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Royal Blue Sapphires

A royal blue sapphire is a blue sapphire whose colour a laboratory has graded as a vivid, highly saturated blue, pure or with a slight purplish tint, against its own master stones; GRS, Gübelin and SSEF apply the term on criteria that differ. The colour was first associated with Mogok in Burma and is now found in fine stones from Sri Lanka and Madagascar. Byrex Gems offers royal blue sapphires to the trade from Toronto, filmed unedited in our office, with prices for approved buyers and viewings by appointment.

Among the royal blue sapphires listed today: 3.56 ct Emerald Cut Blue Sapphire, GRS, Madagascar Heated, 3.11 ct Oval Blue Sapphire, GRS, Ceylon Heated, 40.06 ct Round Blue Sapphire Layout (27 pcs), Ceylon Heated, 39.08 ct Round Blue Sapphire Layout (29 pcs), Ceylon Heated, 15.05 ct Cushion Blue Sapphire, GRS, Ceylon Unheated, 14.27 ct Oval Blue Sapphire, GIA, Ceylon Heated and 125 more.

How royal blue looks and where it comes from

Royal blue is the deep end of fine sapphire colour: a vivid blue of strong saturation and medium-dark tone, pure or very slightly violetish, with no grey, green or inkiness. In daylight it is unmistakably blue rather than navy; under incandescent light it stays blue rather than turning purple or black. The colour comes from the same iron and titanium that make every blue sapphire, present in the proportions that metamorphic deposits favour.

Mogok in Burma is where the term was coined, and Burmese sapphires remain its reference, with a saturated blue that holds under every light. Sri Lanka produces royal blue in its stronger stones, usually with a touch more violet and a brighter crystal. Madagascar's Bemainty and Ilakaka material includes stones that qualify, and some are unheated.

Basalt-related sapphires from Thailand, Australia and parts of Africa are generally excluded from the term, because their higher iron content produces the grey or black extinction that the royal blue standard rules out.

How laboratories grade royal blue

GRS applies "vivid blue (GRS-type royal blue)", with intense-to-vivid and vivid-to-deep transitional grades, judged against master stones. It withholds the term from stones with dominant colour zoning, windowing, distracting inclusions, poor brilliance or obvious extinction, from basalt-related sapphires with high iron, from diffused or pressure-heated stones and from synthetics. Standard heating does not disqualify at GRS, so a GRS royal blue may be heated or unheated, and the treatment line says which.

Gübelin and SSEF harmonised their criteria and apply "royal blue" only to untreated sapphires: strong saturation, a vivid blue with no greenish or greyish tint and at most a very slight purplish one, no eye-visible or dark inclusions, even colour and vivid internal reflections. On those reports the term is also a statement that the stone has not been heated.

GIA describes colour in plain words and does not define royal blue as a grade. Origin is reported separately as an opinion from inclusions and chemistry, and can be stated as inconclusive. The same sapphire can carry the term from one laboratory and not another, and both can be right.

What to check before buying a royal blue sapphire

Read the exact wording and then the treatment line, because a GRS royal blue can be heated and a Gübelin or SSEF royal blue cannot. Confirm that the report matches the stone by weight, measurements and photograph. Then judge the colour yourself, viewed from the top, under daylight-equivalent light and under an incandescent lamp; a royal blue should stay blue in the evening, and a stone that goes inky has been cut deep or is simply too dark.

Look for zoning and for a window. Deep pavilions are sometimes used to push a medium stone towards royal blue, and the weight below the girdle costs money without adding beauty. Fine silk is acceptable if the stone stays crisp.

Royal blue stones above three carats with the designation are scarce, and matched pairs are among the hardest things in sapphire to assemble, so a close match is often the honest description. At the bench, sapphire takes normal handling; note any fissures on the report before setting.

Royal blue, cornflower blue and value

Royal blue and cornflower blue are neighbours, not ranks. Cornflower is a medium-toned, velvety, slightly violetish blue, softer and more luminous, associated with Kashmir and fine Ceylon stones. Royal blue is deeper and more saturated, with more intensity and less velvet. One buyer wants the depth, another wants the glow, and the finest Kashmir stones are described with both words by different people.

Within royal blue, value follows treatment first, with unheated stones well above heated; origin next, with Burma at the top and fine Ceylon and Madagascar stones close behind; then clarity, size and cut. The designation itself adds a premium because auction houses and Asian buyers quote it, and a stone carrying it from both GRS and a Swiss laboratory is in the strongest position, since the Swiss term certifies the stone is untreated.

A heated GRS royal blue is a genuine colour statement and should be priced as a heated sapphire. The term never replaces the treatment line.

Blue Belle of Asia and the market

The sapphire that set the auction record is a Ceylon stone of saturated blue: the Blue Belle of Asia, a 392.52 carat cushion sold at Christie's Geneva in November 2014. The Rockefeller Sapphire, a 62.02 carat Burmese stone sold at Christie's New York in 2001, is the Mogok counterpart, and Kashmir stones have since taken the per-carat records.

Supply is thin at the top. Burma produces little sapphire, Sri Lanka yields royal blue only in a small share of its output, and Madagascar's finest Bemainty stones were quickly absorbed. The designation is also widely misapplied online to any dark blue stone, which is why the trade relies on the report wording and names the laboratory.

Synthetic sapphire can be grown in a saturated blue, and heated or diffused stones can imitate the look; a laboratory separates them by inclusions, spectra and chemistry. Byrex describes a sapphire as royal blue only when the report says so.

Buying royal blue 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 royal blue 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 royal blue 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.

Royal Blue Sapphires: questions buyers ask

What does royal blue mean on a sapphire report?

That the laboratory judged the colour a vivid, highly saturated blue, pure or slightly purplish, against its master stones. GRS writes vivid blue (GRS-type royal blue); Gübelin and SSEF write royal blue and apply it only to untreated sapphires. Each laboratory's criteria differ, so the wording matters.

Can a heated sapphire be royal blue?

At GRS, yes; standard heating does not disqualify, though diffusion and pressure heating do, and the treatment line states the heating. Gübelin and SSEF apply royal blue only to sapphires with no indications of heating. Read the treatment line separately from the colour term.

Is royal blue better than cornflower blue?

No. Royal blue is deeper and more saturated; cornflower blue is medium-toned, velvety and more luminous. They describe different looks rather than a ranking, and within either, treatment, origin, clarity and size decide value. Many buyers choose on how the stone behaves under evening light.

Which origins produce royal blue sapphires?

Burma's Mogok tract is the historic source and still the reference. Sri Lanka produces royal blue in its stronger stones, and Madagascar's Bemainty and Ilakaka deposits yield some, including unheated examples. Basalt-related sapphires are generally excluded because of their grey extinction.

Which reports does Byrex supply with royal blue sapphires?

Only stones whose report carries the term are described as royal blue at Byrex, with the laboratory named. Most carry GRS, with SSEF or Gübelin on important unheated stones; GIA or Lotus reports accompany others. GRS reports are shown on the stone page.

Does Byrex sell royal blue 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 can also source a designated stone or pair to a brief.

Can I see royal blue sapphires in Toronto?

Yes. Book an appointment and the stones are shown under daylight and incandescent light beside medium blues, which makes the depth of a royal blue plain. Each sapphire is also filmed unedited in our office so you can study it before the visit.

Why does a dark sapphire not qualify as royal blue?

Because royal blue is about saturation, not darkness. A stone that is too dark loses brightness and shows black extinction, which the laboratories' criteria exclude. The designation goes to vivid blues of medium-dark tone that stay blue under every light, not to navy stones.

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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