precious stones), it is very reasonably priced.  Across the industry, it is possible to get beautiful, high quality sapphires for a fraction of the price of rubies and emeralds.  With our direct access to the source of sapphires and in-house cutting and polishing, you can get sapphire jewelry here for a fraction of the price elsewhere.  This combination of strength, beauty and affordability make sapphire our #1 best selling gemstone at Angara.com.

About the Author

Angara is a writer for gemstones and jewelry working with Angara.com, an on-line jewelry firm that has a fine collection of diamond and gemstone jewelry.

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