Sapphires are more commonly known as the blue variety of the mineral corundum, formed from aluminum oxide. However, sapphires can be all different colors except red, which is more recognized as the “ruby” gemstone. They can even be colorless or transparent which is the natural state of corundum. What makes it special is its hardness, making it the second hardest mineral next to the diamond.

So, sapphire can be of many colors, except red. The reason behind it is that trace elements of iron, chrome and other substances add color to the otherwise natural colorless state of corundum. For instance, the blue color of the sapphires comes from a mixture of titanium and iron. It can range from the darkest, grayish blue to the lightest shade imaginable. In order to achieve the desired blue color, the sapphire undergoes an intense heat process or baking to remove any gray or brown color.

Light-colored sapphires or fancy sapphires as they are often called are all the other colored sapphires except blue and red. Purple sapphires contain the element vanadium that gives them this attribute and can be made into a variety of shades. Iron is what makes yellow and green sapphires. Pink sapphires contain chromium and the general rule is that the deeper the color pink the sapphire is the higher in value it becomes, especially if it comes close to red as that of the ruby.

A notable variant of sapphire color is the “padparascha” or “padparadja”, a brilliant orange sapphire with a pink undertone.

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