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Pink Sapphires

A pink sapphire is a corundum coloured pink by chromium, at a saturation below the threshold at which a laboratory would call it ruby. Pink is the most widely available of the fancy sapphire colours, and the range runs from pale baby pink to a hot pink that approaches ruby, so the buyer's task is choosing the right pink rather than finding one. Byrex Gems offers pink sapphires to the trade from Toronto, filmed unedited, with prices for approved buyers and viewings by appointment.

Where to buy pink sapphires in Toronto

Byrex Gems lists 52 pink sapphires online today. 27 of them come with a report from laboratories including GIA and GRS. Origins include Madagascar, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Mozambique and Burma (Myanmar). 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 pink sapphires listed today: 7.24 ct Shield Peachy Pink Sapphire, GIA, Africa Unheated, 5.50 ct Cushion Orangy Pink Sapphire, GRS, Ceylon Unheated, 5.12 ct Oval Pink Sapphire, GRS, Madagascar Unheated, 4.77 ct Oval Pink Sapphire, Africa, 3.46 ct Pear Pink Sapphire Pair, Heated, 3.43 ct Cushion Pink Sapphire Pair (1.68 + 1.75 ct), Madagascar Heated, 3.393 ct Pear Pink Sapphire Pair (1.715 + 1.678 ct), Heated, 3.30 ct Cushion Intense Purplish Pink Sapphire, GIA, Burma Heated, 3.05 ct Oval Pink Sapphire, Sri Lanka Unheated, 2.94 ct Emerald Cut Pink Sapphire, GIA, Madagascar Heated, 2.65 ct Oval Light Pink Sapphire, GIA, Madagascar Unheated, 2.38 ct Oval Pink Sapphire, Africa Unheated and 40 more.

What makes a sapphire pink

Pink sapphire and ruby are the same mineral coloured by the same element. Chromium replacing aluminium in the corundum lattice absorbs light in a way that leaves red and pink, and the amount of chromium, together with the presence of iron and the stone's tone, decides how far the colour goes. A little chromium gives pale pink; more gives a strong pink; at some point the stone becomes red and the trade calls it ruby. Traces of iron push the pink toward purple or orange and reduce fluorescence, which is why some pinks glow in sunlight and others do not.

Madagascar is the largest source today, with the Ilakaka gravels in the south producing pink in every tone since the late 1990s. Sri Lanka has produced pink sapphire for centuries, often soft and bright, with a share that is fine without heating. Burma's Mogok valley yields intense, fluorescent pinks that shade into ruby. Tanzania, Vietnam and Mozambique add smaller quantities, and some Mozambique pink comes from the same deposits as its rubies.

Each source has a character, but the overlap is wide and a report's origin opinion is the only reliable way to separate them.

Where the laboratories draw the ruby line

There is no agreed point at which pink becomes red. GIA and most laboratories call pink corundum "pink sapphire" below a saturation threshold that each laboratory sets for itself, and "ruby" above it. The thresholds are close but not identical, so a stone near the line can be a pink sapphire on one report and a ruby on another, and the trade treats a borderline stone as what its report says. Some laboratories use intermediate wording, such as pinkish red or purplish red, to describe where a stone sits.

Treatment is stated on the same report. Most pink sapphires on the market have been heated to strengthen colour and clear silk, and the report says so in the laboratory's own wording, such as GIA's "Indications of heating". A finding of no heating is the exception and carries a premium. Beryllium diffusion has been used on pink-orange material and is reported as a separate finding; it must be disclosed as diffusion.

The trade words are descriptive, not graded. "Hot pink" means a strong, saturated pink close to the ruby line. "Bubblegum" means a bright, slightly bluish pink of medium saturation. "Baby pink" means pale and soft. None of these appear on a report, where the laboratory writes pink, purplish pink or orangy pink, sometimes with a note on intensity.

What to check before buying pink sapphires

Decide which pink the piece needs before looking at stones. A design for a strong pink centre stone and a design for a pale pink halo are shopping in different parts of the market. Then view the stone as it will arrive, in daylight. Pink sapphires with a purple modifier look different under incandescent light, where they often warm up, and a buyer should check both.

Check the report for treatment and for the colour line, especially when the stone is strong enough to be near the ruby threshold. Check the cut: pink is a lighter colour than blue, and a shallow or windowed stone loses colour quickly from the top, while a well-proportioned cut holds it. Silk is common in unheated pinks and can give a soft glow; too much reduces brilliance.

Pink sapphires are among the easiest fancy colours to match, which makes them a staple for earrings, eternity bands and layouts. Pairs should be matched in hue, tone, saturation and cut as well as size, and ideally in treatment status. Calibrated rounds and ovals in small sizes are widely available from Madagascar and Sri Lanka. Corundum is hard and tough, so setting is routine, and pink shows well in both white and rose metal.

What drives the value of a pink sapphire

Saturation leads. A clear, strong pink without grey or brown reads as a fine stone, and value rises with saturation up to the point where the stone becomes ruby and enters a different market. Hue matters too: a pure pink or very slightly purplish pink is preferred to one with a heavy purple or orange modifier, though the strong purplish pinks of Burma have their own following.

Treatment comes next. An unheated pink of fine colour with a report from a laboratory the trade accepts sits well above a heated stone of the same look, and the gap widens as the colour improves. Origin counts for less than it does in ruby or blue sapphire, but a Burmese or Ceylon origin opinion on an unheated stone adds to its standing, and Madagascar supplies the bulk of the market.

Clarity, cut and size follow. Pink sapphire is expected to be clean to the eye, and well-cut stones that hold colour across the top are preferred. Larger fine stones are scarce, and matched pairs and suites of consistent colour command more than the sum of their parts because of the time they take to assemble.

Pink sapphire look-alikes and treated material

Pink spinel is the closest natural look-alike and has its own market. It is singly refractive where sapphire is doubly refractive, and a laboratory separates the two in minutes, but the two were confused for centuries and the Mogok valley produces both. Pink tourmaline, morganite and kunzite are softer and lighter in look, and are rarely mistaken by the trade.

Synthetic pink sapphire has been grown since the early twentieth century by flame fusion and later by flux and other methods. It is mass-produced and common, and it is separated from natural by inclusions, growth features and chemistry. A natural pink sapphire of any size should carry a report that states it is natural.

The treatments to know are heating, which is routine and disclosed; beryllium diffusion, which can produce pink-orange colours and is disclosed as diffusion; and, rarely, glass filling of fractured material. All of these are detected by laboratories through inclusions, spectra and trace-element chemistry. A stone sold as unheated must have a report that says so, and the report, not the colour, is what the trade relies on.

Buying pink sapphires from Byrex Gems

A Toronto house for the jewellery trade since 1988, Byrex Gems counts more than seven thousand jewellers, designers and dealers among its customers. Many of our pink sapphires are accompanied by reports from GRS, SSEF, Gübelin, GIA and other leading laboratories, and each is filmed in our office so that you can judge it before it travels.

Prices are shown to approved trade buyers. For anything else, WhatsApp +1 (437) 450-3786 reaches us within hours, and info@byrex.com is answered the same day, seven days a week. What is listed is a part of what we hold: more pink sapphires are kept in the vault, and what we do not hold ourselves we can source through our offices worldwide. Viewings are by appointment in Toronto, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Dubai.

Pink Sapphires: questions buyers ask

Where can I buy pink sapphires in Toronto?

What is the difference between pink sapphire and ruby?

They are the same mineral, coloured by chromium. GIA and most laboratories call the stone pink sapphire below a saturation threshold and ruby above it, and the threshold varies by laboratory. A stone near the line is sold as whatever its report states.

Are most pink sapphires heated?

Yes. Most pink sapphires on the market have been heated to strengthen colour and clear silk, and the report states this. Unheated pinks of good colour are scarcer and carry a premium. Heating is accepted in the trade when disclosed.

What do hot pink, bubblegum and baby pink mean?

They are trade descriptions, not laboratory grades. Hot pink is a strong, saturated pink close to ruby. Bubblegum is a bright, medium pink, often slightly bluish. Baby pink is pale and soft. A report uses words such as pink, purplish pink or orangy pink instead.

Which origin is best for pink sapphire?

Madagascar supplies most of the market in every tone. Sri Lanka produces bright pinks, some unheated. Burma yields intense, fluorescent pinks close to ruby. Origin counts for less than in blue sapphire or ruby, and the report's origin opinion is based on inclusions and chemistry.

Can Byrex supply matched pairs of pink sapphires?

Yes. Pink is among the easiest fancy colours to pair, and Byrex matches pairs and calibrated stones for earrings, bands and layouts from stock and through its suppliers. Pairs are matched for hue, tone, saturation, cut and size, and where possible for treatment status.

Does Byrex sell pink sapphires to private clients?

Yes. Byrex sells to the jewellery trade and receives private clients by appointment at its Toronto office. Private clients see the same stones and the same laboratory reports as the trade, and a particular pink can be sought through Byrex's suppliers when it is not in stock.

What does a pink sapphire report say?

It states that the stone is natural corundum, its colour in the laboratory's wording, its weight and measurements, a treatment finding such as heated or no indications of heating, and often an origin opinion. Byrex stones carry reports from GIA, GRS, SSEF, Gübelin, Lotus, AGL and others.

Can I view pink sapphires in Toronto?

Yes. Byrex Gems shows stones by appointment at 27 Queen Street East, Suite 407, Toronto. Every stone is filmed unedited so buyers can shortlist before visiting, and pink sapphires are best judged in daylight, where purple and orange modifiers show clearly.

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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