From kings and queens to brides and grooms, generations of sapphire admirers salute the sparkling stone of September! Through the centuries, fans of this tough and beautiful gem enjoy its range of color and durability that is second only to diamonds. An ancient symbol of nobility, truth, sincerity and faithfulness, sapphire is second only to diamonds, as well, in choices for wedding jewelry.

While mountain-lake blue is the color typically associated with the September birthstone, the gem comes in a wide color range from lemon yellow to sparkling pink and even purple, gray black or brown. There’s no need to stick to the traditional blue for your birthstone unless it’s a favorite!

One famous gem, the Black Star of Queensland, is a 733-carat black star sapphire, the largest in the world. Discovered in Australia in the 1930s, the magnificent piece was first discovered by a young boy. His father, not recognizing the unpolished stone as anything unique, used it as a doorstop for 10 years before a visiting jeweler saw its potential. That jeweler was Harry Kazanjian, the famed Los Angeles jeweler, who would carefully cut the stone to an egg-shaped gem that went on to have a life of its own. The sapphire was even once worn by the flamboyant Cher during filming of the first episode of The Sonny & Cher Show.

Did you know?

The 392.52-carat, cushion-cut Ceylon sapphire known as the “Blue Belle of Asia” set the world record for a blue sapphire sold at an auction and for any colored gemstone sold at an auction in November 2014. It sold for $17.7 million.