September Birthstone: Sapphire

Here it is, the last day of the month, and it’s almost too late to talk about the birthstone of the month of September, if it weren’t for the fact that sapphires are beautiful gemstones to give and wear any time of the year.

The word sapphire comes from the Greek word sappheiros which means blue stone. Blue is, in fact, the main color of the sapphire, and it can be found in shades from the deepest midnight-blue to the lighter, mid-blue color of the sky on a sunny summer day.

Sapphires are gemstones of the mineral corundum, a rock-forming mineral that is naturally clear, but can be found in all the colors of the rainbow when impurities or traces of other elements, such as iron, chromium or titanium, are present. Blue is by far the most common hue of the sapphire, but chromium impurities in corundum, i.e., result in a red hue, and we call the gemstone of this kind a ruby. So essentially a ruby is a red sapphire, but there are also yellow, pink, purple, orange and even green sapphires.

Sapphires are perfect for use in jewelry since they have a high degree of mineral hardness second only to diamonds and are durable enough for use in every kind of jewelry setting. Check out some of the interesting ways sapphires have been set in the following examples from our various stores.