Gemstone Glossary

Color Change Sapphire

The island of Serendib (present day Sri Lanka) holds one of the earliest records for the mining of Sapphires. Ancient people believed that the power of wisdom is contained within this precious gemstone. They believed that when the wearer of a Sapphire faces challenging obstacles, the stone's power enables them to find the correct solution. The modern word Sapphire is derived from the ancient Latin term "Sapphirus".


Sapphires come in all spectrums of color, except for red. Often when people refer to Sapphires, they mean Blue Sapphires. Other color Sapphires are referred to as Fancy Sapphires. Color Change Sapphires are not very well known but can be quite magnificent when set into fine gold jewelry.

Similar to Rubies, Sapphires come in many different shapes and sizes, providing great variety to gemstone lovers and ensuring the enduring popularity of Sapphire jewelry. With hardness just below that of diamonds, Sapphires are one of the toughest gemstones, and with no cleavage, breakage rarely occurs.

Found in Sri Lanka, very intense orange-pinks (Padparadsha ) are the most sought after color of fancy Sapphires. A variety of Yellow and Gold Sapphires are also available in the world market, with Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania major sources of supply. Green Sapphires are found in Australia and Thailand. The shade of green tends to be close to the color of an army uniform, but exceptional stones do exist. Violet Sapphires tend to have color change as a common characteristic, especially when viewed under daylight. However, due to their inability to be classified as either Ruby or Blue Sapphires, Color Change Sapphires' price usually falls into the lower range. Most Color Change Sapphires available today come from Africa and Sri Lanka.

For Color Change Sapphires, the wearer's preference is the most important determinant, since these gemstones come in many different shapes, colors and sizes. Intensity, uniformity, purity of color and degree of color change are the most important factors. Cutting of Color Change Sapphires will also be another important evaluation factor.