Sapphires: Jammu and Kashmir
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Zahir-ud-din Greater Kashmir
‘Kashmir’
Kashmir is the official name of a culturally-rich valley, endowed with greenery and natural beauty, located at the northern tip of India.
Kashmir is also the official name of a province that includes the entire Valley of Kashmir and all of Ladakh (the districts of Leh and Kargil).
The official name of India’s northernmost state is Jammu and Kashmir. However, from the day that this state was formed (on the 9th March 1846) it has loosely been referred to as just ‘Kashmir.’
Pâdar [hard ‘D’: the ‘dar’ is as in ‘dermatology’] is neither in the Valley of Kashmir nor in Kashmir province. It is in Jammu province, where Jammu meets the Zanskar sub-division of Ladakh.
Famous Kashmir sapphires
Engagement rings
The Duke of Gloucester may have been the first when he proposed to Lady Alice Montugu-Douglas-Scott with an exquisite oval Kashmir sapphire ring in the 1930's. Since then many more woman have received Kashmir sapphire engagement rings to include Kristie Alley, Susan Sarandon, Sara Ferguson, Ivana Mazzuchelli Trump, model Heather Mills, Judith Nathan (Former Mayor R. Guilani's wife) and Princess Diana. Kashmir Blue
Queen Elizabeth’s engagement ring had Kashmir sapphire in addition to diamond. The 7 carat Kashmir sapphire engagement ring of Princess Marina, the Duchess of Kent, had square cut sapphire set in platinum with baguette diamonds.
How good are Kashmiri sapphires?
The Natural Sapphire Company of New York asserts, ‘It is fair to say that Kashmir sapphires set the standard by which all other blue sapphires are evaluated. Kashmir sapphires are expensive and very rare. Kashmir sapphires are known for their highly saturated violetish-blue color and “velvety” or “sleepy” transparency, which is caused by the presence of silk. Kashmir sapphires are also known to have significant color zoning.’
Why are they the best?
Kashmiri sapphires are so highly valued because the best specimens have a superb cornflower blue colour and a sleepy quality (due to rutile [fine silk] inclusions) that has been described as "blue velvet". Some of the best Ceylonese and Burmese sapphires come close, but Kashmiri sapphire continues to be the pinnacle in the sapphire world. Their extreme rarity gives these stones an almost mythical reputation. (From AJS Gem and Gem Select)
The Company adds: ‘Historically, the “cornflower blue” stones of Kashmir came from outcrops in the high wall of the Kudi Valley in the Zanskar range of the Himalayas (northern India). The region is very remote and the weather particularly harsh. Although the mines were known for their blue stones, on occasion pink sapphires were also found.
‘Kashmir’s sapphires were initially discovered when a landslide revealed the presence of large blue crystals, which were collected and traded by locals. As the stones passed from hand to hand, their value increased exponentially. When news of the fabulous stones reached the ears of the Maharaja of Kashmir, he quickly confiscated the sapphires and posted guards at the vicinity where they were found.
‘From 1882–1887 the site was mined extensively, at least during the summer months, and according to admirers, it produced crystals “as large as an eggplant” and “bigger than a polo or croquet ball.” By 1887 or 1888, the mine was depleted, and T.D. La Touche, a trained geologist, was dispatched to the site to conduct a survey of the area. La Touche discovered that the sapphires came from two separate locations: an “Old Mine” consisting of pits in the valley wall where a majority of the fine stones were found, and placer deposits located on the valley floor below the Old Mine. We now know that the old mine deposit was formed by a huge pegmatite intruding into limestone, which accounts for the size of the crystals.’ (From The Natural Sapphire Company.)
Mostly mined in the 1800s
The most famous sapphires in the world are from Kashmir, but these rare gems are almost never seen, except in museums or photographs. New sapphires are rarely discovered in Kashmir Gem Select
New sapphires are no longer discovered in Kashmir, and in fact most of the Kashmir sapphire that exists was discovered more than 120 years ago. AJS Gem
The mine was mainly productive during the period between 1882 and 1887, yielding sapphire crystals of exceptional size and quality. But by 1887 declining production led the Maharajah of Kashmir to request geological assistance from Brtish, in the hope of finding more material. The British geologist found the original mine to be exhausted, and turned his survey to placer deposits elsewhere in the valley. From AJS Gem
But subsequent exploration failed to uncover significant new material. Over the years occasional geological surveys were mounted and mining efforts undertaken during the three months of summer. But the marvels that came out of the original mine were never matched in any way From AJS Gem
Rarity: low annual mining
Kashmir Blue has compared the annual production of sapphire in Kashmir with i) the annual production of sapphire in, say, Myanmar, and ii) the annual production of diamond in the world:
The London Mining Journal of June 16, 2000 reported the annual production of diamond to be more than 111 million carats. In November of 1999 Geology Today reported the 1000 mines in Mogok, Burma produced some 300,000 carats of sapphire annually. These mines have produced relatively consistent amount of gemstone for decades, where as the single mine of Kashmir has remained officially unworked since the 1930's. It wasn't until 1998 that the Jammu & Kashmir government began mining again and has reported less than 10,000 carats of total production since 1999 from which less than a fraction of a percentage is "gem" quality.
Characteristics of Kashmir sapphire
Zahir-ud-din writes Greater Kashmir:
The hardness of the Kashmir sapphire is 9 as per Moh’s scale-just one degree less than the diamond.
According to world-renowned gemmologist, Dr A Pretii, Kashmir is the quintessential sapphire source. “Blue sapphire from Kashmir has always been highly regarded because of its superb cornflower blue colour. Almost
