Natural vs. Synthetic Yellow Sapphire

Have you ever wondered about the difference between natural and synthetic yellow sapphire? Is one better than the other? What sets these two similar but different gemstones apart? In this guide, we’ll go through everything you need to know about both natural and synthetic yellow sapphire to ensure you’re confident in whatever one you might end up purchasing.

An Introduction to Yellow Sapphires

Sapphire is a beautiful gemstone that can be found in many different colors apart from yellow. It’s rare and very durable, ranking a 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness. This makes sapphire the hardest and most durable colored gemstone that exists. Their hardness makes them the perfect option for daily wear jewelry such as engagement rings.

Where is Yellow Sapphire Found?

Yellow sapphires have been found all across the world. Some of these countries include Australia, Sri Lanka, China, Thailand, East Africa, Madagascar and even North America.

What’s the Best Yellow Sapphire Color?

Yellow sapphire can come in a variety of shades of yellow. The best yellow color that it can come in is a medium but vibrant yellow, often described as canary yellow. This color often holds more value than other shades.

What Makes Yellow Sapphire Special?

Yellow sapphire is known to symbolize power and divine grace, a contributing reason to what makes it so special. It’s also recognized as one of the safest gemstones out there. Yellow sapphire represents knowledge, wealth, and loving relationships. It can bring general well-being to the wearer. This deep and rich symbolism makes this gemstone a special one.

Yellow sapphire is also the September birthstone, giving it another level of special meaning to anyone born in this month or anyone who loves someone born in September.

What Kinds of Jewelry is it Used for?

Yellow sapphires are very often used in engagement rings. They have the perfect hardness level for it, and they’re also more affordable than diamonds while still being beautiful.

They are also used in birthstone jewelry, such as rings, necklaces, and bracelets. Additionally, yellow sapphires look beautiful when used in stud earrings.

How Popular is it?

Yellow sapphire is quite a popular gemstone. It’s sparkly like the sun, and people love how it can provide them with general well-being and happiness. Each year yellow sapphire continues to grow in popularity. It’s being used more and more often in engagement rings and is currently considered to be the best gemstone alternative to diamonds for both wedding and engagement rings.

An Introduction to Synthetic Yellow Sapphires

Synthetic yellow sapphires are also known as lab-grown sapphires. They are an artificial version of this gemstone. Opposite to earth-mined yellow sapphires, they are made in labs, where the growing environment is controlled. Instead of the formation process taking ages, it can be greatly accelerated to produce a yellow sapphire gemstone that is just as beautiful, but in a fraction of the time. They are the exact same as earth-mined yellow sapphires, the only difference is how they were created.

In many cases, synthetic yellow sapphires are in better condition and considered to be of higher quality than earth-mined yellow sapphires, because they can be created with few to no inclusions.

Are they Popular?

Synthetic yellow sapphires are popular, being commonly used in jewelry such as engagement rings, necklaces, bracelets, and more.

The Difference between Natural and Synthetic Yellow Sapphire

Unless you’re looking up close, it can be very hard to tell the difference between natural and synthetic yellow sapphire. When you look up close though, there is one main way to tell the difference, and that is the level of flaws and inclusions the gemstone has. Natural gemstones usually have some inclusions that you can see which prove they come from the earth. You might not be able to see these with the naked eye, but you should be able to with a jeweler’s magnifying glass. These small blemishes occurred when the sapphire was formed.

On the other hand, synthetic sapphires are typically flawless, even when looked at with a magnifying glass. The formation process of how they are created is the same, but it’s an immensely quicker process. Despite having the same chemical composition, they are in a controlled environment, so inclusions and flaws can be avoided.

Care and Maintenance Tips for your Yellow Sapphire Jewelry

It’s important to take good care of your yellow sapphire gemstone to prolong its longevity. The best way to clean this gemstone is with a soft cloth. If you have a jewelry cleaning cloth that’s even better. This can be used to take off any dust or dirt from the gemstone.

After cleaning it with the cloth, mix some lukewarm water with whatever gentle detergent you have. The milder, the better. Drop the cloth into this water and soap mixture and wipe the yellow sapphire with this cloth. Afterwards, get any remaining detergent off of it, and dry the gemstone.

In general, try to avoid exposing yellow sapphire to harsh or strong perfumes or hair sprays, because this can dull it. Never wear yellow sapphire jewelry into a pool with chlorine or expose it to that, because it also causes harm to the gemstone.