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Madagascar Sapphires

A Madagascar sapphire is a sapphire from the island of Madagascar, where the discovery of the Ilakaka gravels in 1998 made the country one of the world's largest sources of sapphire in every colour. Madagascar produces commercial heated goods in volume and, from deposits such as Bemainty, fine unheated blues that compete with Ceylon and Burma. Byrex Gems offers Madagascar sapphires to the trade from Toronto, filmed unedited in our office, with prices for approved buyers and viewings by appointment.

Where to buy Madagascar sapphires in Toronto

Byrex Gems lists 67 Madagascar sapphires online today. 47 of them come with a report from laboratories including GIA, GRS 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 madagascar sapphires listed today: 3.56 ct Emerald Cut Blue Sapphire, GRS, Madagascar Heated, 3.08 ct Cushion Teal Sapphire, GIA, Madagascar Unheated, 128.52 ct Square Princess Cut Sapphire Layout (302 pcs), Madagascar Heated, 7.12 ct Oval Blue Sapphire, GRS, Madagascar Heated, 5.83 ct Pear Purple Sapphire, GIA, Madagascar Heated, 5.15 ct Square Cushion Blue Sapphire, GIA, Madagascar Heated, 5.12 ct Oval Pink Sapphire, GRS, Madagascar Unheated, 5.01 ct Heart Blue Sapphire, GIA, Madagascar Unheated, 3.79 ct Cushion Blue Sapphire, GIA, Madagascar Unheated, 3.43 ct Cushion Pink Sapphire Pair (1.68 + 1.75 ct), Madagascar Heated, 3.35 ct Pear Rosecut Blue Sapphire Pair (1.51 + 1.84 ct), GIA, Madagascar Unheated, 3.08 ct Radiant Emerald Cut Teal Sapphire, GIA, Madagascar Unheated and 55 more.

Where Madagascar sapphires come from

Madagascar's sapphire story is young. Blue sapphire was found at Andranondambo in the far south in the early 1990s, in a hard-rock deposit that yields deep blues in small numbers. Then, in 1998, sapphire was found in the alluvial gravels around Ilakaka, on the road through the south-west, and the town grew from a village to a rush of tens of thousands within a year. Ilakaka and neighbouring Sakaraha remain the island's largest producers.

In 2016 fine blue sapphires were found at Bemainty, near Ambatondrazaka in the east, and the rush that followed brought out stones of a saturated, velvety blue that the laboratories compared with Kashmir and Burma. Diego Suarez in the north yields basalt-related blues and greenish blues of a darker type.

The range is the point. Ilakaka alone produces blue, pink, purple, yellow, orange, pink-orange, colour-change and near-colourless sapphires, much of it in sizes that cut well, which is why Madagascar supplies so much of the commercial market and a growing share of the fine one.

How laboratories separate Madagascar from Ceylon

Madagascar and Sri Lanka are the hardest pair in sapphire origin, because both are metamorphic deposits with overlapping inclusions and chemistry. Laboratories compare trace elements and inclusion suites with reference stones from each source, and GIA, GRS, SSEF, Gübelin, Lotus and AGL all state Madagascar as an origin; where the evidence does not decide, a careful laboratory states the origin as inconclusive, and that answer is more common for this pair than for any other.

Treatment is the second line. A large share of Ilakaka material is heated, usually in Thailand or Sri Lanka, and is reported as heated or "indications of heating". Bemainty blues are often unheated and read "no indications of heating" at GIA, Gübelin and SSEF or "no indication of thermal treatment" at GRS. Beryllium diffusion must be disclosed and lowers value; it came to the trade's attention in the early 2000s through pink-orange sapphires, many of them Madagascar material, that had been diffused in Thailand, and laboratories detect it by trace-element chemistry.

Colour terms apply as elsewhere: royal blue on the laboratories' criteria to the strongest blues, padparadscha under the LMHC definition to qualifying pink-orange stones, and cornflower as a trade description.

What to check before buying a Madagascar sapphire

Read the treatment line before the origin line, because the deposit produces unheated, heated and diffused material and the three are different products. Then judge the colour under daylight-equivalent and incandescent light; Madagascar blues range from bright Ceylon-like stones to deeper ones, and some turn purplish under a lamp.

View the stone from the top for colour zoning, which is common in Ilakaka crystals, and check the cut for a window and for weight below the girdle. Madagascar rough cuts well, so fine proportions are the norm from good cutters and a poorly cut stone is a choice, not a necessity.

Sizes are generous by sapphire standards; clean stones of three to five carats are available in a way they are not from Burma, and pairs, suites and calibrated sets are more feasible from Madagascar than from any other origin. For a pair, insist that both stones share the same treatment status on their reports. At the bench, sapphire takes normal handling; a diffused stone must not be repolished, and the report's note on fissures matters for setting.

What drives the value of a Madagascar sapphire

Treatment leads. An unheated Madagascar sapphire with a saturated, velvety blue is priced by the same logic as a fine Ceylon stone, and the best Bemainty examples have been sold beside Burmese sapphires at auction. Heated stones form the commercial core of the market and are priced on colour, clarity and cut; diffused stones sit far below.

Origin counts for less than it does for Burma or Kashmir, and sometimes for less than Ceylon, because the deposit is young and large; a report stating Madagascar is a statement of fact rather than a premium. That makes Madagascar the origin where the stone in hand matters most and the map matters least.

Colour saturation, the absence of zoning from the top, clarity and size then do their usual work, and a royal blue or padparadscha designation from a respected laboratory adds to the figure where it appears.

Ilakaka, Bemainty and the market

Ilakaka's rush in 1998 and 1999 was one of the largest gem rushes of modern times, drawing tens of thousands of diggers to hand-dug pits in the gravels and dealers from Thailand and Sri Lanka to the roadside. Mining remains largely artisanal and licensed in small claims, and the rough still flows mainly to Bangkok and Ratnapura for heating and cutting.

Bemainty in 2016 was shorter and sharper: a find of fine blue sapphires in a protected forest, a rush, and a crackdown, leaving a limited quantity of stones that the laboratories have studied closely because of their resemblance to Kashmir. The best of them are now in collections and reappear at auction with Swiss reports.

Madagascar also produces ruby, from Andilamena, Vatomandry and Didy, and the same cutting centres handle both. For jewellers the island means consistent commercial sapphires, realistic pairs and suites, and occasional stones of the first rank. Look-alikes, synthetics and diffused stones are separated with a report, and Byrex states origin and treatment from the report on every stone page.

Buying Madagascar sapphires from Byrex Gems

Byrex Gems has been in Toronto since 1988, and more than seven thousand trade customers in Canada and abroad have bought from us. Many of our Madagascar sapphires come with reports from GRS, SSEF, Gübelin, GIA and other leading laboratories; all of them are filmed in our office, unedited and unfiltered.

Approved trade buyers see prices online. Others may write at any hour: WhatsApp +1 (437) 450-3786 is answered within hours and email to info@byrex.com the same day, seven days a week. What is listed is a part of what we hold: more Madagascar 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.

Madagascar Sapphires: questions buyers ask

Where can I buy Madagascar sapphires in Toronto?

Are Madagascar sapphires good quality?

They range from commercial to exceptional. Ilakaka supplies large volumes of heated sapphire in every colour; Bemainty produced unheated blues that laboratories compared with Kashmir and Burma. Judge the stone and its report, because the origin alone says little about quality.

Are Madagascar sapphires usually heated?

Most Ilakaka material is heated, typically in Thailand or Sri Lanka, and reported as such. Bemainty blues are often unheated. Beryllium-diffused stones also exist and must be disclosed. Byrex states the treatment line exactly as the laboratory words it on every stone page.

How do laboratories tell Madagascar from Ceylon sapphires?

By inclusions and trace-element chemistry compared with reference stones, but the two overlap because both are metamorphic deposits, and inconclusive is a common finding for this pair. For important stones, a second report from another laboratory is worth having.

Which reports does Byrex supply with Madagascar 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 a further report can be arranged on request. Unheated stones are marked as such.

What is a Bemainty sapphire?

A blue sapphire from the Bemainty deposit near Ambatondrazaka in eastern Madagascar, found in 2016. The find produced saturated, velvety blues, many unheated, that laboratories studied for their resemblance to Kashmir and Burma. The deposit was worked briefly and the supply is limited.

Does Byrex sell Madagascar 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 pairs, suites and calibrated sets to a brief.

Can I view Madagascar sapphires in Toronto?

Yes. Book an appointment and the stones are laid out under daylight and incandescent light beside Ceylon stones, which is the best way to see how close the two can be. Every sapphire is also filmed unedited in our office so you can study it first.

Does Madagascar produce padparadscha sapphires?

Yes. Ilakaka yields pink-orange sapphires, and those that meet the LMHC harmonised definition, which excludes brownish stones and strong colour zoning, are reported as padparadscha. Beryllium-diffused pink-orange stones do not qualify and must be disclosed, so the report wording is essential.

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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