Coloured Stones
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Sapphires
Most people think of sapphires as being blue, in fact, sapphires come in virtually every colour of the rainbow, blue, pink, yellow, purple, orange, white, green and red. Red sapphires are actually rubies; rubies belong to the same gemological family group as sapphires (corundum).
Sapphires are an excellent choice for daily wear in all types of jewellery due to its strength and hardness. Gemstone hardness is rated using the Mohs scale (1-10) 10 being the hardest. The hardest natural gemstone is diamond, which is rated 10. Sapphires are the next hardest gemstone (9), the only natural gemstone capable of scratching a sapphire is a diamond. Sapphires are a great alternative to diamonds due to their lower cost and durability.
Hempen Jewellers carries a wide variety of sapphires both mounted in jewellery and unset ready for your custom creation.
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Blue Sapphires
Most prized of all sapphires and September’s birthstone, blue sapphires come in a variety of intensity, from very light blue to very dark blue and almost black. Colour is the greatest factor in determining value. The highest valued sapphires are velvety blue to violet blue with medium to medium dark tones. Blue sapphires that display sparkle, brightness and strong colour saturation are most desired.
Visit Hempen Jewellers where our expert staff will educate you on blue sapphires and show you a variety of exceptional gemstones.
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Ruby
The birthstone of July, referred often as the King of Gemstones. Rubies can demand the highest price per carat of all gemstones. As with most coloured gems, colour is the greatest factor that determines value. The very most desirable rubies are vibrant red to slightly purplish red in colour.
Lower priced rubies are orange or purple in colour. Fine quality rubies display brightness and transparency. Lower quality rubies have obvious inclusions to the naked eye.
At Hempen Jewellers we inventory a wide variety of rubies.
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Emerald
Emerald, the birthstone for May. Colour is the most important factor in determining the value per carat for emeralds. The most desirable emeralds are highly transparent and have few inclusions to the naked eye. Ideal colour is bluish green to pure green with vivid saturation and colour should be evenly distributed.
Emeralds with no visible inclusions to the naked eye are very rare and valuable. Well cut emeralds display brilliance and appear very bright. Most of the world’s emeralds are mined in Columbia, Brazil, Afghanistan and Zambia.
Hempen Jewellers has a wide variety of in-stock fine quality emeralds.