A Burmese sapphire shows a celestial scene both externally and internally.
This inclusion scene features an apparent iron sulfide crystal against a midnight blue backdrop. It is reminiscent of the night sky, echoing the surface appearance of the star sapphire host. Photomicrograph by E. Billie Hughes; field of view 2.15 mm.
Gems are renowned for their outward beauty, but their internal world can be just as striking. Lotus Gemology recently came across a Burmese sapphire, cut as a cabochon and measuring 8.92 × 7.10 × 4.75 mm, that displayed a six-rayed star. Once we examined it under the microscope, we were surprised to find that this celestial theme carried through to the inclusion scene inside (see above).
The long, undissolved rutile silk needles that form the six-rayed star are evident in angular zones. We could also see other inclusions typical of unheated sapphire, such as the tiny negative crystals forming a “fingerprint” at the top of the image. What was most interesting about this piece was the large, irregularly shaped crystal with a metallic appearance hovering close to the surface of the cabochon dome, which we believe is an iron sulfide crystal based on its appearance. This highly reflective crystal seems to float across a midnight blue backdrop, reminiscent of an asteroid floating in space and making for a fitting inclusion in a star sapphire.
About the Author
E. Billie Hughes visited her first gem mine (in Thailand) at age two and by age four had visited three major sapphire localities in Montana. A 2011 graduate of UCLA, she qualified as a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (FGA) in 2013. An award winning photographer and photomicrographer, she has won prizes in the Nikon Small World and Gem-A competitions, among others. Her writing and images have been featured in books, magazines, and online by Forbes, Vogue, National Geographic, and more. In 2019 the Accredited Gemologists Association awarded her their Gemological Research Grant. Billie is a sought-after lecturer and has spoken around the world to groups including Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. In 2020 Van Cleef & Arpels’ L’École School of Jewellery Arts staged exhibitions of her photomicrographs in Paris and Hong Kong.
Notes
This article first appeared in Gems & Gemology, Spring 2018, Vol. 54, No. 1