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Ceylon Sapphires

A Ceylon sapphire is a sapphire from Sri Lanka, the island known as Ceylon until 1972, whose alluvial gem gravels around Ratnapura and Elahera have produced blue, pink, yellow and padparadscha sapphires since antiquity. Ceylon blues are typically lighter and brighter than Burmese stones, and the island supplies a large share of the world's fine unheated sapphires. Byrex Gems offers Ceylon sapphires to the trade from Toronto, filmed unedited in our office, with prices for approved buyers and viewings by appointment.

Where to buy Ceylon sapphires in Toronto

Byrex Gems lists 213 Ceylon sapphires online today. 113 of them come with a report from laboratories including GRS, GIA, CDC and Lotus. Viewings are at our Toronto office, 27 Queen Street East, Suite 407, steps from Queen subway station, by appointment. We have supplied coloured gemstones and natural fancy colour diamonds to jewellers and designers since 1988, and welcome private clients by appointment. Prices are shown to approved trade accounts; private clients can ask us on WhatsApp, where we reply within 12 hours, or by email within 24 hours. Every stone ships insured, worldwide.

Among the ceylon sapphires listed today: 11.08 ct Oval Yellow Sapphire, GIA, Ceylon Unheated, 3.11 ct Oval Blue Sapphire, GRS, Ceylon Heated, 40.06 ct Round Blue Sapphire Layout (27 pcs), Ceylon Heated, 39.67 ct Round Blue Sapphire Layout (29 pcs), Ceylon Heated, 39.08 ct Round Blue Sapphire Layout (29 pcs), Ceylon Heated, 36.71 ct Round Blue Sapphire Layout (24 pcs), Ceylon Heated, 21.80 ct Square Cushion Blue Sapphire, GIA, Ceylon Unheated, 18.09 ct Oval Yellow Sapphire, GRS, Ceylon Unheated, 15.05 ct Cushion Blue Sapphire, GRS, Ceylon Unheated, 14.27 ct Oval Blue Sapphire, GIA, Ceylon Heated, 13.82 ct Oval Yellow Sapphire, GIA, Sri Lanka Unheated, 12.53 ct Cushion Blue Sapphire, GRS, Ceylon Unheated and 201 more.

Where Ceylon sapphires come from

Sri Lanka's sapphires are found in alluvial gravels, called illam, that lie beneath paddy fields and river terraces in the island's central and south-western hills. Ratnapura, whose name means city of gems, is the historic centre; Elahera, in the Central Province, became the other major district in the twentieth century; Balangoda, Okkampitiya and Kataragama add to supply. Pits are dug by hand, the gravel is washed in baskets and the stones are sorted on the spot, much as they have been for centuries.

The island's blues are its signature: lighter and brighter than Burmese sapphires, often slightly violetish, with a transparent crystal and, in the best, fine silk that gives velvet. The gravels also yield pink, purple, yellow, orange, green, white and colour-change sapphires, and Sri Lanka is the classic source of padparadscha, the pink-orange sapphire named from the Sinhalese word for the lotus blossom.

Star sapphires are a Ceylon speciality as well; the Star of India at the American Museum of Natural History is a Sri Lankan stone. The range is what distinguishes the origin: no other sapphire source produces as many colours of fine quality from the same ground.

How laboratories describe Ceylon sapphires

Reports from GIA, GRS, SSEF, Gübelin, Lotus and AGL state the origin as Sri Lanka or Ceylon, an opinion reached from inclusions and trace-element chemistry. The separation from Madagascar is the difficult one, because both are metamorphic deposits with overlapping chemistry, and a careful laboratory states the origin as inconclusive when the evidence does not decide.

Sri Lanka has heated its own sapphires since the 1970s, when furnaces in Ratnapura began turning milky geuda rough into saleable blue, and most commercial Ceylon sapphires are heated. The island also supplies more of the world's unheated fine sapphires than any other source, so the treatment line is read closely. Unheated stones read "no indications of heating" at GIA, Gübelin and SSEF and "no indication of thermal treatment" at GRS.

Colour terms apply to Ceylon stones as to any other. GRS and the Swiss laboratories grant royal blue to the strongest blues; cornflower blue is a trade description of the medium, velvety ones; and padparadscha follows the LMHC harmonised definition, which excludes brownish stones and strong colour zoning. Beryllium diffusion, which must be disclosed and lowers value, is detected by trace-element chemistry.

What to check before buying a Ceylon sapphire

Judge the colour under incandescent light as well as daylight; Ceylon blues generally hold well, though some lean purple in the evening. View the stone from the top for colour zoning, which is common in Sri Lankan crystals as straight or angular bands, and which a cutter may have placed under the table or hidden in the pavilion.

Native cutting is the thing to watch. Sri Lankan cutters are skilled but cut for weight, so many stones carry deep pavilions, bellies and windows; ask whether a recut would improve the stone and what it would cost in carats. Sri Lanka produces large clean crystals, so fine Ceylon sapphires of five carats and more exist in a way they do not for Burma, and pairs and suites are more feasible from this origin than from any other except Madagascar.

Read the treatment line, because heated and unheated Ceylon sapphires of the same look are priced very differently. For padparadscha, insist on the report's use of the word. At the bench, sapphire takes normal handling; note any fissures the report records.

What drives the value of a Ceylon sapphire

Treatment and colour share the lead. An unheated Ceylon sapphire of vivid medium blue with velvet is one of the most sought-after stones in the trade, and the premium for no indications of heating grows with size. Among heated stones, colour saturation and the absence of zoning do most of the work.

Clarity is expected to be eye-clean in fine stones, with fine silk forgiven. Size compounds everything, and because the island produces large crystals, a ten carat Ceylon sapphire is rare rather than unheard of. Cut quality, judged by how evenly the colour spreads viewed from the top, separates two stones of the same weight and report.

Padparadscha and the fancy colours follow their own markets, with unheated padparadscha at the top. Origin itself counts: Ceylon sits below Kashmir and Burma for blue in the general hierarchy, but a superb Ceylon stone outranks an ordinary stone from either.

Famous Ceylon sapphires and the market

Sri Lanka has produced more of the world's famous sapphires than any other source. The Logan Sapphire at the Smithsonian, a cushion of nearly 423 carats, is Sri Lankan, as is the 563.35 carat Star of India in New York. The Blue Belle of Asia, a 392.52 carat Ceylon sapphire, set the auction record for a sapphire at Christie's Geneva in 2014, and the Rosser Reeves Star Ruby at the Smithsonian is a Sri Lankan stone too.

The island's gem trade is old and regulated. Mining is licensed, export is controlled through a national authority, and Ratnapura and Colombo house cutting, heating and dealing businesses that handle Madagascar and African rough as well as the island's own. That makes a report stating Sri Lanka worth having, because a stone bought in Sri Lanka is not necessarily from Sri Lanka.

Supply is steady rather than growing. The gravels are worked by hand and the fine unheated share is small, which is why Ceylon sapphires with no indications of heating have become more valuable as Madagascar's heated material has filled the commercial end.

Buying Ceylon sapphires from Byrex Gems

Byrex Gems has served the jewellery trade from Toronto since 1988, and more than seven thousand jewellers, designers and dealers have bought from us in that time, some of them for decades. Many of our Ceylon sapphires carry reports from GRS, SSEF, Gübelin, GIA and other leading laboratories, and every stone is filmed in our office, unedited, so what you see is what arrives.

Approved trade buyers see prices online. A message on WhatsApp at +1 (437) 450-3786 is answered within hours; an email to info@byrex.com, the same day, seven days a week. What is listed is a part of what we hold: more Ceylon sapphires are kept in the vault, and what we do not hold ourselves we can source through our offices worldwide. Private viewings are arranged by appointment in Toronto, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Dubai.

Ceylon Sapphires: questions buyers ask

What is the difference between Ceylon and Sri Lanka sapphires?

None. Ceylon is the island's former name, used until 1972, and the trade has kept it for sapphires. Laboratories write Sri Lanka or Ceylon on reports interchangeably. A Ceylon sapphire is any sapphire mined on the island, from Ratnapura, Elahera or the smaller districts.

Are Ceylon sapphires usually heated?

Most commercial Ceylon sapphires are heated, a practice the island has used since the 1970s. Sri Lanka also supplies a large share of the world's fine unheated sapphires, so the treatment line matters. Byrex states it exactly as the laboratory words it on every stone page.

How do laboratories tell Ceylon from Madagascar sapphires?

By inclusions and trace-element chemistry compared with reference stones, but the two origins overlap because both are metamorphic deposits. When the evidence does not decide, a careful laboratory states the origin as inconclusive. For important stones, two reports are worth having.

Which reports does Byrex supply with Ceylon sapphires?

GRS, SSEF, Gübelin, Lotus, GIA or AGL reports stating treatment and origin, with CDC on some stones. GRS reports are shown on the stone page, and for important unheated stones Byrex often holds two reports. A further report can be arranged on request.

Are Ceylon sapphires lighter than Burma sapphires?

Typically, yes. Ceylon blues run lighter and brighter with a more transparent crystal and often a slight violet tint, while Burmese blues are deeper and more saturated. The strongest Ceylon stones reach royal blue, and the medium velvety ones are the classic cornflower blue.

Does Byrex sell Ceylon sapphires to private clients?

Yes, by appointment at 27 Queen Street East, Suite 407, Toronto. Private clients view the same stones and reports as the trade, with prices released to approved trade buyers who sign in. Byrex also sources specific colours, sizes and pairs to a brief.

Can I view Ceylon sapphires in Toronto?

Yes. Book an appointment and the stones are laid out under daylight and incandescent light with their reports, which is the quickest way to compare heated and unheated examples. Every sapphire is also filmed unedited in our office so you can study it beforehand.

Does Sri Lanka produce colours other than blue?

Yes, more than any other source: pink, purple, yellow, orange, green, white and colour-change sapphires, star sapphires and padparadscha, the pink-orange sapphire for which the island is the classic origin. Byrex keeps Ceylon sapphires in several of these colours.

Further reading

Byrex Gems, 27 Queen Street East, Suite 407, Toronto. Coloured gemstones and natural fancy colour diamonds for the trade since 1988, and for private clients by appointment.

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