Sapphire is September's Birthstone
If you're still young enough to remember your birthday, you
probably also remember the special birthstone assigned to it.
But at your age, we bet you don't really know the SIGNIFICANCE
of your birthstone and what power the ancients felt would be
bestowed about you by wearing it. September Birthstone: Sapphire
Birthstone Properties: Brings physical and emotional balance.
Alternative Birthstone: Agate Sapphire is the birthstone for
September and the gemstone given for anniversaries of the 5th
and 45th years of marriage. Taken from the Greek word for blue,
"sapphirus", sapphires have a time-honored tradition with
priests (who considered them symbolic of purity) and king s (who
considered them symbolic of wisdom.) Sapphires were mined as
early as the 7th Century BC in India and what is now Sri Lanka.
Today they are found in Sri Lanka, Australia, Nigeria, Kenya,
Tanzania, Kashmir, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Madagascar, and the
United States. Against Which All Others Are Measured Sapphires,
like rubies, are a variety of corundum. The sapphire's color
spectrum includes pink and lavender varieties, a rare orange
hue, and, of course, the velvety blue sapphire that earned the
gemstone its name. Because of the way in which corundum crystals
are formed, large sapphires are rare