Sapphire is a rare, hard gemstone composed of the mineral corundum. It’s one of the four precious stones, the birthstone for September, and the best-selling colored gemstone in the United States.
While everyone’s heard of blue sapphires, you might be surprised to learn just how many other types of sapphires exist.
We’ve put together an overview of the 21 major colors and types of sapphire discovered so far. Enjoy!
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Types of Sapphire Colors
Sapphire stones have different colors, depending on the trace minerals that were incorporated during each gemstone’s geological formation. Sapphires that aren’t blue are known as fancy sapphires.
Good to know: Most blue and fancy sapphires are heat treated to improve their coloring. Heat treatment is a standard and accepted practice within the gem trade. Unheated sapphires are far rarer and sell at a premium.
1. Blue Sapphires
Blue sapphires get their coloring from traces of iron and titanium. The higher these elements are concentrated, particularly iron, the stronger the blue hue. Blue is both the most common and the most popular sapphire color.
Blue sapphires come in a range of hues, from baby blue to royal blue. The rarest and most valuable blue sapphires are a rich, velvety blue, sometimes with a hint of violet. These stones are known as cornflower blue sapphires.
You can also find green-blue sapphires. However, generally speaking, a green-blue sapphire is less desirable and expensive than a violet-blue or pure blue sapphire.
2. Pink Sapphires
Pink sapphires are one of the rarest sapphire colors. Only a few places in the world produce these gemstones, with most originating from Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.
The cause of color in pink sapphires is chromium. A pink sapphire can achieve hues ranging from baby pink to magenta. The best and brightest pink sapphires are desirable alternatives to pink diamonds.
What about red? Technically, there’s no such thing as a red sapphire. All red corundum gemstones are called rubies, while corundum of any other color is called sapphire. So, in a sense, a pink sapphire is a pale ruby.
3. Yellow Sapphires
Yellow sapphires come in hues from pale lemon to deep gold, as well as green-yellow and brown-yellow. These sunny gemstones are colored by traces of iron, and sometimes also by exposure to underground radiation.
The ideal yellow sapphire hue is a pure, vivid yellow known as “canary yellow”. Canary yellow sapphires are sometimes chosen for engagement rings, as they’re more affordable than yellow diamonds.
Compared to many other sapphire colors, yellow sapphires tend to have fewer inclusions. Transparent stones with high clarity and strong color are highly valued. Most fine quality yellow sapphire comes from Sri Lanka.
4. Padparadscha Sapphires
Padparadscha sapphires are a striking hue between pink and orange that’s often described as salmon colored, or romantically compared to a sunset. Their name derives from the Sinhalese word for the color of a lotus flower.
This unique and beautiful hue is the rarest sapphire color, which is caused by traces of iron and chromium in the gemstone. Chromium is the same element that gives pink sapphires their pinkness.
Padparadscha sapphires are the most expensive fancy sapphires, and highly sought after by collectors. The finest quality stones are found in Sri Lanka. Madagascar is another important source of padparadscha sapphire.
5. Green Sapphires
Green sapphires offer hues from light mint to deep forest green, but are most commonly olive green. Their green color is due to trace amounts of titanium mixed with even tracer amounts of iron and/or vanadium.
A green sapphire may also display brown, yellow, or blue secondary hues, but these are less in demand than pure green hues. Australia, Madagascar, and Montana are some major sources of quality green sapphires.
Though green sapphires are sometimes compared to emeralds, there are key differences between the two. Emeralds are softer than sapphires, while green sapphires are rarely as bright and pretty a green as emeralds.
6. Purple Sapphires
Purple sapphires are the color between blue and red, acquiring their regal appearance from the presence of vanadium. The hue of a purple sapphire can span from soft lilac to deep royal purple. Pink and blue are common overtones.
Unlike many sapphire colors, purple sapphires tend to naturally exhibit high levels of color saturation. As such, heat treatment and other color-enhancing treatments are rarely performed on purple sapphires.
In terms of value, purple sapphires typically fetch higher prices than yellows and greens, though not as high as fine blue sapphires. This is despite purple sapphires being far rarer than blue sapphires.
7. Orange Sapphires
Orange sapphires exhibit warm hues that range from pale, delicate orange to deep, fiery orange. Their coloring results from a mix of iron and chromium. Some stones have undesirable brown or yellow overtones.
Orange sapphires with pink or reddish overtones are sometimes marketed as padparadscha, but true padparadscha sapphires are far rarer and more expensive. Ensure you see a GIA report before buying.
Saying that, orange is still one of the rarest sapphire colors, which makes it appealing to investors and collectors. Australia and Madagascar are the most important sources of fine orange sapphire.
8. Teal Sapphires
Teal sapphires are relative newcomers to the fancy colored sapphire market. Though less well-known than their more famous blue cousins, their greater rarity often makes them slightly more expensive.
A teal sapphire has a mesmerizing blue-green ocean hue. The finest quality stones are a 50/50 blend of blue and green. As with blue sapphires, this coloring is caused by iron and titanium traces.
Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Montana are some of the regions that produce teal sapphires. Stones from Australia and Thailand tend to have higher concentrations of iron, resulting in richer, more saturated coloring.
9. Peach Sapphires
Peach sapphires feature an enchanting blend of pastel pink, orange, and yellow hues. Their coloring arises from a combination of iron and chromium. Source countries include Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Madagascar.
Essentially, peach sapphires are padparadscha sapphires that lack the rich saturation levels required to be classified as true padparadscha. Instead, a peach sapphire embodies a softer, more delicate hue.
Peach is marketed as a romantic and feminine sapphire color. These gemstones have been steadily gaining popularity in contemporary engagement ring designs, as well as other types of women’s jewelry.
10. Black Sapphires
Black sapphires get their color from iron and titanium, the same elements that color blue sapphires. In black sapphire crystals, these elements are so highly concentrated that they absorb light.
In contrast to blue and other fancy colored sapphires, black sapphires are abundant and quite affordable. Nor do they have the same market appeal, so the use of black sapphires in jewelry remains limited.
A black sapphire looks similar to a more popular black gemstone, black onyx. Since black sapphires are harder and more reflective than black onyx, they may one day gain a bigger following among fans of black gems.
11. White Sapphires
White sapphires are the chemically pure variety of conundrum. When a corundum gem forms without any trace elements to give it color, you get a colorless white sapphire.
Many sapphires contain inclusions, which are tiny mineral growths, fractures, or other flaws within the stone. Being clear and colorless, a white sapphire is more likely to show these flaws than colored sapphires.
White sapphires are sometimes substituted for white diamonds as the center stones in engagement rings, or used as accent stones. However, though sapphires are more affordable, diamonds have greater hardness, brilliance, sparkle, and fire.
Types of Sapphires by Phenomena
In the gem trade, stones that exhibit extraordinary optical effects are known as phenomenal. Several different types of phenomena have been observed in sapphires.
12. Star Sapphires
Star sapphires display asterism, also called the star effect, which gives the appearance of a star shape inside the stone. This rare phenomenon is usually caused by light refracting off strands of rutile (titanium dioxide).
A six-rayed star is the most common, though you can occasionally find a double star sapphire with twelve rays. For its asterism to be visible, the sapphire must be polished into a round cabochon instead of a faceted gem.
Black star sapphires are an especially renowned and mysterious type of star sapphire. The stars in black star sapphires result from gold-colored hematite, creating a striking black-and-gold color palette.
13. Parti Sapphires
Parti sapphires are sapphires with color zoning, meaning that different sapphire colors are present within the same gemstone. They’re also called bi-color sapphires, or polychrome sapphires when they exhibit more than two colors.
This phenomenon occurs when corundum gem material forms with different color-causing elements in different locations. The demarcations between color zones can be sharp and distinct, or more “fuzzy”.
No two parti sapphires are alike. These unique gemstones are a favorite of collectors, bespoke designers, and those who seek something a little different in their fine jewelry pieces.
14. Color Change Sapphires
Color change sapphires exhibit the alexandrite effect, meaning they change colors depending on the light source. They appear as one color by daylight or fluorescent light, and another by incandescent light.
Most often, these sapphires show a blue-to-purple color change. The change is usually a subtle shift from blue to bluish-purple, which makes those rare gems with dramatic color-changing properties highly desirable.
The phenomenon is caused by trace elements that absorb specific light wavelengths under different lighting conditions. Other color change sapphire types include purple-to-pink, green-to-red, and yellow-to-green.
Types of Sapphires by Origin
Sapphires are found in various locations around the world. Sapphire gemstones often display different characteristics, depending on their place of origin.
Good to know: Though some regions are famous for their beautiful sapphires, not every stone they produce is of fine quality. Always thoroughly assess color, clarity, and other key characteristics before buying.
15. Kashmir Sapphires
Kashmir sapphires are highly prized blue sapphires from the Kashmir region of India. The original supply was quickly exhausted after their discovery in 1881, and few new sapphires are found in Kashmir today.
Because the vast majority of these gemstones were mined more than a century ago, Kashmir sapphires are extremely rare. In fact, genuine Kashmir blue sapphire is the rarest type of sapphire in the world.
Kashmir is the gold standard for blue sapphires. Key characteristics of these gems are their cornflower blue coloring, and their plush, velvety glow resulting from numerous tiny inclusions that diffract light.
16. Burmese Sapphires
Burmese sapphires are sourced from Myanmar, also known as Burma. Though more renowned for its superlative rubies, Myanmar has been yielding high quality sapphires for more than a thousand years.
The most coveted Burmese sapphires display a deep royal blue color, though lighter blue stones are also found. Other colors include purple and white, and more rarely, yellow and green.
Myanmar is also an important producer of star sapphires. Burmese star sapphires are of notably fine quality and can reach impressive sizes, with a few select specimens going into the hundreds of carats.
17. Ceylon Sapphires
Ceylon sapphires come from Sri Lanka, which was historically known as Ceylon. Old names tend to stick in the gemstone trade, so blue sapphires from Sri Lanka are still called Ceylon sapphires.
Along with Kashmir and Burmese sapphires, Ceylons are considered among the world’s finest blue sapphires. Their blue coloring tends to be lighter and brighter, and they often display high clarity.
Sri Lanka also produces padparadscha and many other colors of sapphire. The finest grade Sri Lankan pink sapphires are prized for their strong saturation and vibrant hot pink and fuchsia hues.
18. Madagascar Sapphires
Madagascar sapphires come from Madagascar, an island off the coast of East Africa. Sapphire deposits were discovered there in the 1990s, dramatically changing both the local economy and the global sapphire trade.
Upon their introduction to international markets, Madagascar blue sapphires were often mistaken for Kashmir, Burmese, or Ceylon sapphires. Suddenly, the world had a new major source of fine blue sapphire.
Madagascar is a large island (226,658 square miles) that supports various sapphire mines. Aside from blue, these yield a wide color spectrum that spans pink, orange, green, white, yellow, and padparadscha.
19. Montana Sapphires
Montana sapphires are famed as the best in the United States, and Montana is the country’s largest source of sapphire production. Though some Montana sapphires show high saturation, most are on the paler side.
According to the International Gem Society, the finest Montana sapphires come from the Yogo Gulch. They’re typically small, rarely reaching more than half a carat. Yogo sapphires are scarce and highly sought after by collectors.
Blue sapphires from different Montana locations can reach higher carat weights, and tend to be a lighter, more grayish blue. Other Montana sapphire colors include teal, green, yellow, pink, and purple.
20. Australian Sapphires
Australian sapphires are less well-known on the world stage. Though sapphire was discovered way back in the 1800s, Australia today is far more renowned for colored diamonds and opals than sapphires.
Blue sapphires from Australia are typically high in iron, which produces a darker color that’s sometimes close to black. Lighter, more vibrant blues are also possible, as are stones in blue-green, green, teal, and yellow hues.
Australia is a leading supplier of parti sapphires, with many gems displaying distinct and attractive color zoning. They usually feature hues of blue, green, and yellow – sometimes all three within the same sapphire.
Bonus Sapphire Type
21. Lab-Grown Sapphires
Lab-grown sapphires, created in laboratories, are a popular and affordable alternative to natural sapphires. They’re chemically identical to natural sapphires, even using the same color-producing trace elements.
However, there are other important differences. Natural sapphires are formed within the Earth, and bear “birthmarks” of geological activity such as inclusions and other variations within their gem material.
With lab grown sapphires, growth conditions can be precisely controlled, yielding stones of greater clarity and uniformity. This is a plus for some, but can deter others who prefer the unique character of a natural sapphire.
Ready to learn more about precious gemstones? Take a look through our guides to the different types of rubies and types of emeralds next!