An Old Crone and a Million Dollar Sapphire
The Old Crone Siris graces the skies as an enormous fire and water
breathing bird. She–Babylonian Cosmic Mother and minor underworld
deity–alights to stir her cauldron filled with divine blue blood.
Does she cackle as she stirs? Who knows?
Sappur … an ancient word from an ancient time … probably Semitic
in origin. It’s meaning … literally … “holy blood”. Not too far
a stretch folks … to go from Sappur for Blue Blood to Sapphire for
Blue Gem. A mistranslation that has lasted through the eons.
Its color emanates from titanium and iron oxide traces in the
crystal. It comes in many hues of blue. But when seeking the most
magnificent in color … there is only one way to go. Kashmir. After
the fall of Rome-- you all remember that like it was yesterday
…yes?–it was the Near East that gave rise to a flourishing gem
market. Marco Polo was part of the influence that brought Europe out
of the dark ages and exposed it to the incredible wealth of Asia.
The thirteenth century heralded the beginning of the appearance of
Sapphires in the crown jewels of Europe. And time passed as it is
wont to do. And the nineteenth century reared its head.
- In Kashmir–a northern province of India–a landslide reveals
the source of the most beautiful sapphires in the world. Production
lasts only fifty years. Eroding relations with Pakistan bring a halt
to the outpouring of the most sought after sapphires the world has
ever seen. The more things change … the more they remain the same.
Some of you may not have been around then. Some of you might never
have seen a sapphire of a color so brilliant as to elevate your
sense of avarice and need to own such a magnificent piece to
unreasonable proportions. To those of you who might have missed
these emotions and the ensuing turmoil they bring … I am here to
bring relief to your troubled souls.
I have a 28.61 carat sapphire ring to show you. It has a pear shaped
diamond on each side and is mounted in platinum. It is an untreated
stone. It is worth roughly 1.2 million dollars U.S. Go take a look.
I tried to duplicate the color as best I could. Let me know what you
think.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Tidbits Graphics … and then click on the link that says: Sappur
… where you will see a graphic of a Kashmir Blue Sapphire.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks. Catch you all
next week. Benjamin Mark
-- http://www.tyler-adam.com --