---
title: "Sapphire: meaning in gemology"
description: "Sapphire is corundum of any color other than red. The word alone means a blue stone; other colors take a color word, such as yellow sapphire."
url: https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/sapphire
image: https://digitalgemology.com/img/og-digital-gemology.png?v=d224fb01
---

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[Glossary](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary) · Colored gemstones

# Sapphire

Also called blue sapphire

Sapphire is corundum of any color other than red. The word alone means a blue stone; other colors take a color word, such as yellow sapphire.

## In more detail

Iron and titanium cause the blue, and only a few hundredths of a percent of them are enough. Sapphire has the same optics, hardness and toughness as ruby. Many sapphires show color zoning, so the orientation of the table matters.

## On a grading report

Labs identify it as (natural) corundum, variety sapphire. A sapphire of another color is named by its color, for example pink sapphire. Treatments go under Further information or Comments.

## Related terms

- [Corundum](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/corundum): Corundum is the mineral species made only of aluminum and oxygen. Its red variety is ruby, and all its other colors are sapphire.
- [Ruby](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/ruby): Ruby is the red variety of the mineral corundum. Chromium causes its red color.
- [Fancy sapphire](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/fancy-sapphire): A fancy sapphire is a sapphire of any color other than blue, such as yellow, orange, pink, purple or green.
- [Royal blue](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/royal-blue): Royal blue is a trade name for a sapphire of intense, saturated, even blue. It is not a single agreed standard.
- [Color zoning](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/color-zoning): Color zoning is uneven color in a gem: bands or patches of deeper and paler color.
- [Asterism](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/asterism): Asterism is a star of light that glides across the dome of a gem. Light reflects from fine needles, often rutile, that lie in two or three directions.

## Learn more

- [Sapphire 3D models and cutting files](https://digitalgemology.com/gemstones/sapphire)
- [Dichroscope](https://digitalgemology.com/tools/dichroscope)
- [Spectroscope](https://digitalgemology.com/tools/spectroscope)
- [Emerald Cut Sapphire: a long step cut that faces up a little larger for its weight](https://digitalgemology.com/gemstones/sapphire/emerald-cut)

[All 328 terms](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary)