The most rare and valuable natural blue gemstones are sapphires. Their beautiful royal color, hardness and durability are all reasons why they're so sought-after. In the gem trade, sapphire refers only to the blue variety (such as the mineral Corundum) without any prefix. Sapphire includes all colors and varieties of Corundum, with the exception of Ruby, the red variety.
Sapphire corundum, a synthetically created crystal with a Mohs hardness second only to that of diamonds, is incredibly durable. Durability is essential because gemstones tend to chip. It typically grows in cylindrical sticks called boules, and requires a slow, expensive and energy-intensive production process.
The most important quality of a Sapphire is color. The deeper the sapphire's color, but also its saturation are important. The top sapphires can reach vibrant saturation (pure, royal blue), as the majority of gems in the market are greyish. The tone is another important consideration. Dark sapphires have a large market, but never achieve high prices.
Padparadscha, a rare orange-pink Sapphire variety is also a valuable Sapphire. A sapphire that is also known as the Color Changing Sapphire changes colors depending on how it's lit. This color-changing Sapphire changes color depending on the lighting. In natural light it appears blue. Under artificial light, however, it is violet. In recent years, yellow and red Sapphire has become popular.
The price of Sapphires can vary depending on its quality. Sapphires' prices can range from $25 per karat up to more than $11,000. Blue Sapphire was sold on record costing $135,000 per carat. A sapphire's price is determined by its quality. This means a large sapphire with low-quality would be much cheaper than a smaller sapphire of high-quality.
Blue sapphires have inclusions but are generally clearer than rubies. Sapphires come with a wide variety of inclusions. An example of this is the long thin mineral inclusions called needles. They can have feathers, white clouds or other inclusions that can give the sapphire an opaque appearance. It is very rare to find blue sapphires with extremely high clarity, making them very valuable. With rarity, the price increases.
The most highly prized sapphires come from Kashmir. These precious stones are only mined in the Himalayan mountaintops for a few short months each year. They possess beautiful coloration, but what sets them apart from the rest is their very fine silk. This results in a stone with a velvety appearance. It produces a glow, which minimizes extinction. This effect is unique to the Burmese Ruby.
Sapphires - Why Are They So Expensive?
Sapphires are available in a wide range of colors and sizes, the price ranges starting from a few dollars for heavily included midnight blues. The most expensive colors include the intense pinks and padparadschas. The high price of blue sapphires can also be attributed to the large size. A pink or a padparadscha can only fetch prices in a similar range if they weigh over 100 carats, but the existence of stones like that with exceptional color and clarity is very rare.
Sapphires are valued based on the color, weight and size. It is important to assess the cut and clarity of the sapphire. clarity may be more important than color.
The price of a top-quality 1 to 2 carat gemstone could range from $800 to $1200 per carat. While quality 2 to 3 carat stones would sell for approximately double the price per carat, so that would be around $1600 - $2000 per carat. Although prices for larger and smaller stones can be extrapolated, it is impossible to predict the exact price.
Pricing Synthetic vs. Natural
They are too perfect to be able to differentiate between natural and synthetic gemstones. The quality is high. Despite the synthetic gemstones being vastly superior in appearance due to the lack of impurities, they often sell for lower prices when compared to other natural gemstones. Sapphires are of high quality, and they're very hard to find. As a result, it is a costly gemstone.
Getting a well-cut, high-quality carat sapphire would cost more than other gemstones since a quality sapphire is made to the very best value and is a very rare gemstone which makes the demand high and increases the price.