Blue Sapphire Price Guide - I

Gemstones are as expensive as exquisite. Just like diamonds, the price of colored gemstones is also determined on the basis of their quality, and quality is further accessed based on standards set for four criteria i.e., the famous 4 C’s. Although, the measures of evaluating each parameter are slightly different for colored crystals than for diamonds. Natural Blue Sapphire is a popular colored crystal that ranks highest in the lane of the most valuable gemstones. The price range of blue sapphire gems holds a huge scale. They are highly sought-after gems owing to their remarkable durability with the Mohs scale hardness of 9 (next only to diamonds with the highest rank of 10) and beautiful royal blue color. 

             In general perception, the name ‘sapphire stone’ with no color prefix (for instance blue sapphire or yellow sapphire) is commonly considered as blue sapphire in the market. However, Sapphire, on the contrary, encompasses all the precious gem varieties of the mineral family Corundum, except Ruby, the red Corundum. Natural sapphires are originally found in yellow, blue, and white colors. Other popular shades such as green, pink, peach, purple, etc are a result of some heat or chemical treatments processed over them. Today in this article, we are emphasizing on how cut, color, clarity, carat weight, and treatment affect the value of a sapphire stone. 

Planning To Buy Neelam Stone Online..?

Blue Sapphire is widely used in astrological as well as aesthetical purposes around the world. Besides the beauty and luster, blue sapphires are praised for several other causes. On the astrological grounds, a blue Sapphire gemstone, aka Neelam Ratna, is worn for various reasons. It ranges from healing and protection to most importantly, shielding from the rage of the planet Saturn (Shani Grah). From fashion gifting to engagement trinkets, this stunning blue crystal has always been in high demand across the global gem industry. 

      Thus, if you are also considering to buy blue sapphire online or offline anytime soon, here we have broken down the 4 C’s for sapphires and summarized a quick price guide for the same. No matter if you are buying the gem online or from a local gem store, it is always better to gain beforehand knowledge about how the prices vary as per a variation in the factors of quality parameters and place of origin. Hope this article helps you to make an informed decision. 

CUT 

A precise and skillful cut results in the best appearance of any gemstone. Perfect facets not only work to significantly enhance the color of a crystal but also conceal most of its visible inclusions. Consequently, better facet cutting accordingly raises the quality and eventually the price of a Blue Sapphire stone. 

     Another key cause for the high cost of a faceted Blue Sapphire gem is that such cutting incurs a huge wastage of rough stone and thus demands highly skilled labor. All of these factors are compensated by the high price. Though you can also go for economical options with simple cuts like round or oval, and Blue Sapphire cabochons, etc.

COLOR 

When it comes to the pricing part of excessively precious crystals like blue sapphires, color plays a vital role. Ideally, the ‘Royal Blue’ or ‘True Blue’ color is the most desired shade in blue sapphires by customers as well as jewelers. Other key attributes for instance color saturation, consistency, and tone also have a significant part in the determination of the price. 

                          According to the general norm of the global gem industry, a sapphire with a pure blue hue and sharply saturated bright luster is more demand than those with a dusky or too dark of a color tone. For blue sapphire, the rare Kashmir Blue Sapphire and Royal Blue Sapphire are measured to be the perfect examples of the shade people look for. These are amongst the most exclusive varieties of Blue Sapphire Gemstones (Neelam Stone) in the world.

CLARITY 

Blue Sapphire is among those gemstones that naturally carry inclusions with it. These visible inclusions usually exist in the form of fingerprints, color bands, and fine silk (needles). A large number of blue sapphires in the market are found included. At times, several treatments are carried out to improve the scale of clarity. Therefore, the existence of inclusions in blue sapphire gemstones is normally neglected both by buyers and sellers. 

               It is not merely the presence of inclusions that impacts the clarity and ultimately the value of Neelam stone but also the type, location, and volume, of inclusions, which also affects the prices of this blue gem. You will be barely able to locate very few pieces with eye-clean clarity and being rare they are priced highly expensive. 

CARAT WEIGHT 

Natural Blue Sapphire, also popularly known as Neelam Stone in Hind, is a highly rare and precious crystal. Henceforth, gems over a certain carat weight are rarely discovered in the business of natural and unheated blue sapphires. The price of blue sapphire does not increase with an increase in its carat weight. A Blue Sapphire in a large size can be of very poor quality in terms of color and clarity and hence is not much worthy. Regardless of the size, if a natural blue sapphire is of royal blue color and carries eye-clean clarity, it will certainly value more in the market. In simple words, we can say that if the quality remains the same, only then a larger Blue Sapphire gemstone will fetch a much higher per-carat price.

TREATMENTS 

Most of the time, Blue Sapphires are heated or chemically treated in order to enhance the clarity grade and color saturation, and eliminate color-zoning. While Blue Sapphires that are absolutely natural and unheated fetch more valuable in the industry. It is also seen that lab-created sapphires are often sold as natural Blue Sapphire at a very lower price in the market but despite being extremely dazzling in appearance such stones are neither astrologically effective enough nor worthy. Original sapphire, however, is a very rare gemstone to come by which makes it an expensive crystal to carry.

                    With too high quality, synthetic sapphires cannot be easily identified and differentiated from natural sapphires. Especially for a regular layman, it is next to impossible to differentiate between a real stone and an imitated one. Therefore, it is advisable to only buy certified gemstones or to get your gemstone checked by a reputed gem lab to assure if it is original or synthetic and contains any signs of treatment or not. Alternatively, the buyer can also ask the online vendor or offline seller for a certificate of authenticity verifying the genuineness of the stone he or she is purchasing. 

Read More:- Blue Sapphire ring for men

Head on to the next part of the article Blue Sapphire Price Guide - II to explore the prices of blue sapphire stone on the basis of origin.