1. A species of siliciousgems or minerals, of several varieties. In hardness it is inferior to the diamond only. Its colors are blue, red, violet, yellow, green, white, or limpid, and one variety is chatoyant, and another asteriated or radiated.
SAPPHIRE, a blue transparent variety of corundum or native alumina. It differs, therefore, from the Oriental ruby mainly in its colour. The colour varies from the palest blue to deep indigo, the most esteemed tint being that of the blue cornflower. It often happens that a crystal of sapphire is particoloured, and hence a fine cut stone may derive its tint from a deep-coloured portion at the back, instead of being uniformly tinted throughout. The sapphire is dichroic, and the colour of a fine velvety stone may be resolved by means of the dichroiscope into an ultramarine blue and a yellowish-green. The origin of the blue colour of the sapphire has not been satisfactorily determined, for, although oxide of cobalt may produce it, and is invariably used for colouring imitations of the stone, yet the presence of cobalt is not always revealed in the analysis of the sapphire. According to lapidaries the hardness of the sapphire slightly exceeds that of the ruby, and it is therefore the hardest known mineral, excepting diamond. In consequence of its great hardness it was generally mounted by the ancients in a partially rough state, the surface being polished but not cut. Notwithstanding its hardness it has been occasionally engraved as a gem. There seems no doubt that the ancient σάπϕειρος , as well as the sapphire ( םם׳ך) of the Old Testament (Job xxviii. 6), was our lapislazuli, while the modern sapphire seems to have been known under the name of ύάκινϴος or hyacinihus (King)....
The finest sapphires are obtained from Ceylon, where they occur with other gem stones as pebbles or rolled crystals in the sands of rivers. The sapphires have generally preserved their crystalline form better than the associated rubies. Some of the slightly-cloudy Ceylon sapphires display when cut en caboehan an opalescent star of six rays, whence they are called star-sapphires or asterias. The principal localities in Ceylon yielding sapphires are Rakewana, Ratnapura, and Satawaka. A few years ago sapphires were discovered in Siam (in the province of Battambong), but the stones from this locality are mostly dull and of too dark a colour. In Burmah they occur in association with rubies, but are much less numerous. They have also been recently found in Paldar, north of the Chandrabagha range. The sapphire is widely distributed through the gold-bearing drifts of Victoria and New South Wales, but the colour of the stones is usually too dark. Some of the finest specimens have come from the Beechworth district in Victoria. Coarse sapphire is found in many parts of the United States, and a few stones fit for jewellery have been obtained from Corundum Hill, Macon county, North Carolina, and from the other localities mentioned under Ruby. The sapphire also occurs in Europe, being found in the basalts of the Rhine valley and of Le Puy in Velay, but not sufficiently fine for purposes of ornament. The sapphire has been artificially reproduced by similar methods to those described in the article Ruby.
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 21, p. 302 [499 words — estimated reading time: 3 minutes]
ספיר, Exod. xxiv, 10; xxviii, 18; Job xxviii, 6, 16; Cantic. v, 14; Isa. liv, 11; Ezek. i, 26; x, 1; xxviii, 13, σάϖφειρος, Rev. xxi, 19, only. That this is the sapphire, there can be no doubt. The Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the general run of commentators, ancient and modern, agree in this. The sapphire is a pellucidgem. In its finest state it is extremely beautiful and valuable, and second only to the diamond in lustre, hardness, and value. Its proper colour is pure blue; in the choicest specimens it is of the deepest azure; and in others varies into paleness, in shades of all degrees between that and a pure crystal brightness, without the least tinge of colour, but with a lustre much superior to the crystal. The oriental sapphire is the most beautiful and valuable. It is transparent, of a fine sky colour, sometimes variegated with veins of a white sparry substance, and distinct separate spots of a gold colour. Whence it is that the prophets describe the throne of God like unto sapphire, Ezek. i, 26; x, 1. Isaiah, liv, 11, 12, prophesying the future grandeur of Jerusalem, says,
“Behold, I lay thy stones in cement of vermilion, And thy foundations with sapphires: And I will make thy battlements of rubies, And thy gates of carbuncles; And the whole circuit of thy walls shall be of precious stones.”
“These seem,” says Bishop Lowth, “to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the eastern nations; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if they had each of them some precise moral or spiritual meaning.” Tobit, xiii, 16, 17, in his prophecy of the final restoration of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in the same ...oriental manner: “For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones; thy walls, and towers, and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with the beryl and carbuncle, and with stones of Ophir,” Rev. xxi, 18–21.
And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.
And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
Above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne with the appearance of sapphire, and on the throne high above was a figure like that of a man.
Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
And I looked and saw above the expanse, above the heads of the cherubim, the likeness of a throne of sapphire.
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation.
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur.
And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires and emeralds, and precious stone: thy walls and towers and battlements with pure gold.
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