How to Pick a Sapphire

Are you in the market for a sapphire? Here's a guide to help you choose the best sapphire for your money.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Decide how much money you want to spend. Next, decide whether size (carats) is the most important factor, or if you would rather have a smaller stone with better color and clarity. If you want both clarity and large size and don't have a huge budget, consider getting a man-made sapphire

2. Pick the shape of sapphire you want. There are seven basic shapes and a wide range of variations on those shapes produced by gem-cutters in countries like Thailand and Sri Lanka. Star sapphires are cut into cabochons, which are ovals with rounded tops.

3. Search the Internet for on-line sellers of sapphires. Within the size range you have selected, the price of sapphires increases with greater clarity and more intense color. Look for a combination of the best color and clarity in your price range. It may help to visit local jewelry stores to familiarize yourself with color and clarity of sapphires in person, and on your hand.

4. Eliminate sapphires from your final selection that have irregularly-shaped or unevenly-sized facets, surface flaws, poor symmetry or poor polish. Finding a sapphire with an excellent cut can be challenging. Purchase your favorite choice of emeralds from a reputable Internet dealer or from a local jeweler.

Tips & Warnings

• Sapphire is a variety of the mineral corundum, with a hardness of 9.0 and a density of around 4.0.
• Sapphires with reasonably good transparency and clarity are relatively abundant, compared to rubies and emeralds. Keep looking if you can't find sapphires with good clarity at a reasonable price.
• There is not an established grading system for the clarity of sapphires, but many vendors have started using the diamond grading system which ranges from I3 (heavily included) to IF (internally flawless).
• Sapphires come in a very wide range of colors, ranging from black to brown, pink and colorless. Pink shades of sapphire grade into the color range of ruby, which is also a variety of the mineral corundum.
• Sapphire is the birthstone for the month of September.
• Most sapphires are cut overseas by low-wage workers, and the quality of cut and polish may be less than optimal. Avoid sapphires with unusual cuts, irregular facets or poor polish.

Resources

• More information on sapphires.
• More information on sapphires.