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The Best and Most Comprehensive Guide to Sapphires in Los Angeles and on the Web!
Copyright © 2006 INTA GEMS, Inc. All rights reserved.
Top-quality sapphires are rare
Sapphires are only found in a handful of locations around the world, and they can only be unearthed through huge amount of work and labor. Sapphires are generally found in India, Burma, Ceylon, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Brazil and Africa. After being unearthed, the crystal roughs are taken to special gem-cutting facilities where they are cut and faceted into sparkling gemstones by skilled hands. The best cuts are those that accentuate the color intensity and brilliance of a gemstone.
Depending on where they were found, a large variation of hue and color intensity can be found in cut stones. Gem specialists and connoisseurs regard the color of Kashmir blue sapphires with its velvety shine as the most beautiful and valuable blue. These exquisite gemstones from Kashmir, first found in 1880 after a landslide at an altitude of 16,000 feet and mined intensively over a period of eight years, were to have a lasting influence on people's idea of the utmost beauty of a superlative sapphire. Typical of the Kashmir color is a pure, intense blue with a very subtle violet undertone, which is further intensified by a fine, silky shine. Besides Kashmir specimens, sapphires with Burmese origins are also exceptionally beautiful and highly valued. 
The oldest sapphire finds are in Ceylon, or Sri Lanka as it is known today, where sapphires have been mined since time immemorial. Specialists recognize Ceylon sapphires by the luminosity of their light to mid-blue colors. Today, most blue sapphires come either from Australia or from Thailand.
The value of a sapphire depends on its size, color, and transparency. The possibility of the gemstone's having undergone some treatment or other is also a factor in determining the price because untreated stones are becoming more and more sought-after in this age of artificial gemstone cosmetics.
Recent discoveries of sapphire-producing mines and deposits in Madagascar, Tanzania, and Brazil have sparked great excitement in the gem industry with the production or the potential deposits of a great variety of sapphires. Nonetheless, top quality gems are and will continue to be extremely rare and valuable.