Star sapphire is a type of corundum, aluminum oxide, which has an asterism effect. Such a phenomenon appears due to the presence in the stone of tiny minerals that can reflect light and create a rare star-shaped pattern. Most often it is six-pointed, but stones are also found with stars with twelve rays. They are blue, pink, smoky brown and transparent. The latter are the rarest and most expensive.
In general, the classic sapphire in our view is an exclusively blue shiny stone. Actually, its name came from the Greek word "sappheiros" - "blue stone". But its color is not always the same. In fact, the range of colors is quite diverse, and you can find not only purplish blue or colorless, but also green, orange, pink, yellow sapphire.
Since ancient times, sapphires have been used to decorate crowns. The rings with this stone were once worn by the courageous Alexander of Macedon and the feminine Maria Stuart. According to legend, the famous ring of King Solomon was also cut from it. The Egyptian high priest wore a large sapphire on his chest, which was called: "Truth."
It is believed that this is a stone of peace of mind, inner harmony, trust, poise and virtue, it protects from excesses, gives determination and courage, promotes the emergence of friends and repels enemies. Girls promise happiness in marriage.
Star sapphire has special properties. Three intersecting lines on its surface are considered the embodiment of three main feelings: hope, faith and love. Such stones are quite rare, and therefore highly valued. Recently, however, it has become possible to find products with such sapphires at affordable prices. The fact is that there are technologies for obtaining the effect of asterism in minerals. Artificial stones, of course, will be much cheaper than natural. But it’s easy to distinguish them: the rays of the star are static, regardless of the angle of incident light, in contrast to natural stones.
The famous star sapphire "Star of India" has a long istria, which, however, is not fully known to us. It was mined in Sri Lanka in the 18th century. Its peculiarity and uniqueness is that a 6-ray star is visible immediately on both sides of a cabochon-cut stone.
More recently, in 1996, a surprisingly beautiful star sapphire of 63,000 carats was found in Myanmar.
An amazing story happened in Australia. One of the residents propped up the door with cobblestone for a long time. When he found out that sapphires are black, he took his stone for examination. It turned out that the backup is a rare sapphire of 1156 carats. In 1947, jeweler Harry Kazanyan bought it for 18 thousand dollars. He was able to identify the signs of asterism in the stone (the manifestation of a star on the surface). In 1948, the Queensland Black Star caught the attention of journalists. Sapphire, whose price has already reached 300 thousand dollars, has become the center of special attention. A white gold frame was made for him and surrounded by 35 small diamonds. In 2002, the largest star sapphire in the world again changed its owner. Rumor has it about its possible sale for $ 88 million. Where he is now is unknown.