Sapphire Brooches
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, Platinum, Gold, Yellow Gold
1960s Modern Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel
Late 19th Century Belle Époque Antique Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, Tourmaline, Gold
1980s Retro Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, Turquoise, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
1950s Retro Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
1910s Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, Silver
1920s George V Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 15k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, 18k Gold, Rose Gold, White Gold...
20th Century Sapphire Brooches
Pearl, Sapphire, Yellow Gold
2010s Edwardian Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold
Mid-20th Century Post-War Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1950s Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1910s Edwardian Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Purple Sapphire, Platinum
Mid-20th Century Modern Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 20th Century Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
1990s Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Yellow Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yello...
1950s Retro Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Gold
20th Century Sapphire Brooches
Blue Sapphire, Coral, Diamond, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1970s Retro Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, Tsavorite, Gold, 14k Gold, Rose Gold, Silver
1940s Retro Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Moonstone, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Yellow Sapphire, Gold
Mid-20th Century Modern Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Yellow Sapphire, 18k Gold, Platinum
Late 20th Century Unknown Retro Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Yellow Gold
Mid-20th Century Sapphire Brooches
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, Diamond, 18k Gold, Gold, Yellow Gold
1950s Retro Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Artisan Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Sapphire, Blue Diamond, Black Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold, White Gold
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Blue Sapphire, Diamond, Sapphire, White Gold
1930s Art Deco Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Platinum
20th Century Victorian Sapphire Brooches
Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Emerald, Opal, Sapphire, Gold
1890s Victorian Antique Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, Rose Gold, White Gold
20th Century Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
2010s Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold
1930s Art Deco Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
Late 19th Century Art Nouveau Antique Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum
Late 19th Century Victorian Antique Sapphire Brooches
Sapphire, Gold Plate
Mid-20th Century Modern Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
1950s Vintage Sapphire Brooches
White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 1900s Unknown Antique Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold, Yell...
2010s Thai Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
South Sea Pearl, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
1960s Retro Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel
1930s American Art Deco Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
1980s Italian Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Late 19th Century French Victorian Antique Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, Silver
1930s Modernist Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Sapphire, Chalcedony, Emerald, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold
1890s Antique Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century Modernist Sapphire Brooches
Ruby, Sapphire, Yellow Sapphire, Diamond, Emerald, Onyx, Gold, 18k Gold
1980s Retro Vintage Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, 9k Gold, Yellow Gold, Gold
20th Century Sapphire Brooches
Star Sapphire, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
Late 20th Century Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Pearl, Sapphire, Yellow Gold
1990s Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
20th Century Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
1990s Contemporary Sapphire Brooches
Onyx, Blue Sapphire, Yellow Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage and Antique Sapphire Jewelry
The stone of choice for Napoleon, Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor has been a favorite of aristocrats and the well-to-do since the time of the Ancient Greeks. Learn how to shop for the bright blue gems that star in vintage and antique sapphire jewelry, and why it's chemically impossible for a sapphire to turn red.
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).
Find an exquisite collection of vintage and antique sapphire jewelry on 1stDibs.
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