Sapphire
September's birthstone and the gem of royalty. Kashmir's velvety cornflower blue sapphires, found only from 1882–1887, are the most prized on Earth. Sri Lanka yields famous star sapphires and padparadscha-like pastels; Madagascar and Montana supply today's market with every fancy color.
Known origins & mines
Kashmir Sapphire Mines · India
Discovered after an 1882 landslide in the Padar Himalaya, worked out within decades. Velvety cornflower blue from ultra-fine rutile scatteri…
Pailin Gem Fields · Cambodia
Khmer Rouge heartland turned gem city — Pailin blue zircon glows with diamond-like dispersion after gentle heat treatment; basalt gravels al…
Ratnapura Gem Fields · Sri Lanka
"City of Gems" — 2500 years of pit mining in river gravels yield ruby alongside nearly every other gem species. Sri Lankan ruby leans pink (…
Changle Sapphire Mines · China
Shandong province deposit discovered 1985, once China's dominant sapphire source - dark royal blues treated to lighter tones.…
Ilakaka-Sakaraha Fields · Madagascar
The 1998 sapphire rush along Route 7 created southern hemisphere's biggest gem boomtown. Every sapphire color emerges here including padpara…
Luc Yen District · Vietnam
The An Phu market trades cobalt-blue and hot-pink spinels found since 1983 in marble hills — Vietnamese cobalt spinel is among the rarest co…
New England Sapphire Fields · Australia
Inverell-Glen Innes basalt fields of NSW, world's historic fancy-sapphire heartland supplying greens, yellows and the famed parti colors.…
Songea Sapphire Fields · Tanzania
Alluvial rush along the Ruvuma river since the early 1990s - blue plus famous orange, green and yellow fancy sapphires that made Tanzania a …
Anakie Sapphire Fields · Australia
Central Queensland basalt fields (Rubyvale, Sapphire, Anakie) powered the world sapphire market for a century with deep blue-green stones, m…
Ban Huay Xai Sapphire Fields · Laos
Bokeo province alluvials near the Mekong, part of the Chanthaburi trading orbit - cornflower blues and teals.…
Bo Phloi Kanchanaburi · Thailand
Basaltic trapiche-textured sapphires plus Australia-imported rough feed Thailand's famous treatment industry; beryllium-diffusion breakthrou…
Chanthaburi Trat Belt · Thailand
Basalt-hosted alluvial rubies with high iron — darker red lacking Mogok fluorescence. Chanthaburi town itself became the world's gem-trading…
Kerala Chrysoberyl-Sapphire Belt · India
Alluvial chrysoberyl cat's-eyes and green sapphires panned along Kerala's rivers near Thiruvananthapuram.…
Tunduru Fields · Tanzania
River-flat diggings discovered 1994 producing rainbow sapphire parcels alongside spinel, garnet and rare taafeite — one of Africa's most div…
Wafangdian Diamond-Sapphire District · China
Liaoning kimberlite field yielding China's rare natural blue sapphires alongside diamonds.…
Winza Sapphires & Rubies · Tanzania
The 2007 Winza rush produced spectacular unheated red and pink rubies in marble-free amphibolite — unusual clean crystals with vivid saturat…
Yogo Gulch · United States
Cornflower-blue sapphires mined from a lamprophyre dike since 1895 — uniquely uniform medium blue with no heat treatment ever needed. Yogo s…