PADPARADSCHA              

Possessing the same physical and optical characteristics as other members of the corundum family, it is the padparadscha’s mesmerizing color that sets it well and truly apart from its cousins and makes it the most valuable sapphire after top blue stones. An intriguing combination of pink and orange, that color is the subject of a heated debate in the gem world. How can one pin the color down? It is neither pink nor orange, but somewhere in between, actually displaying both colors at the same time. The result is rich and beautiful, like something out of Scheherazade’s Arabian Nights stories; a bewitching color, deep and vivid, that sends the imagination soaring. Mundanely, of course though, itis the result of a combination of iron and chromium trace elements. Sapphires of every hue have had a big part to play in the history of jewelry. They have witnessed countless grand ceremonies and royal adventures from the time of ancient civilizations right through to the modern day. The padparadscha sapphires themselves have a strong connection to Buddhism,with their name derived from the Sinhalese word for the lotus, the flower above all others associated with Buddha and enlightenment.

Those who mine, and fashion and wear these gems will come and go, but the padparadscha sapphires will glow unchanged until the end of time. Creating a spiritual bond with their wearer, bestowing blessings upon them they will remain forever as beautiful as on the day they were unearthed.
(Chapter from the Book “Gemstones. Terra Connoisseur” by Vladyslav Yavorskyy)