Care of the Big 3
Approaching the issue of care and cleaning starts with understanding a gem’s durability. Corundum, for instance, is one of the hardest natural materials on earth.Both ruby and sapphire score a 9 on the Mohs hardness scale. This means they can scratch almost anything, and no natural gemstone other than diamond can scratch them. In fact, non-gem-quality corundum is often used to cut and polish other colored stones. Emerald is...
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Sapphire
SapphireSapphire and ruby are corundum. Except for the impurity elements that cause color, they are the same chemically, physically, and optically. When the word sapphire stands alone, it usually means the gem is blue. Sapphires also appear in colorless and black variations as well as a wide range of colors. They include violet, green, yellow, orange, pink, and purple. They’re considered fancy-color sapphires and designated by color, as in...
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