How Are Sapphires Used?

Decorative Jewelry

Used commonly in jewelry, most people associate sapphires as gems used mainly in engagement rings, earrings or necklaces. These stones are most often blue in color, but can also be black, pink, orange or even clear. Sapphires are mined in Australia, Madagascar, East Africa, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and even in the United States in states like Montana. Sapphires for jewelry are graded by hue, saturation and tone. Some sapphires are super-heated to improve their appearance.

Watch Crystals

Sapphires are desirable gems for use in watch crystals, which are also commonly known as watch face covers. The sapphire is the second hardest gem behind the diamond and is glare-resistant. The benefit of using sapphires for watch crystals is that if they are scratched, a gentle polishing can remove the blemish when other crystal materials may have to be replaced.

Lasers

Affecting the behavior of light in pulsed lasers, sapphires are also used in nonlinear optics. The most common application is the frequency doubling that is executed by using a crystal at a special angle. These lasers are called in the scientific community, Ti-sapphire lasers.

Sapphires Used in Space

NASA uses sapphires as a particle collector that analyzes the contents of solar wind. During the flight of the Genesis capsule, sapphire disks were used to capture noble gases, helium and neon.

Resources

• Company selling natural, untreated and unheated sapphires