Every month of the year has its own unique features and occasions whether it is the start of a new season or whether it contains an exciting holiday. In addition, each month is the birth month of millions of people across the globe. To honor this, each month has been assigned a beautiful gemstone otherwise known as birthstones.

September’s birthstone is the sapphire, which is a terrific gemstone since it comes in a variety of colors. A relative of July’s birthstone, the ruby, the sapphire is a form of the corundum mineral.

The Blue Sapphire

The gemstone of the month of September, the Sapphire. The Blue Sapphire is the most well known, but Fancy Sapphires are found in other colors including Pink, Orange, Yellow, Brown, and Green

However, instead of the dull color of corundum, sapphires usually possess a blue color ranging from pale blue to a deep indigo blue. Additionally, sapphires can also display a variety of other beautiful colors including pale pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and brown. These colored sapphires are known as fancy sapphires.

Each month has at least one birthstone, and several have been assigned two if not three. While April may be considered the queen of all months since its birthstone is none another than the prestigious diamond, September is a very close second or third as it is the month of the vivacious sapphire. Sapphires are mostly recognized for their deep blue hue but are also found in an array of other colors including pink, yellow, and green. Let us take a look at this remarkable stone and how it can be incorporated into your jewelry collection.

Sapphires and Color Diamonds

Like fancy color diamonds, sapphires exist in many colors making for a plethora of options when it comes to choosing a hue. Though fancy color diamonds are far more precious and valuable than their sapphire counterparts for the most part, they are still extremely regal and make for a wonderful alternative to diamonds or as additional stones for a diamond ring setting. Diamonds rank 10 on the Mohs scale of hardness whereas sapphires (and rubies) rank 9. That is pretty high, and indicates the stone’s tremendous durability.

Beliefs and Myths

Some individuals choose sapphires for their beauty, some for their role as birthstone for September, while others are after the powers and effects that the stone is believed to possess. For example, the sapphire has long been believed to shield one’s loved ones from harm’s way and was worn by clergy as a representation of the heavens. Furthermore, it was believed to symbolize purity making it the perfect amulet for someone in the clergy since it served as a way of distancing impure thoughts.

The Origin

Though fancy sapphires should never be confused with fancy colored diamonds since the latter are far more precious, rare, and expensive, both types of fancy colored stones owe their colors to different causes. Colored diamonds receive their colors from impurities and radiation and fancy sapphires’ colors are also caused by impurities within the crystal such as ferric iron in yellow sapphires and the lack of contaminants in colorless sapphires.

Sapphires can be found in many locations around the globe, but the largest source for them is in Australia, and New South Wales and Queensland in particular. The shade of blue in the sapphires differs from location to location. For instance, blue sapphires found in Australia have a dark and inky appearance while those found in Kashmir, India, have the coveted medium deep cornflower-blue shade.

Famous Stones

Over time there have been many famous sapphires. One particularly well-known sapphire is the . Queen Victoria wore the crown back in 1838. Currently the piece can be found among the British Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.

A Sapphire's Meaning

The word “sapphire” has been taken from a number of languages including Arabic, Latin, and Greek. The sapphire was known as the gem of Apollo, the Greek God of philosophy. It was believed that sapphires represent the purity of the soul and was therefore worn before and after the Middle Ages by priests as protection from impure thoughts. Sapphires were also given to wives of warriors in order to keep them faithful.

It is always pleasant to receive birthstone jewelry, and as birthstones go, sapphires are quite appealing. Sapphires are far from diamonds but they do exude beautiful colors and an attractive shine. These stones can make wonderful additions to other precious stones such as diamonds, colored diamonds, pearls, emeralds, and of course, rubies.

Colors and Types

Sapphires belong to the corundum family, the very same family that encompasses the ruby. In fact, the only real difference between the two stones is the color. Pale red rubies are officially called pink sapphires or pink corundum and not rubies. Blue sapphires, the most popular hue, range from a light green-blue or blue to a dark blue or even violet-blue. Each color can be compared to other precious and semi-precious stones but are truly unique in their own special way.

Worn by royalty and the elite since beginning of time, sapphires are still considered extremely prestigious. The one and only Kate Middleton famously received her late mother-in-law’s (Princess Diana) sapphire and diamond engagement ring upon becoming betrothed to Prince William. Other famous sapphire jewelry has belonged to the beloved Elizabeth Taylor, Victoria Beckham, and Penelope Cruz. A sapphire can make a wonderful center stone for an engagement ring, or could replace color diamonds as side stone or as the chosen gemstone for a studded band.

The most important thing to keep in mind is, if this is your birthstone there is no need to wait until September to adopt your own piece of Sapphire jewelry. Wear this piece with pride every day of the year, and show the world just how much of a September baby you are!

Sapphire Birthstone - September Birthstone