 Richelieu Sapphire. Cushion-shaped sapphire weighing 26.66 and 20.88 carats. Auction record for sapphire jewels, a Kashmir sapphire and a record price per carat for a sapphire – $175,821 per carat. $8,358,520 |  Unmounted oval sapphire weighing 114.73 carats. A world auction record for a Burmese sapphire. $7,223,285 |  Cartier sapphire and emerald ring sold for $2.3 million, setting a new record sapphire price per carat of $193,975 |
 A cushion-cut Burmese sapphire of 130.50 carats achieved a new world record price for a sapphire at auction in 2011 until it was broken last November. |  Centering upon a cushion-shaped sapphire weighing 58.29 carats by Anna Hu. A world auction sales record for a contemporary jewelry artist; the highest auction price per carat for a Burmese sapphire – $78,396 per carat |  A 28.18-carat Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring that sold for $5,093,000, or $180,731 per carat, at Sotheby’s New York in April 2014. |
 A 26.41-carat cushion-cut Kashmir sapphire and diamond brooch sold for $3,838,508 in November 2011. |  A 47.15-carat Burmese Sapphire and Diamond Brooch, by Mellerio - $3,648,894 |  Sapphire and diamond ring set an auction record selling for $2.4 million. Set in an 18K gold ring, the unheated 10.33 ct Kashmir sapphire is surrounded by two rows of round brilliant cut diamonds. |
 The Star of Kashmir - $3,484,142. Set with a cushion-shaped sapphire, weighing approximately 19.88 carats, flanked on either side with cushion-shaped diamonds, weighing approximately 3.02 and 2.72 carats. |  A 42.28-carat Kashmir Sapphire and Diamond Ring - $3,458,420. |  The Kelly Sapphire, a 21.71 ct cushion-cut sapphire mounted in a platinum ring by Cartier. $4.2 million. |
Pink Sapphire
 | The popularity of pink sapphire is likely related to the fascination with pink diamonds. Pink diamonds are one of the rarest and most expensive of all gemstones, unobtainable for most except the extremely wealthy. Pink sapphire is a more affordable alternative, though still rare and hardly inexpensive. Pink sapphire has grown in popularity as an engagement ring. |  |
 | Sapphire in the lighter colors tends to have more brilliance, luster and fire. Sapphire has positive connotations, such as faithfulness and sincerity. Sapphire also has superior hardness - 9 on the Mohs scale. |  |
 | Blue is the classic sapphire color, but fine quality pink sapphire is actually rarer. Pink sapphire in large sizes is hard to find. In general, pink sapphire is more valuable than the other colors of fancy sapphire, such as yellow, green and violet. Like ruby, pink sapphire is colored by the trace element chromium, so the concentration of chromium will determine the depth of color. The clearer and more vivid the color, the more valuable the sapphire. Pink sapphire is usually heated to improve its clarity. |  |
| The most famous sapphires in the world are from Kashmir, and they are extraordinarily rare. New sapphires are rarely discovered in Kashmir, and most of the material that exists was discovered more than 100 years ago. Kashmir sapphires are highly valued because the best specimens have a superb cornflower blue colour and a sleepy quality (due to rutile inclusions) that has been described as "blue velvet." |  |
 
 | Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, lying mainly in a valley between India and Pakistan. A region of great beauty, Kashmir was a princely state in the 19th century. It became a disputed territory after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, when it joined India rather than Pakistan. The dispute continues to this day. Sapphires were first discovered in the early 1880s, as a result of a landslide high up in the Himalayas at about 4,500 meters in the remote Kudi Valley of India. Between 1882 and 1887 the mine was very productive, yielding sapphire crystals of exceptional quality and size. By 1887, the original Kashmir mine was depleted. Though a new mine opened briefly and sporadic mining has occurred over the decades, the majority of sapphires from the Kashmir region that are on the market today were drawn from the ground in the short life of the original mine. |   |
 | By 1887 declining production led the Maharajah of Kashmir to request geological assistance from the government of British India, 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. Exploration failed to uncover new sapphire. Over the years geological surveys were mounted and mining efforts undertaken during the three months of summer free from snow. But the marvels that came out of the original mine were never matched, and today the area is mostly under control of Muslim tribes. |  |
 | Richelieu Sapphires Sapphire earrings with sapphires of 26.66 and 20.88 carats; $8,372,094 ($176,106 per carat) at Sotheby's Geneva November 2013 sale. Star of Kashmir Cushion-shaped sapphire of 19.88 carats set in a diamond ring; $3,483,017 ($175,202 per carat) at Christie's Geneva May 2013 sale. |  |
 | A 28.18-carat square emerald-cut Kashmir sapphire sold for nearly $5.1 million in April 2014. It achieved $180,731 per carat, setting a world auction record of a price per carat of a sapphire. The untreated gem is framed by 32 tapered baguette diamonds with a mounting by Oscar Heyman & Brothers. 10.33 carat Kashmir sapphire, $2.4 million in 2013. |  |
 The "Jewel of Kashmir," 27.68 carat sapphire set a new per carat auction record for sapphire on 7 October 2015, when it sold for $6,745,688 |  10.88 Carat Royal Blue Kashmir Sapphire Ring $1,550,000.00 |  Kashmir Sapphire of 42.88 carats. $3.2 million |
