Rough Sapphire

Surely you’ll find the exact rough sapphire you’re seeking on 1stDibs — we’ve got a vast assortment for sale. Every item for sale was constructed with extraordinary care, often using Gold, 18k Gold and Yellow Gold. You can easily find a 10 antique edition and 43 modern creations to choose from as well. If you’re looking for a rough sapphire from a specific time period, our collection is diverse and broad-ranging, and you’ll find at least one that dates back to the 19th Century while another version may have been produced as recently as the 21st Century. Creating a rough sapphire has been a part of the legacy of many jewelers, but those produced by Petra Class, Syna Jewels and Coomi are consistently popular. Today, if you’re looking for a rough cut version of this piece and are unable to find the perfect match, our selection also includes round cut and mixed cut alternatives. If you’re browsing our inventory for a rough sapphire, you’ll find that many are available today for women, but there are still pieces to choose from for unisex and men.

The price for a rough sapphire starts at $679 and tops out at $105,246 with these rings, on average, selling for $2,695.

On 1stDibs, shop the bright blue gems that star in sapphire rings, sapphire necklaces and other vintage and antique sapphire jewelry. 

Sapphires — the stone of choice for Napoleon, Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor — have been a favorite of aristocrats and the well-to-do since the time of the Ancient Greeks.

Picture a sapphire. If the stone you conjure is a deep cornflower blue, you’re seeing only part of the picture. Although blue Kashmirs are considered the most valuable, sapphires come in every color except red. No matter the hue, this very special gem is rich in history and beloved by royals (FYI, Princess Diana and Kate Middleton share an 11-carat sapphire engagement ring), so September babies are in very noble company.

America’s version of royalty — old money and celebrities — have also shown a predilection for the blue stones. In 1940, John D. Rockefeller Jr. had Cartier mount a 62-carat sapphire he had bought from an Indian maharajah in a brooch for his first wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; in 2001, the piece sold for a then-record of $3,031,000 at Christie’s New York.

The grand dame of jewelry, Elizabeth Taylor had a passion for the gems that her lovers were happy to indulge. Second husband Michael Wilding gave her an engagement ring set with a cabochon sapphire, while Richard Burton famously presented her with a BVLGARI sautoir set with diamonds and sapphires, including at its center a cabochon Burmese weighing 52.72 carats. One of the star lots in the sale of Taylor’s jewels at the Christie’s New York in 2011, it sold for $5,906,500.

You don’t have to have blue blood or a bulging bank account, however, to get an eyeful of this much-coveted gem. A number of outstanding examples reside in public collections.

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History owns the 423-carat Logan sapphire, a gift from the Guggenheim family, and the Hall sapphire and diamond necklace, designed by Harry Winston and featuring 36 fine, well-matched cushion-cut Sri Lankan sapphires weighing a combined 195 carats. Also in the collection is the Bismarck sapphire necklace, designed by Cartier and sporting a central sapphire weighing 98.6 carats, which Mona Von Bismarck donated to the museum.

Sapphires are composed of corundum. Their color derives from trace elements, such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper or magnesium. When the trace element produces a ruby hue, the stone is called, what else, a ruby. (which is, as mentioned above, why sapphires cannot be red by definition).

The allure of large gemstones endures throughout the periods characterized as vintage, and sapphire features frequently in vintage engagement rings. (On 1stDibs, a range of buying guides can be found for those in the market for antique engagement rings, vintage engagement rings or Art Deco engagement rings.)  

Find an exquisite collection of vintage and antique sapphire jewelry on 1stDibs.