Out of all the gemstones known in the world, the blue Sapphire is known to be the most precious and desired. What especially makes this Sapphire so valuable is the unique blue colour masking the gemstone. Strength, durability and luster are additional components that make the Sapphire a rare yet true beauty.
Kashmir Sapphire is a cornflower blue in colour and is known to be the most valuable. People also call refer to the precious stone as Cornflower Blue Sapphire. 
Orange- Pink Padparadschah is an extremely rare and exotic sapphire-type. People call it the Colour Changing Sapphire because it reflects different colours depending on the surrounding light. In natural light blue is the colour of this gemstone however artificial light it is violet in colour.
Many many moons ago, all Sapphire types except for the blue gems were given the same name. All Sapphire names would contain the prefix “oriental” with a popular term of the colour referring to the gem. So in other words a red Sapphire would be called “Oriental Ruby”. Due to a misleading practice in trying to label different names for the different gems, what was once called “oriental Emerald” is now called “Green Sapphire”.
I once read an article that mentioned how to some people it is unknown that the actual word “Sapphire” refers strictly to blue Sapphire unless a prefix colour is acknowledged. Gem traders and other specialists call Sapphire of different colours other than blue, a “fancy”.
Something else I learned about Sapphires since working as a PR consultant CA Mining Recruitment in Africa is that silk is a term used to describe microscopic needles (Rutile) which are small inclusions that decrease a stones transparency. Most Sapphires contain silk. Another interesting Sapphire fact is that these gems are pleochroic in that when you look at them in different angles they show off a lighter yet more intense colour. Some pleochroic Sapphire is blue when viewed at one angle, and purple at a different angle.
Color zoning, which forms from growth layers that build up during the formation of the stone, may also be present in certain Sapphires. Color zoning is responsible for certain Sapphires having lighter and darker colors in different parts of a crystal. Some Sapphire gemstones may even be multicolored such as purple and blue.
Did you know that Sapphire is tough and durable that the ONLY other gem harder is the one and only, Diamond?
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