Origin = Madagascar

Sapphire is a gem quality variety of the mineral corundum. It is the second hardest substance on earth after diamond, rating 9 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Corundum itself is not a very rare mineral, but gem quality corundum is extremely rare. Most corundum is opaque to translucent and heavily included, suitable only for industrial use, including the production of abrasives used for sandpaper and machining of metal, plastics and wood.

While blue is the most traditional and classic color for sapphire, sapphire is actually found in a variety of different colors. Most natural sapphire is quite pale and light in color. Only a small percentage of natural sapphire exhibits vivid and intense colors without some type of treatment or enhancement, the most common being heat-treatment. For many years, only blue sapphire was recognized as 'true' sapphire. Today, all colors of gem quality corundum are known as sapphire, with exception to red corundum, which is classified as ruby.

Sapphire is found in only a few locations in the world. The three most famous regions for blue sapphire are Kashmir, Burma and Sri Lanka. Sapphire has also been mined in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and India. As of 2007, Madagascar has been leading the world in sapphire production, though Sri Lanka continues to be the only steady producer of fine quality blue sapphire. Sri Lanka and Madagascar produce sapphires in a wide range of colors and whilst Sri Lanka has been a known sapphire source for centuries, sapphire deposits in Madagascar were only recently discovered in 1998. Today, Madagascar and Tanzania are considered to be two of the most important sapphire sources.

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