Natural Kashmir Sapphires

Blue Sapphire is the classic and most popular sapphire gemstone color, and is usually what is implied when one speaks of sapphire. Sapphire is one of the most important of all the loose colored gemstones and comes in a wide variety of colors: blue, pink, yellow, green, purple, orange, padparadscha, blue green, lemon yellow, color change, and black color. The gems natural blue color has always been associated with royalty. And for centuries the vivid blue sapphire has been a symbol of nobility, sincerity, faithfulness, truth and peace. It is believed to protect its owner from all evils and to also attract divinity.

Kashmir sapphire, with its intense blue color and velvety sheen, is considered the most beautiful and valuable sapphire of all. These wonderful gemstones were discovered in the remote mountains of the Kashmir in 1880 and were intensively mined for eight years. As mining for these sensational sapphires has been virtually nonexistent since 1927, aficionados of Kashmir sapphire turn to antique and estate jewelry to satisfy their desires.. Morality remains firm in ladies who wear blue sapphire. It should be taken off, if its colour is changed or it is cracked because this is a warning to the wearer that he should change his gem.In Indian astrology, Saturn is considered to be a malefic amongst the malefic but its last effect is happy. Throwing man into misfortunes and calamities, the Saturn ultimately saves the man. He is regarded the strongest of all planets. Saturn rules the owners of the zodiacal signs Capricorn and Aquarius. Blue Sapphire is the gemstone of Saturn. It rules the direction west.

The Egyptian emerald mines are generally recognized as the first known recorded source of emeralds. However the dates for when this mining began are not clear and their is a huge disparity in terms of beginning dates, with a beginning range of 300-2000 B.C.The Spanish conquistador's love for gold and precious stones is well known. Prior to the discovery of the Colombian emerald deposits, there was little fine quality emerald available in Europe and prices were justly quite steep. Fred Ward cites the same report by Sydney Ball in 1935 that basically says that Spaniards exported so much fine material from the "New World" in the 16th century that prices actually became depressed.

Today in terms of quantity, Brazil leads the world in emerald export but the quality of Brazilian emeralds generally don't compare to those from Colombia or even Africa. Most Brazilian material is exported to India where a large portion is made into beads. Other known localities of Emerald are: (as previously mentioned) Zambia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia (Ural Mountains) Australia, Norway, and the United States (North Carolina). The Zambian emeralds probably come the closet to rivaling the Colombian emeralds in terms of quality, although most experts would agree that Colombia still produces the finest quality. We will discuss this further in our sources section.