Whenever you want to buy loose sapphire gemstones you may feel a bit overwhelmed. That’s because there are so many things that you need to look for in order to choose the perfect stone. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, your search for the perfect sapphire can actually be quite enjoyable.

Color

Sapphire comes in a lot more colors than blue. It’s also available in green, yellow, orange, purple, pink, and a combination of colors. When you’re looking at the color there are a few things you’ll want to watch out for including:

  • You’ll want there to only be one hue (the lighting that flashes when the gemstone is held up towards a light source).
  • Make sure that there isn’t too much color present.
  • Don’t select a stone that’s too dark or too light. This is known as its tone.

Price

Sapphires that have more color saturation and a deeper tone will cost more. You’ll pay less for a dark tone.

Clarity

You want to make sure that you can’t see any imperfections (a.k.a. inclusions) in the gemstone when looking at it with your natural eye. When looked at under magnification it’s acceptable to have a few imperfections. However, the more imperfections there are, the less you’ll pay for the sapphire.

Carat Weight

This is the only other thing that’ll affect how much you pay for your sapphire. Since large ones (anything over 5 carats but especially over 15 carats) are rare they’re going to cost you a lot of money. In other words, the stone’s overall size will increase its price (e.g. 1 carat will cost less than 5 carats).

Location or Origin

Typically this isn’t something that’ll impact how much you’ll pay for your sapphire. The most common places to source sapphires from include Sri Lanka (a.k.a. Ceylon), Madagascar, Australia, USA, Nigeria, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Kenya, and Tanzania. However, if you get your sapphire from Burma or Kashmir then it may impact how much you pay for it. This is because nice sapphires from either of these locations are thought of as being the best sapphires in the world.

The Bottom Line

As promised, your search for the perfect sapphire can now be very enjoyable. Now that you know what to look for whenever you’re searching through loose sapphire gemstones you’ll no longer feel overwhelmed. So, go enjoy selecting your new gemstone.