All About Sapphire

One of the big 3 gemstones - Sapphire. Also September's birthstone, and the gem of the 5th and 45th anniversaries. Long celebrated as regal stones, sapphires have been worn by kings and queens in western cultures for centuries.

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FACTS

• Mineral: Corundum

• Color: Every color but red

• Refractive index: 1.762 to 1.770

• Specific gravity: 4.00

• Mohs Hardness: 9

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Sapphire is generally known as a blue gemstone but surprisingly it comes in a wide range of colors and quality variations. In general, the more intense and uniform the color is, the more valuable the stone.

Sapphires that are not blue are known as fancy sapphires, and may be any colour—except red (which is a ruby). There truly is a different color of sapphire to suit anyone’s taste!

Colour has the greatest influence on a sapphire’s value. The most valued blue sapphires are velvety blue to violetish blue, in medium to medium-dark tones. Sapphires with these qualities command the highest prices per carat. Blue sapphires with extremely high clarity are rare, and very valuable.

Sapphires are rated 9 on the Mohs Hardness scale, which means it is the 2nd hardest gem next to diamonds! That is part of the reason why they are often used in engagement rings as it represents ever-lasting love and make suitable heirlooms to be passed down for generations.

Often associated with royalty, sapphire is believed to attract abundance, blessings, and gifts. It has been used to protect against negative energies, as well as calm the mind, strengthen intuition, and invite spiritual clarity. One of the most famous sapphire engagement rings belonged to the late Princess Diana and is now worn by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, the wife of Princess Diana's eldest son, Prince William.

Shop Sapphire here!

Salt and Pepper Diamonds

Guilt-free diamonds. Read this if you are always looking out for eco-friendly options.

Firstly, what is a diamond?

Natural diamonds are composed of carbon atoms that are subject to extreme high temperatures and intense pressures that occur about 100 miles below Earth's surface billions of years ago.

Diamond is the hardest known natural substance. It also has special optical properties such as a high index of refraction, high dispersion, and high luster. That's how you get the sparkle in your tiny gem!

When miners find diamonds, they aren’t the shimmering, flawlessly cut stones you see in your jewellery. They’re raw, uncut, unpolished, and most are filled with imperfections and inclusions.

Inclusions happen when a diamond encounters other minerals when formed. They may look like clouds, feather, needles, colouration etc; each inclusion is a timestamp of that stone’s unique life cycle and history.

Similar to snowflakes, no two diamonds are exactly identical!

Why we love them

Sustainability is important to us.

In the past, only very small percentage of mined diamonds were utilized, the rest are scrapped or for industrial purpose. With the rising trend of salt & pepper diamonds, these precious resources extracted from Mother Earth are now being celebrated instead of discarded.

The appeal of a salt & pepper diamond lies not in the sparkle like a common white diamond, but the unique individuality and artisanal quality.

How magical of a stone that tells its story, through birthmarks that showcases its unique history, identity and natural composition over billions of years!

They are truly perfectly imperfect.

The experience of finding a stone that is individual to you, in the same way each and every one of these diamonds are unique, is most exciting!

Salt and Pepper diamonds are not only earth-friendly, they are a modern deviation from the mass-produced, standardized styles seen in most jewellery stores. At Gem Brûlée, we move beyond what is expected. If your values in jewellery align with us, feel free to drop us a message for a chat!