It's a Nice Day for a
White Sapphire

We may have woken you up before September ends, but it's for a good reason! September's birthstone is sapphire and we wanted to talk about a specific variety we've grown fond of. As you know, we're huge fans of natural diamonds, diamond alternatives, and colored gems alike because we just can't get enough bling around here.

Featured in our White Gems Collection are a few of our beloved customs graced with center stones in white sapphire. Also, because we cater to your customization needs here at F&B, what you don't see here can be requested! So, why consider white sapphire? Here are some fun factoids we dug up for you. 

Quite a Corundum

The title "sapphire" may not have as finite a meaning as we think. According to GIA's Gem Encyclopedia, "the name 'sapphire' can also apply to any corundum that's not ruby red, another corundum variety." (Corundum is aluminum oxide in its crystalline form, a rock-forming mineral with variances in transparency and color.) Even so, this means exactly what you think it means. You'd better recognize; white sapphire belongs to the same gem family as well-coveted blue sapphire and ruby!

Pure Heroine

It is incredibly rare to come across gem-quality white sapphire truly pure of color which is why, as GIA states, "The closer corundum comes to having no color, the more valuable it is as a colorless sapphire." Natural sapphire is beautiful as is, but can now be color-treated to achieve desired results and in the case of colorless, it can also be extracted from for enhancement. 

Life in the Faceted Lane

Behold. Although white sapphire may not have as many facets as it is a softer mineral than diamond, the beauty of a sapphire is defined by its inherent body color. On the Hardness Mohs Scale*, it has a hardness of 9 while diamond has that of 10. So for those with an eye for a more minimal look, white sapphire is a great diamond alternative with the romantic appeal of rarity in nature and practicality of cost efficiency.

So, tell us. Will you be considering white sapphire?

*Hardness Mohs Scale - The measure of hardness, or resistance of a material to being scratched