Australian Blue Green Sapphire - Skin Polish - 6.82ct

A very fine natural blue green Australian sapphire that has been skin polished. Skin polishing is an old technique not much seen these days. In essence the idea is to keep true to the original shape of the rough stone and to smooth and polish the surface, ie. the skin. It’s not often done with sapphire due to the physical hardness of sapphire, it is a very time consuming exercise in patience. But when it is done to a fine piece of sapphire, the results can be elegantly striking and beautiful. I have carved this sapphire such that it can be set in a piece of jewellery. It would make a special ring or pendant.

In the pics you can see some of the colourful striations within the stone. These are a natural part of the sapphire and I like to think of them as being similar to growth rings in a tree. Sapphires form as six-sided hexagonal crystals and over millennia the crystal is weathered and broken down into smaller pieces. This gem would have been a corner of a much bigger crystal. A little glimpse into deep time.

• #2226

• Blue Green Sapphire

• Rubyvale, Qld, Australia

• Skin Polish

• Untreated

• VVSI/EC

• 6.82 Carats

• 18.19x9.13x4.40mm