BLUE GEMSTONES: 10 Most Celebrated

Benvenuto Cellini of the 1500s relates that he often found fine turquoises in the entrails of cranes. Kunz takes this to indicate that the stone’s beauty held influence upon these birds in a manner similar to how gems impress humans. To be sure, turquoise was not the only stone to beguile humans. Of the blue gemstones that humanity has known from antiquity to the present, which did they find the most beautiful? Know the 10 most beautiful blue stones of all time.

10 Azurite

The Ancient Greeks must have known azurite by the name kyanos, cyanos in Latin. This blue stone earned its name on account of its color, the Greek word kyanos having referred to a dark shade of blue. The deep blue color of azurite makes the stone particularly appealing as an ornament. This same intense blue is often compared to that of lapis lazuli. Indeed, the kyanos was used as a substitute to lapis lazuli, and consequently made into scarabs and signets in Egypt, where it was known as lapis Armenus.

The weakness of this strikingly blue gemstone lies in its hardness. Azurite is soft. As Leornadus states in the 1500s, lapis Armenus is light in the handling and easily breaks. With azurite achieving a hardness of only 3.5 to 4 in the Mohs scale, there is little wonder how the lapis Armenus was “easily broken.” With a specific gravity of 3.7 to 3.9, the lapis Armenus is indeed also “light in the handling.” It is these inferior hardness and toughness that render the blue semi-precious stone less suitable for jewelry.

9 Tanzanite

Tanzanite is a popular blue gem discovered only in 1967. Named after Tanzania, where the glassy gemstone was first unearthed, tanzanite ranges in shade from blue to violet. This blue crystal from Africa is noted for its optical quality called pleochroism, in which a single tanzanite changes from blue to violet, and even burgundy, depending on the crystal’s orientation.

Though discovered not so long ago, tanzanite was catapulted to prominence after the blue stone was inserted into the list of month stones, whose origins in fact go back to time immemorial. In 2002, just over 34 years after its discovery, America added tanzanite as alternate birthstone for December.

8 Blue Topaz

Topaz is a transparent blue gem of a vitreous or glassy luster. While the color typically associated with topaz is yellow, topaz also occurs in blue crystals. Although not in an official pronouncement, Americans popularly consider blue topaz as one of December’s birthstones. The blue stone thus follows yellow topaz in the calendar of birthstones, where the former sits as December’s gem next to its yellow cousin, the birthstone of November.

Blue topaz is a gem pleasing to the eye and extremely rare. However, topaz can be treated to produce a strong blue shade. Most of the blue gems in the market were in fact colorless, gray or brownish topaz that went through heat treatment. One indeed needs to watch out for these enhanced blue stones sold in the market as December’s birthstone.

7 Blue Diamond

Next to the red variety, blue is the rarest color of diamonds. The blue stone shares the extreme hardness and refractive index of the pure white, but has its cool blue color to set it apart. Indeed, this variety of diamond boosts of a color that emulates that of sapphire, and goes on to surpass the latter with its unrivaled hardness and adamantine luster. C. W. King thus finds the blue diamond much superior in beauty.

The reason why blue diamond places low on our list is the fact that the blue stone was unknown and thus not appreciated by the ancients. The first known, as well as the most famous blue diamond, is the Hope Blue, which Tavernier brought out of India in 1642. Even when Europe and Asia had known blue diamond, they did not appreciate the blue crystal as much as they did the rest of its kind. The blue gem was the least valuable of all.

Still, on account of the same rarity, later centuries saw the rise in value of the blue diamond. As a norm observed to this day, a bluish tinge affords the diamond higher value than a yellowish impurity would. If the diamond is not only slightly tinged but of pronounced color, this blue stone is among the most valuable of gems. Indeed, a decidedly blue color enormously augments the value of a diamond.

Today, surpassing all other gems in hardness and luster, and being the equal of sapphire in color and transparency, blue diamond is the most valuable of blue gemstones. This indicates the immense appreciation with which gem-lovers hold the blue precious stone with nowadays. See —

6 Blue Chalcedony

Of the varieties of a stone called chalcedony, the blue stone was deemed the best. Chalcedony is the name for the cryptocrystalline or obscurely crystalline quartz. Translucent in clarity, the blue gemstone is waxy in luster, hard and tough. Chalcedony in reality occurs in many colors, but the name is reserved for the white or pale blue stones. Between these two, it was the pale blue gem that was esteemed the most.

On account of its color, blue chalcedony was called sapphirine. In his commendation of the blue stone, C. W. King says that the sapphirine is “an extremely pretty stone, often approximating to a pale sapphire in color.” Another blue gemstone called praconissus must have been the banded blue chalcedony. Leonardus in the 1500s says that the blue gem “delights the eyes with its agreeable embellishments.”

Chalcedony was of wide use and high value in antiquity. Its combined hardness and toughness lent the stone to engraving, making it the perfect stone for seals. Consequently, antique chalcedony is often found bearing the most elaborate engraving. In these antique works, the sapphirine or blue chalcedony was preferred to other varieties . The finest Persian cylinder, the oldest known form of seal, known was made out of this stone.

Indeed, blue chalcedony is a gem cherished since antiquity. Its hardness and durability made this versatile blue gem excellent for jewelry. To this day, a pale blue chalcedony is popular as pendants for rings, earrings and necklaces. The blue stone is quite less common than its white counterpart; hence, a pure blue chalcedony is far more expensive. One needs to take caution, however, since chalcedony is often dyed to achieve a strong blue color.

5 Blue Zircon

While available in different colors, zircon today is most popular in blue. More brilliant than sapphire, zircon makes an exquisite choice for a glassy blue stone.

Blue zircon was little known in ancient times, but must have been confused with sapphire, known then by the name hyacinth. In fact, by the 1200s, hyacinth was divided between two varieties: aquaticus or the watery hyacinth, and saphirinus or the sapphire-blue stone. Magnus of this century describes the aquaticus variety as a pale blue. Less valuable than sapphire, the watery hyacinth must have been our blue zircon.

By the 1500s, jacinth no longer referred to sapphire but to zircon. Accordingly, the colors known of the precious corundum — the blue stones, yellow and red (ruby) — became varieties of zircon. Leonardus of this century identifies the blue hyacinth as the water hyacinth of Albertus Magnus. Thus, as Magnus wrote over two centuries before Leonardus, the blue hyacinth was of a transparent, pale azure color.

The hyacinth of the late Middle Ages is today designated in chemistry by the name zircon. Zircon has many of the qualities desirable of gems. The stone is extremely brilliant, reproducing the adamantine luster of the diamond. Zircon is also relatively hard, scoring 6.5 to 7.5 in the Mohs scale, and thus comparatively resistant to wear and tear.

Zircon is recognized among the birthstones of December. Like turquoise and tanzanite, which are birthstones of the same month, the color of zircon hailed as the December gem popularly refers to the blue stone. Hence, of zircon’s different colors, the bright blue gem is arguably the most popular today.

4 Turquoise

Genuine turquoise is among the most valuable of opaque stones. This blue stone comes in such a unique hue that its name became a color of its own.

Waxy in luster, turquoise owes its charm as a gem chiefly to its color. This color varies from sky-blue through bluish green, and apple-green to greenish gray. Of these pastel colors, the pure sky-blue — otherwise known as “robin’s-egg blue” — is by far the most prized.

Since the traditional source of such a turquoise is Iran, best known as Persia in the past, this intense medium blue is also called Persian blue. To this day, this light blue shade remains the blue stone’s most popular color, and the word turquoise has become an adjective denoting a pleasant blue, particularly, a “turquoise sky.” The greenish blue variant, on the other hand, goes by the name of the stone, turquoise. To the ancients, nothing more pleasantly beautifies gold than turquoise: a reputation that the blue gemstone holds to this day.

In the Mohs scale, turquoise achieves a hardness of only 6 out of 10. Nevertheless, the blue stone defies the general convention that stones needs a high degree of hardness for use in jewelry. Given its low resistance to scratching, however, turquoise is best employed in a protected setting, particularly in a bezel. On account of its opacity, the blue gemstone is best cut en cabochon.

Appreciation of turquoise spans the ancient world from Tibet through Egypt and Europe, as well as the American continents yet to be discovered by Europeans. The blue stone has also endured as birthstone of December. Consequently, genuine turquoise is among the most valuable of opaque stones.

3^rd Most Beautiful of Blue Gemstones: Lapis Lazuli

Before the blue gemstone was called lapis lazuli, this ancient blue jewel was known by the ever-popular name sapphire. Theophrastus of the 3rd century BCE spoke of sapphire — sappheiros in Greek — as a dark stone seemingly spotted with gold.

This intense blue color so prized by the royals were the most important property of lapis lazuli. Before the modern-day sapphire, lapis lazuli was the original blue gem par excellence, distinguished by this vivid blue color. The mineral lazurite, which forms the bulk of the opaque blue stone, is responsible for lapis lazuli’s deep blue color, which varies in shade from light to dark. Indeed, lapis lazuli is in truth not a mineral, but a blue rock, formed from the aggregation of different minerals. Its speckles of gold consist of pyrite, also known as fool’s gold.

The hardness of lapis lazuli’s hardness ranges from 5 to 6, depending on the impurity. This relatively low hardness allowed the ancients to carve images on the blue rock. Hence, intagli and cameos of Roman times are frequently found made of lapis lazuli.

The Israelites likewise treasured lapis lazuli. The old “sapphire” was set on the Israelite priest’s breastplate, which made lapis lazuli the original birthstone for April.

In Britain, lapis lazuli is an alternate birthstone for September. Color was the primary basis for this designation, since the blue gemstone emulates the color of the primary birthstone, sapphire.

While lapis lazuli is no longer among the priciest of gems, people still appreciate the beauty and value of the blue stone. Lapis lazuli indeed remains a popular choice of blue gemstone to this day. The problem with lapis lazuli today is that dull blue stones are enhanced with a dye so strong it stains clothing.

2^nd Most Beautiful of Blue Gemstones: Aquamarine

The name aquamarine did not in the very beginning refer to a blue beryl, which went by a different name. Blue beryls in Rome were divided into two species. Blue stones that recall the intense color of sapphire were called hyacinthizontes, “sapphire-blue,” while those of a lighter shade were known as aeroides or “sky-blue.” On the other hand, the name aquamarine referred to the sea-green beryl, which was the most popular variety next to the emerald.

Some argue, however, that the name aquamarine, though it indeed means “seawater,” did not originally refer to the sea-green beryl, but to the sea-blue stone. The use of aquamarine to refer to beryl was first recorded in 1609. The name may have derived from the common Italian word acquamarina, which literally meant “sea-blue.” It is little wonder perhaps that today, both sapphire-blue and sky-blue beryls fall under the name aquamarine along with the sea-green beryl.

Like emerald, beryls were seldom engraved, but were highly prized in Rome as eardrops and ornamental jewelry.

A transparent gem, aquamarine is the blue variety of the mineral presently called beryl, which is composed of the elements beryllium, aluminum and silicon. The blue stone lacks the luster so rich in the diamond. To make up for this inferior brilliance, the Romans facetted beryl, which then became the only stone they carved facets on. Aquamarine resists scratching enough to endure in jewelry.

Today, the sea-blue beryls are the best known of the aquamarine, while their sea-green cousin is often classified under emerald, whose color has indeed expanded its definition from grass-green to include bluish green. While the most popular beryl in antiquity was the sea-green variety, today aquamarine is better known as a blue gem.

Most Beautiful of Blue Gemstones: Sapphire

The identity of sapphire in ancient times was wrapped in mystery and confusion. Before it was called sapphire, the blue stone was known as hyacinth. The color that hyacinthus was popular with was a shining sky blue.

The hardness of sapphire is pegged at 9 in the Mohs scale, where diamond scores 10. On account of its hardness, sapphire resists engraving. The ancients thus contented themselves with setting sapphire as an ornamental stone in their jewelry, where the precious blue gem is set neither engraved nor shaped. The ancients simply gave a decent polish to the natural irregular surface of the blue stone.

By the 1300s, sapphire completely took the name sapphirus over from lapis lazuli, and left the name hyacinthus to zircon. With the change in name from hyacinth to sapphire came a contradiction over the best color of the blue gem. The best hyacinthus was a soft blue crystal, the color of the sky during the day, while the best sapphirus was an intense blue stone — the starless celestial sphere at night — which is the distinguishing feature of lapis lazuli.

Today, the highest grade for a sapphire goes to the intense, deep royal blue stone, though the prized velvety texture remains. The soft blue then esteemed the most of sapphire is now sought after in the aquamarine.

In the 11th century, sapphire became the lord of stones, the gem of gems. Its superior hardness, desirable color and transparency thenceforth keep sapphire among the most valuable of gems. For the blue stone to fetch the highest value, however, its color has to be even, not partly mixed with a different color as is the case in many stones.

Star Sapphire

Some sapphire specimens exhibit a six-rayed star when cut and rounded off according to the dome of the crystal. This phenomenon is called asterism, and a sapphire of this feature is called asteriated or star sapphire. Star sapphires are highly prized. These usually grayish blue stones are commonly cut en cabochon, since the rounded sides best bring out the asterism.

Beautiful Blue Gemstones

Standards of beauty change. Blue gemstones are discovered that had not been previously known. There is no doubt that many people today would uphold the blue diamond as the most beautiful of blue gems on earth. However, this was not true throughout the ages. On the contrary, for most of human history, sapphire is the most beautiful of the blue stones that graced the earth. It is interesting to note that blue gemstones of much less value today were among the most appreciated since antiquity. Lapis lazuli, chalcedony and turquoise have long been cherished in jewelry.

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38 Types of Blue Gemstones for Jewelry

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