Sapphire is the gem variety of the mineral corundum. It is an extremely durable gemstone, second only to diamonds on the Moh's hardness scale. The 45th wedding anniversary is known as the sapphire anniversary.
Sapphires are available in virtually all colors. But Red Sapphires are known to all as Rubies. Blue Sapphires are the most valuable, followed by Pink and Padparadscha Sapphires. History & Lore When Roman Catholics select a new pope, a gold ring set with a sapphire is traditionally placed on his ring finger, symbolizing marriage to the church. Buddhists ascribed sacred magical power to the sapphire and believed that it reconciled mankind to God.
It was said to be a good amulet against fear, to promote the flow of good spirits, to prevent ague and gout, and to prevent the eyes being affected by smallpox. The sixteenth-century writer Camillo Leonardo claimed: "The sapphire heals sores, and is found to discharge a carbuncle with a single touch."
The occult writer Francis Barrett stated in his book The Magus (1801): "A Sapphire, or a stone that is of a deep blue color, if it be rubbed on a tumor wherein the plague discovers itself, (before the party is too far gone) and if, by and by it be removed from the sick, the absent jewel attracts all the poison, or contagion there from."
According to Rebbenu Bachya, and many English Bible translations, the word Sapir in the verse Exodus 28:18 means sapphire and was the stone on the Ephod representing the tribe of Issachar. Although it has been stated that the English word sapphire derives from the Hebrew sapir (via Greek sapphiros), this is disputed. Sapphires were actually not known before the Roman Empire (and were initially considered to be forms of jacinth, rather than deserving of a word to themselves), and prior to that time sapphiros referred to blue gems in general.
Sapphire Physical Properties
- Color: Purple to Pink Purple
- Refractive Index: 1.762 - 1.770
- Pleochroism: Weak to Strong Violet
- Chemistry: Aluminum Oxide
- Hardness: 9.0 mho's
- Density: 4.00
- Crystal Group: Trigonal
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