Kenyan 'Biashara' Sapphire - Gem Adventurer™

September’s birthstone, Sapphires’ a truly mesmerizing gemstone with a rich history, potent symbolism, and popularity spanning over 2,500 years. Synonymous with Australia, stunning Bicolor, Parti and Teal Sapphires are also occasionally found at Kenya’s remote Dusi Sapphire Deposit, first reported in 1982. Kenyan ‘Biashara’ (Bee-ah-sha-ra) Sapphire is mine-to-market with exceptional value, from Dusi’s still active, artisanal Biashara Mine (‘Business’ in Swahili), appropriately named by Steve Ulatowski, an African gemstone legend. Hugely popular, Kenyan ‘Biashara’ Sapphires all-natural blues, greens, and teals are very beautiful, extremely scarce, and highly-valued.

Hardness 9

Refractive Index 1.762 - 1.788

Relative Density 3.95 - 4.03

Enhancement None

Beauty

Coupled with excellent brilliance and transparency, Kenyan ‘Biashara’ Sapphire beautifully displays both gorgeous teals, and bicolor/Particolor blue green fusions, with a highly-desirable medium to medium-dark saturation (strength of color) and tone (lightness or darkness of color).

Used as a color name since the 18^th century, teal is a highly-prized, yet rare natural hue in the gem kingdom. A Sapphire and Tourmaline color that has experienced increasingly high demand since 2018, Teal is a blue-green that gets its name from the bird, the common Teal (Anas Crecca), who has a similarly colored stripe on its head. Some of the most beautiful gemstones in the entire Corundum (Ruby & Sapphire) family, ‘Particolor’ (Parti-color) or ‘Particolored’ (Parti-colored) Sapphires, commonly referred to as ‘Parti Sapphires’, are fittingly named for their blended ‘party of colors’, compared to more distinct bicolors. Caused by coarse to very coarse color banding, traditionally of blues, greens and yellows, when wide enough to afford clear color separation, the effect is uniquely beautiful. However, as with bicolors, this is also dependent on correct orientation during cutting, noting optimal lapidary is always absolutely critical for Sapphire.

Our Kenyan Sapphires were optimally faceted in the legendary gemstone country of Thailand (Siam), home to some of the world’s best Corundum lapidaries. Each Sapphire was carefully orientated to maximize its colorful brilliance, maintaining an eye-clean clarity (the highest quality clarity grade for colored gemstones as determined by the world’s leading gemological laboratories), a high/mirror-like polish (accentuating its vitreous ‘glassy’ luster), and an attractive overall appearance (outline, profile, proportions, and shape). While ovals are the most common Sapphire shape, Kenyan Sapphires are also available in pears and rounds.

While both Ruby and Sapphires are classed as Type II gemstones (gems that typically grow with some minor inclusions in nature that may be eye-visible), Sapphires are usually cleaner (and larger) than Ruby, with an eye-clean clarity the normal standard. Optimal lapidary also minimizes the aesthetic impact of color unevenness due to zoning (location of color in the crystal versus how the gem is faceted), or excessive windowing (areas of washed out color in a table-up gem, often due to a shallow pavilion), important value considerations. Sapphires are also pleochroic (different colors visible from different viewing angles), but this is not usually a concern.

Ruby and Sapphire are color varieties of the mineral Corundum (crystalline aluminum oxide), which derives its name from the Sanskrit word for Rubies and Sapphires, ‘kuruvinda’. Trace amounts of elements such as chromium, iron and titanium, as well as color centers, are responsible for producing Corundum’s rainbow of colors. Sapphire’s name is derived from the Latin, ‘sapphirus’, which in turn comes from the Greek ‘sappheiros’, meaning blue stone. This name is believed by some to originate from either the Hebrew ‘sappir’ (precious stone) or the Sanskrit ‘sanipriya’. Used to describe a dark precious stone, ‘sanipriya’ means ‘sacred to Saturn’ and this entomology is lent credence by the fact that Sapphire is regarded as the gem of Saturn in Indian astrological beliefs. Historically, ‘sappheiros’ usually referred to Lapis Lazuli rather than Blue Corundum, with the modern Sapphire probably called ‘hyakinthos’ in ancient Greece. Believe it or not, Sri Lankan Sapphires were reportedly used by the Greeks and Romans from around 480 BC, which provides evidence of the ancient trade routes used by our ancestors. Like all famous gemstones, Sapphire features in mythological and religious stories. Whether these really referred to what we know as Lapis Lazuli or blue gems collectively during antiquity is uncertain. According to Greek mythology, the first person to wear September’s birthstone was Prometheus. While Persians believed Sapphire’s reflections gave the sky its colors, Sapphire is mentioned in the bible: Exodus (24:10), the throne of God is paved with Blue Sapphire of a heavenly clarity, it is also one of the 12 ‘stones of fire’ (Ezekiel 28:13-16) set in the breastplate of judgement (Exodus 28:15-30). As one of the 12 gemstones set in the foundations of the city walls of Jerusalem (Revelations 21:19), Sapphire is also associated with the Apostle St. Paul. Sapphires have long symbolized faithfulness, innocence, sincerity and truth, so it’s not surprising that for hundreds of years they were popular engagement ring gemstones. Apart from being one of the world’s favorite hues, blues are also psychologically linked to calmness, loyalty and sympathy. While Sapphire’s popularity as an engagement gemstone has been somewhat upstaged by Diamonds since the 50s, they are making a comeback. For example, in 1981 Prince Charles gave Lady Diana an engagement ring set with a stunning 18 carat Ceylon Sapphire, and more recently (2011) Prince William tied the knot with Kate Middleton using the same engagement ring.

Rarity

Sapphires embody a gem’s quintessential ideals: breathtaking beauty, genuine rarity, and everyday durability; making it one of the world’s most coveted gemstones. The classic source for Sapphire, Ceylon (renamed Sri Lanka in 1972) holds the earliest record for the mining of Sapphires. While Sapphires traditionally hail from Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma, specifically Mogok), other sources include Australia, Cambodia (Pailin), China, Greenland, Kashmir (India & Pakistan), Kenya, Laos, Madagascar, Nigeria, Tanzania, Thailand, USA (Montana), and Vietnam.

Since the 60’s, East Africa’s Mozambique Belts’ deposits have yielded some amazing gemstones. The Mozambique Belt is a band in the earth’s crust encompassing East Antarctica, East Africa, and the Arabian-Nubian Shield. First discovered in Kenya at Kinyiki Hill (1936), Sapphire has since been unearthed at several locations throughout the country.

The Biashara Mine is located at the Dusi Corundum/Sapphire Deposit near the town of Garba Tula in Kenya’s Isiolo County, around 130 kilometers from Mount Kenya. Located in remote central Kenya, Dusi is a unique igneous, gem-Corundum deposit, with reportedly huge Sapphire potential. A Corundum-bearing monzonite (coarse-grained, intrusive igneous rock mainly consisting of Corundum, Orthoclase, Plagioclase, and Zircon), Dusi’s one of the world’s largest known primary Sapphire deposits. The monzonite host rock is from the mantle, dating to around 579 million years ago, during the Barsaloian episode, one of the main tectono-thermal events of the Mozambique Belt in Kenya. While gemmy crystals in commercial quantities were once limited, Dusi is today arguably Kenya’s most productive Sapphire deposit. Colored by iron and titanium traces, Dusi Sapphires are comparable to those from Australia’s Basaltic Sapphire fields, likely due to crystalizing in similar environments. Strongly resembling Queensland Sapphires, Dusi Sapphires are mostly blues, along with beautiful, but limited bicolors, greens, Particolors, teals, and some fine yellows. Similarly, most crystals range from a grain of sand to the size of a pea, typically yielding small accent to two carat gemstones, with larger gems rarely found.

Pronounced Bee-ah-sha-ra, meaning ‘business’ in Swahili, one of Kenya’s official languages, this previously unnamed mine, was aptly coined ‘Biashara’ by internationally renowned rough (uncut gemstones) and mineral trader, Steve Ulatowski, for its sellable Sapphires! For over 40 years, he’s been hunting some of the finest Kenyan and Tanzanian gem-minerals, direct from the source. Visiting Kenya since 1983, Steve’s been collecting mine runs from Biashara since 2019, with exceptional mine-level value afforded by vertical-integration. Extremely important in today’s gem and jewelry marketplace, nothing is lost to unnecessary middlemen, and provenance is assured. Mainly worked during the dry season (June – October), Biashara is a small, artisanal operation, with around 20 miners, but this workforce fluctuates. Hand-mining Sapphire from its host rock is difficult and sporadic, with only around 5 percent of Biashara’s crystals gem-quality, suitable for faceting. Thankfully, Biashara’s still being mined, with Steve last purchasing rough in October, 2024.

With sizes 7x5mm and below, our calibrated cut yield was 20 percent, just within the usual 20 – 35 percent gem mineral return. Notably, our Kenyan Sapphires are totally natural and unenhanced, accentuating desirability, rarity, and value. Defined as any process other than cutting that improves a gemstones’ appearance, durability, value or availability, well-over 90 percent of Sapphires’ are permanently enhanced by heat to alter their color and/or improve color uniformity and/or appearance. Heating Sapphires to improve clarity or develop color has been used in some form for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Enhancements have become an integral part of the modern gem marketplace, with these processes acceptable as long as they are disclosed, permanent, and stable. While gemmologists can often spot indications of gemstone enhancements, advanced scientific testing is frequently required for confirmation and absolute certainty, again highlighting the importance of mine-to-market chain of custody.

Source: The Dusi (Garba Tula) Sapphire Deposit, Central Kenya – A Unique Pan-African Corundum-Bearing Monzonite, by C Simonet, J.L Paquette, C Pin, B Lasnier, and E Fritsch, Journal of African Earth Sciences, Volume 38, Issue 4, (March, 2004).

Durability & Care

The world’s second hardest gemstone, Kenyan ‘Biashara’ Sapphire is an excellent choice for everyday jewelry (Mohs’ Hardness: 9). Kenyan ‘Biashara’ Sapphire should always be stored carefully to avoid scuffs and scratches. Clean with gentle soap and lukewarm water, scrubbing behind the gem with a very soft toothbrush as necessary. After cleaning, pat dry with a soft towel or chamois cloth.