Star Sapphire

Item Description

Ruby and Sapphire are two of the few "Precious Gems" in the world. These names are varietals given to Corundum, where red (and some pink) gems are labeled as Ruby, while every other color is Sapphire. You'll rarely see anything labeled strictly as "Corundum", it's almost always either Ruby or Sapphire, and they occur in virtually every color of the rainbow. In additional to faceted stones, there is more to Rubies and Sapphires as gems, as they sometimes exhibit characteristics that allow them to be cut into "star" gems. I think most people have at least heard of "star" gems, and the most commonly known examples are either Star Rubes or Star Sapphires. The phenomenon that creates the "stars" in these gems is called asterism, and it occurs when these stones are polished into cabochons and oriented perpendicular to the "c" axis in a manner that reflects tiny silk-like inclusions inside. These inclusions bend light entering the stone and create the six-legged star-like pattern (in some gems you'll see four-legged star, but Rubies and Sapphires always have six legs). This six-rayed white star appears in bright lighting and the quality is judged by sharpness of star, symmetry of the rays, and the body color. This is a wonderful Star Sapphire gem with an alluring silvery-purple, hue, and when it's exposed to a focused light source (like a concentrate torch or a camera light), the stone shows fairly sharp "legs" that flare out in all six directions. For the size, the quality is pretty good on this one, and it would make for a very nice pendant or an addition to a gem collection.