September Birthstone Sapphire - antique and vintage sapphire jewelry.
In honour of September babies, here is a reminder of an earlier post.
Sapphire is one of the most versatile, varied and beloved gems, so how can we ever say enough about it?
If September is your birth month, then you are lucky to enjoy a birthstone
that is one of the most amazing gems created by nature. Here is a reminder of the first post about your birthday gemstone, the sapphire. Please see more sapphire stories and sagas in posts 170, 171 and coming next week (post 251).
"A Sapphire is blue. Right? " Wrong! sapphires can be blue, but they can be almost every other color as well and the Japanese have a gazillion terms for the word 'blue', so exactly which shade of blue is sapphire anyway?
Blue sapphires alone may be light-almost-white to darkest-deep. Inbetween, we have the gorgeous Ceylon bright cornflower blues and the velvety Kashmirs. You choose.
#5924 cornflower blue bracelet 
#7428 medium blue ring 
#7068 dark blue earrings 
But sapphires come in a lot of other colors. Look at this long necklace called a sautoir.
#4411.
How many colors can you see?
All of them are sapphires.
Ranging from bright pink, purple and yellow, sapphires can be entirely transparent, in which case, they are often confused with diamonds.
#5560 these light golden sapphires could be confused with diamonds. 
#6204 multi-colored sapphires in this romantic heart brooch. 
When not being used as gorgeous center stones in serious jewelry, sapphires may be used to highlight quality and contrast with other colors. Here is one of my favorite Burmese (yes actually from Burma) earrings, with a variety of colored sapphires to make any outfit dance and sing. #4764 
And then the sapphire might just be something very, very special when even diamonds take 2nd place.
#7532 very rare orange-pink padparacha sapphire. 
Finally, where is the woman who doesn't love pink? Pink sapphires are highly desirable whether antique, vintage or modern.
#7526 pink sapphire French earrings.
#7550 snake necklace with electric pink sapphires.
So even within pink, there are multiple shades and tones.
(Do you know the difference between a pink sapphire and a ruby? See our other sapphire posts.)
Sapphires may be faceted or cabochon cut. Look for stars in cabs. The clearer the star the better the stone. Similarly, look for bright, lively and even color. Color trumps carats when it comes to colored stones. More of this in our other posts.
Finally - bear in mind that lesser sapphires are still valuable and used in a wide range of industries - from airoplane windows to watches.
So, we can find sapphires in a variety of shades. There is a lot more to say about sapphires, so please keep posted. We will discuss
various other aspects of sapphires from the strictly superstitious to the totally technical.
Questions and comments: Please email antiques@brendaginsberg.com
Find jewelry on www.brendaginsberg.com