Sapphires have captivated people for thousands of years. They seem so encapsulate wisdom somehow, or perhaps our own potential. Somewhere in a pile of dirty gravel, there is a shining gem just waiting to be uncovered. Sapphires come in a wide variety of colors, including blue, pink, orange, brown, clear, yellow and purple. Why no red sapphires? Well, they are called rubies. There are many reasons to go sapphire treasure hunting.
Rubies are today still more valuable and rare than even the top quality colorless diamonds. One 16 carat ruby recently sold for $227,301 per carat in 1988. A Ruby of five carats or more are particularly rare. Ruby is composed of the mineral corundum, one of the most hardest minerals which exists. It has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale and is also extremely tough. It is even used as an abrasive.
Blue is considered the normal color of sapphires but they are also found in the full range of the color spectrum. Trace amount of impurities like iron, titanium and chromium can give sapphires their blue, yellow, pink, brown, purple, orange, green and even black coloration. Vary rarely some sapphires are found completely transparent (white). Heating sapphires to 1800 Celsius for several hours can improve or enhance the natural color. In the case of hazy or cloudy stone, heat treating will clean it up. $20 per carat for cutting and polishing in addition to the $5 per carat for heat treating marginal stones is well worth the added expense.
Clear, cut and polished sapphires less than one carat with good color can be sold for $100 to $1,000 per carat. One to four carat gemstones can go for as much as $2,000 to $5,000 per carat.
Logan Sapphire
The Logan Sapphire from Sri Lanka is one of the largest faceted gem-quality blue sapphires in the world and it weighs 422.99 carats. It is currently on display at the Natural Museum of Natural History.
Star Sapphires
A sapphire that exhibits a star like light pattern when viewed with a single overhead light source is call a Star Sapphire. These gemstones contain intersecting needle like inclusion that cause the appearance of the six rays, star shaped pattern. The value of a star sapphire in dependent on the intensity of the star pattern in addition to the standard 4Cs grading system.
September Stories
If you were born in September, then you have a special reason to go sapphire treasure hunting. That's because any sapphire variety is your birthstone. It's also traditionally considered the birthstone for those born under the sun signs of Taurus, Pisces, Virgo and Sagittarius. It is also the traditional gift for your 5 Th and 45 Th wedding anniversary. If somehow you make it to your 65 Th wedding anniversary, then the traditional gift is the rare and pleasantly peculiar star sapphire.
Perhaps you would want to go sapphire treasure hunting to attain the magical and healing powers that have been attributed to these special stones. Sapphires are said to help a person's latent abilities for astral projection, telepathy and clairvoyance. Not only are they reputed to do that, but are also said to be helpful in curing colic, helping rheumatism, reducing fever (blue stones only) and easing various mental illnesses (no color preferences for that one).
Rock hounding
If you have ever wanted to uncover buried treasure, you are not alone. There is a huge growing hobby called rock hounding or treasure hunting. Some rock hounds will search for anything they can find, while some prefer to find particular things. Many rock hounds use metal detectors, but they will not help you for sapphire treasure hunting. You need screens, tweezers, picks and perhaps a magnifying glass.
Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine
If you go to Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine in beautiful Spokane, Washington, then your chances for a successful sapphire treasure hunt are high. This mine is extremely rich in sapphires. If you can't make it to Spokane, you can order a bucket of mine gravel from their website and can go sapphire treasure hunting in the comfort of your own home. They guarantee a sapphire in each bucket.
All colors of sapphires have been found at Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine, including the rare rubies. The most common color found is a blue-green. Other semi-precious stones have been found occasionally, including topaz, citrine (yellow quartz), garnets and diamonds.
For those of you who can't make it to Montana, the sapphire mine transports sapphire gravel via UPS across the world. We will dig, package and ship your own bucket of sapphire gravel to 'mine' from the comfort of your own living room.
Happy treasure hunting.
David Cowley has created numerous articles on Treasure Hunting. He has also created a Web Site dedicated to Treasure Hunting. Visit http://www.treasure-hunting-team.com
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