Earth Treasures: Padparadscha
By Chisom Ibemere
Padparadscha is a variety of sapphire gemstone but the most rare and prized. It is extremely expensive with similar prizes to emeralds and rubies. It is the hardest and ranked as one of the hardest gems in the world following diamond.
Padparadscha is an excellent stone for jewellery due to its hard nature and can last for a very long time. Its name, gotten from the word Padma radahen, which means lotus blossom, is derived from Sinhalese language. It has similar colour to the lotus blossom. Most stones of Padparadscha is small in size and may weigh 2 carats or less.
Padparadscha is a beautiful gem with pinkish-orange colour. Quality Padparadscha stones is made up of uniform, pure pink/ orange colour and highly prized. Padparadscha stones may undergo heat treatment to enhance its colour.
They are brittle with a vitreous and adamantine lustre. It is a very hard stone with a mohs hardness of 9. It is an exceptional stone with numerous attributes. It brings joy and vitality to the wearer.
Padparadscha sapphires first discovery was in Sri Lanka and remained the only deposits of the gem. Other places where Padparadscha can be found include the Madagascar, Tanzania but has the largest deposits in Sri Lanka.
Padparadscha Sapphire is made up of an aluminium oxide which is known as corundum. It has iron and chromium which gives its unique orange and pink coloration and as such has a prize that is far beyond the prize of the ordinary coloured sapphires.