Recently, (ie in the past 1.5 years) the 'peach sapphire' has gained a lot of attention and popularity. As it's name suggests, it's a soft pink color with tendancy towards a slightly neutral or light warm tone rather than a traditional pink color which is often a cooler shade. (See Images Below)
As I've begun using colored stones in a lot of my work I've gotten asked many times about what the main differences are between this newly popular peach sapphire and the old classic morganite stone, which was the popular pink options for years prior.
PEACH SAPPHIRE |
MORGANITE |
|
Hardness:Sapphires are harder than morganites and they tend to shine very brightly with lots of white light reflecting from them. They tend to be around an 8.5 or 9 on the Moh's hardness scale. |
Hardness:Morganites are a softer stone, which makes them more likely to break or become scratched. They tend to have a pinker sparkle when the light hits them. They tend to be around a 7 or 7.5 on the Moh's hardness scale - quite soft!
|
|
Cost:A true peach colored sapphire is quite expensive. More expensive than a morganite for sure. Of course it all has to do with the individual stone so having a ball-park price range can be misleading. (If you want a sapphire that is more pink than peach / champage or more orange it will cost a lot less than the peach color that is so in demand. |
Cost:Morganites tend to be a much less expensive stone for a few reasons. Because they are almost always heat - treated they can be made into a great range of colors allowing a lot more of the popular peach toned stones to be made / exist. Also, because they are a softer stone their value is a bit lower because they aren't 'forever' in the same way that a real sapphire (or diamond) is! |
|
Value:Sapphires are considered a precious stone. They come from the mineral corundum and therefore will hold onto their value. The more precious the stone, the more value they will hold because of their rarity. Peach sapphires are rarely heat treated. |
Value:Morganites are a semi-precious stone that comes from the mineral beryl, which is considered to be slightly cheaper. It's also important to know that the pink morganite stone as we know it is almost always heat treated and comes from a bluish, grey stone originally. |
|
Other Considerations:Peach sapphires range in color a lot more than morganites do so you'll want to really pick which tone suits you best. They can range from really quite orange, to gold, to champagne, blush or rose. They also shouldn't ever change colors over time, which can happen with certain stones that have been treated. |
Other Considerations:Morganites have a high affinity for oil, which means that they will attract and hold onto oils. It's not detrimental to the stone but if you want your morganite to maintain its sparkle and shine you will have to be especially cautious of moisturizers and body oils and wash your stone every few days if it begins to get dull. |
Leave a comment