Main centres: | 1-3 business days |
Regional areas: | 3-4 business days |
Remote areas: | 3-5 business days |
Gemstone type | Sapphire |
Weight | 4.5 carats |
Size | 10.2 x 8.9 x 5.3 mm |
Colour in shade | Cornflower blue |
Colour in sun | Clean medium blue with bright silvery blue flashes |
Clarity | IF |
Cut | Cushion cut |
Lustre | Excellent |
Hardness | 9 |
Treatment | Heated & treated |
Origin | Brazil |
Quantity | 1 |
Other |
This is what sapphires look like when they are dug out of the soil. They are dull and cloudy. The clouding is caused by rutile inclusions.
The sapphires above look like this when they are cut and polished without further treatment:
These sapphires may have inclusions, colour zoning or banding, or just be pale and insipid in colour.
Most sapphires are routinely heated to improve the clarity. At high temperatures the rutile dissolves and disappears into the matrix. This results in a clear gemstone and a more uniform colour. The dissolved rutile also improves the colour, because rutile is titanium dioxide, and the titanium ion together with iron ion provides the typical cornflower blue colour of blue sapphires.
Yellow sapphires have very little titanium. The colour is caused by iron in the crystal lattice.
Purple sapphires are special. They have traces of chromium and vanadium in addition to the titanium and iron. It is the balance of these trace elements that determine the particular shade of purple in purple sapphires.
I have other interesting gems for sale on BoB. You can see them here
Shipping All items are sent by S.A. Post Office Registered Mail. I will combine items at no extra cost. Certificates I don't offer a certificate because my gems are not particularly valuable. The courier charges and the lab report would cost more than the gems are worth. In my opinion, most valuation certificates are wildly optimistic and hopelessly unrealistic about the estimated retail value of the appraised gem. Try selling it for the quoted value! The only reason for quoting such an inflated value is to make the buyer feel good about buying the gem at a price much below "market value", i.e. the buyer thinks he is getting a bargain Payment BoBPay EFT only. You can do this from most South African bank accounts. When making a payment, please use the reference number the Bid or Buy system allocates to your order. You have 7 days to pay for your order. If you have not paid within 7 days, your order will be cancelled and the items re-listed. General Orders will be processed and posted within 1 - 2 working days. I will send you a SAPO tracking number via E-mail. I recommend insuring your item, because the SAPO has a patchy track record. |