India
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Supernatural
powers were attributed to gems in India. One way this was manifested
was the interdependence between gems and planets. Ruby, associated
with the Sun, was the Lord of Gems, for the Sun lorded over all
the planets. Sapphire was associated with Saturn (Wojtilla, 1973).
The
earliest Sanskrit texts mention only Sri Lanka as a source
of ruby and sapphire. Somewhat later, Kalinga (northeast
India, between the valleys of the Mahanadi and Godavari
rivers) and Kalpur (Kalpura; in central India) are added,
but neither are today sources of corundum. About 1884,
a buried treasure of some sixty rough sapphires was unearthed
from a mound amongst the temples atop the sacred hill of
Mahendragiri, in the Ganjam district of Kalinga. They were
probably placed there as a votive offering at some unknown
date in the past. After being cut in Madras, they were
examined in by the Geological Survey of India, and pronounced
to be of good quality (Brown, 1956).
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While
India's use of impure corundum as an abrasive appears to stretch
back at least a millennia or more (see page
199), the country's history of gem corundum production
is relatively brief. Low-grade ruby has been mined for an indefinite
period, but India did not enter the major leagues of gem corundum
production until the 1880s, with the discovery of sapphire in Kashmir.
It is to these mines that we now turn.
The famous sapphires of Kashmir are mined from a remote region high in the Great Himalayan mountains of northwestern India. Lying at an elevation of approximately 4,500 m, they are located in the small Kudi ('rock') Valley, near the hamlet of Sumjam (Soomjam), in the Padar (Paddar) region of Kashmir. The district of Zanskar, which has been incorrectly listed as the source of the sapphires, lies just to the north (Ball, 1885b; Steve Karpa, pers. comm., 1990).
Exactly when sapphires were first discovered in Kashmir is unknown. Ball (1885b) lists it as about 1879 or 1880, but La Touche (1890) gives 1881 or 1882. The following is one of the earliest accounts of the discovery of sapphires in Kashmir:
There are two versions of the discovery of the corundum deposits at Sungchang in Zanskar, one being that they were exposed by a hill-side slipping, the other that they were discovered by hunters. Their value was so little known that the villagers bartered them for a trifle to Lahouli traders, who in their turn vainly endeavored to exchange them for grain in Kulu. On their value becoming known, there was a rush of jewelers from Delhi and other places; and they speedily rose to 100 rs. per tola = about #20 stg. per oz., for good specimens, at which rate they have remained; at present none are to be had, all the stock brought down has been sold, and the mine is strictly guarded by one of the Maharajah's Dogra regiments. So far as I can learn, the matrix is a schistose or slaty rock….
The Maharajah has recently released from prison and largely rewarded two native hunters, who had been imprisoned for dealing in sapphire, on condition of their showing him two other deposits, one of blue and the other of red corundum. I have no information regarding these deposits. A small fragment of the red corundum has, however, found its way to Kulu; it is true oriental ruby, perfectly clear, and of a beautiful water.
A. Grahame Young, Kulu, Aug. 8, 1882
(from
Shepard, 1883)
Another version of the discovery was told to Albert Ramsay (1934):
In India my eyes have been dazzled by such jewels as never have been seen in the Western world. When I was last in the Srinagar palace of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir thirty trays were brought before me, and if I were to say that any one tray, sent to market, would fetch a million dollars, I would be giving only a faint impression of the astonishing wealth and beauty of those treasures of an Indian gentleman.
A handsome man is Colonel His Highness Maharaja Sir Hari Singh. In the afternoon he had shown me his sapphires and told me the story of how they were found.
It seemed that in the old days a band of men with beards dyed red found some blue stones exposed by a landslide in the hills of Kashmir. These men had come from Afghanistan, part of a mule caravan on its way to Delhi. The stones, as curiosities, were put away in the bags on one of the mules, and then, in Delhi, they were traded for salt. Thereafter they were sold to someone who recognized them to be rough sapphires: and they were resold and resold and resold, until finally, in Calcutta, they brought in rupees a price which was equal to $400,000. The news of this transaction got back to the maharaja of that time, who discovered that the sapphires had been picked up in his own Kashmir hills. In great wrath he went to Calcutta and demanded them. Every single transaction in the long train had to be undone. The man who had sold the sapphires gave back the $400,000, and so it went through many towns, until, at Delhi, a merchant received back a few bags of salt. Today, I should think, those Kashmir sapphires are worth $3,000,000. One of them is as large as an eggplant. For one of the smaller fragments I offered His Highness $25,000. He just laughed at me; he does not want to part with any object in his beloved collection, but, oh, how I should like to buy some of those treasures!
Albert Ramsay (with Boyden Sparkes), 1934
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Still another version is that of T.D. La Touche (1890):
The existence of sapphires in considerable quantities in some part of the North-West Himalayas was first brought to light in 1881, or early in 1882, when some were brought into Simla by traders from Lahol, who stated that they had been obtained from a spot among the mountains on the borders of Zanskar, where a landslip had laid bare the rocks beneath the soil, and disclosed the presence of the gems. Various stories are told of the original discovery; according to one of these, which was told me on the spot, a certain shikari, having lost the flint from his gun while out hunting, or, as is the custom of the natives when in want of a light for their pipes, looking for a handy fragment of quartz or other hard rock to strike a light with, picked up a small sapphire, and finding that it answered his purpose better than the ordinary fragments of quartz he was in the habit of using, carried it about with him for some time, and eventually sold it to a Laholi trader, by whom it was taken to Simla, where its value was recognised. Enquiries were then made, which resulted in the discovery of the spot where the shikari had picked up the stone, and for some time, until guards were posted near the locality by the Maharajah of Kashmir, in whose territory it lies, large quantities of the stones were brought to Simla and sold at absurdly low prices, the Laholis only asking about one rupee per seer for them. Another story runs to the effect that a number of traders who had arrived in the Simla bazaar with borax from Rupshu were emptying their baskets in a merchant's shop, when a stone fell out and was thrown by the merchant into the street. The well-known jeweller, Mr. Jacobs [1], happened to be passing at the time, and, so the story goes, was struck by the stone. Picking it up, perhaps with the intention of returning it, he saw what it was, and on the merchant's claiming it, when he saw that there was something unusual about it, bought it for a small sum. This latter story, if it is to be relied on, would seem to point to the existence of another and as yet unknown locality for the gems, somewhere in Rupshu; otherwise it would be difficult to account for the presence of the sapphire among the borax, which is brought to Simla along a route that does not pass anywhere near the known locality in Padar. Various stories have been circulated of the discovery of sapphires in Kulu and other portions of the North-West Himalayas, but up to the present time none of these have been confirmed.
T.D. La Touche, 1890
In the beginning, sapphires were so abundant that one person reported seeing about 1 cwt. (~50.8 kg) of them in the possession of a native (Brown, 1956).
Gradually, as they were carried by traders to distant points, especially to Simla, their value became known, and the agents of jewellers commenced a brisk competition, till most of the available stones had been bought up. The Maharajah of Cashmere then intervened by sending a regiment of sepoys, with their officers, to take possession of the mines; and, it would appear, with carte blanche to harry the inhabitants who had, or who were suspected of having, any of the stones in their possession. Indeed, so thoroughly did they fulfil their mission, that any one they laid hands upon who was found to have money, was suspected of either having sold or being about to purchase sapphires, was thereupon despoiled, and if not arrested and confined, was placed under observation.
The effect, as described by the few Europeans, principally missionaries, who live in the country, has been to cause those who knew, or thought they knew, other localities where similar stones were to be found to remain silent, and to conceal evidence of their knowledge so as to escape oppression.
Valentine Ball, 1885b
Theft of stones was a constant problem, and remains so today, with "gangs of hardy smugglers" appearing out of nowhere, ever ready to take advantage of the extreme remoteness of the locale to pilfer stones (Middlemiss, 1931). Due to the altitude, conditions were difficult at the mines. Even in the best years, mining was limited to the three short summer months of July-September, being covered in snow at other times. Some years, barely 30 days of mining were possible, due to snow.
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In the year 1887, on finding a steady decrease in revenues from the mines, the Maharajah approached the Government of India for assistance in assessing and developing the site. T.H.D. (T.D.) La Touche, a trained geologist, was dispatched to the site in September of that year. His account (La Touche, 1890) was the first scientific description of the area.
Upon his arrival, La Touche found that material was obtained from two different sites. The first of these, now termed the "Old Mine," was a group of shallow pits sunk into an actinolite-tremolite rock containing small pegmatite lenses, high on the northeast wall of Kudi Valley. The vast majority of fine stones were found in these lenses. Sapphires were also mined from the placers 250 m below the Old Mine, on the valley floor, but were generally of lower quality.
La Touche also traced the pegmatite-bearing rock through the ridge to the north side, and did discover large blocks of corundum-bearing granite. However, despite La Touche's ingenious attempt to create a landslip to trace the source of these blocks, it was not found. Since that time others have also attempted to locate sapphire-bearing lenses on the opposite side, but without success.
At the time of La Touche's visit, the Old Mine was practically exhausted. Although another site (termed the 'New Mine'), was later found, it produced little. What this means is that virtually all of the large fine Kashmir sapphires in existence were taken from the site known as the Old Mine during the period from 1881–1887. In just six years, this mine produced such a quantity of fine stones that they achieved a reputation second to none among sapphires. So fine was their quality that, today, they remain the standard against which all others are measured. Utterly incredible, but absolutely true.
Finding the Old Mine exhausted, La Touche turned his attention to the placers below, and worked them with mostly mediocre results. One success, however, was the discovery of a 6 oz (933 ct) parti-colored giant. In 1888, he was back for another try, but found little.
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From 1889 to 1906 there was a lull in official mining, with the only digging being that of poachers. In 1906, the Maharajah leased the mines to private interests. C.M.P. Wright reworked the placers after much study and obtained many fine stones. 1907 brought the discovery of the New Mine, a few hundred meters southeast of the Old Mine. Wright, however, was eventually forced to abandon his efforts, due to the many difficulties encountered in mining in such an inhospitable region. Active efforts did not resume until 1924.
In 1926, Lala Jagan Nath reopened the New Mine and extracted over 60 kg of corundum. His license was revoked for irregularities just one year later. 1927 was to be the last gasp of the Kashmir sapphire mines. Over 450 kg was taken from the New Mine in just 15 days, but few fine cut stones above 10 ct resulted. Middlemiss, in his report of 1931, had great hopes for the mines. These were based, in part, on the potential of discovering the sapphire outcrop on the opposite side of the ridge. Unfortunately, his hopes were never realized.
In 1944, geologist R.V. Gaines and R.C. Rice, both on leave from the US Army in Calcutta, visited the mines. They found most openings had been walled up and sealed to prevent poaching. As a further hindrance, in addition to the permanent police post at Kudi, a platform was erected on the ridge overlooking the mines. This platform was named the "Black House," in allusion to the bleak and lonely life of the three policemen stationed there (Gaines, 1946). It later burned and has not been rebuilt (Atkinson & Kothavala, 1983).
Today the adits are heavily barred to prevent entry and the entire valley is closely watched by a small team of police stationed at its mouth year round (Atkinson & Kothavala, 1983; Steve Karpa, pers. comm., 1990).
Since 1927, the mines have been worked intermittently, but with no real success. Every few years the Kashmir Government makes noises about leasing out the mines, but so far these attempts have not come to fruition (Anonymous, 1977b, 1978, 1979a, 1979c). From 1889 to 1906 there was a lull in official mining, with the only digging being that of poachers. In 1906, the Maharajah leased the mines to private interests. C.M.P. Wright reworked the placers after much study and obtained many fine stones. 1907 brought the discovery of the New Mine, a few hundred meters southeast of the Old Mine. Wright, however, was eventually forced to abandon his efforts, due to the many difficulties encountered in mining in such an inhospitable region. Active efforts did not resume until 1924.
In 1926, Lala Jagan Nath reopened the New Mine and extracted over 60 kg of corundum. His license was revoked for irregularities just one year later. 1927 was to be the last gasp of the Kashmir sapphire mines. Over 450 kg was taken from the New Mine in just 15 days, but few fine cut stones above 10 ct resulted. Middlemiss, in his report of 1931, had great hopes for the mines. These were based, in part, on the potential of discovering the sapphire outcrop on the opposite side of the ridge. Unfortunately, his hopes were never realized.
In 1944, geologist R.V. Gaines and R.C. Rice, both on leave from the US Army in Calcutta, visited the mines. They found most openings had been walled up and sealed to prevent poaching. As a further hindrance, in addition to the permanent police post at Kudi, a platform was erected on the ridge overlooking the mines. This platform was named the "Black House," in allusion to the bleak and lonely life of the three policemen stationed there (Gaines, 1946). It later burned and has not been rebuilt (Atkinson & Kothavala, 1983).
Today the adits are heavily barred to prevent entry and the entire valley is closely watched by a small team of police stationed at its mouth year round (Atkinson & Kothavala, 1983; Steve Karpa, pers. comm., 1990).
Since 1927, the mines have been worked intermittently, but with no real success. Every few years the Kashmir Government makes noises about leasing out the mines, but so far these attempts have not come to fruition (Anonymous, 1977b, 1978, 1979a, 1979c).
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Mining methods at the Kashmir mines have always been primitive, due to the altitude and remote location. Still today, the mines remain accessible only by foot or helicopter. The closest roadhead is at Kishtwar, 6–8 days' march from the mines. Much of the journey is over narrow mountain paths fit only for man and small pack animals. In many places large rivers must be crossed, spanned only by hanging bridges not designed for large loads. This, as much as anything, has ensured that mining methods remain primitive.
The sapphires of Kashmir occur in outcrops high on the wall of the Kudi Valley. Within an actinolite-tremolite rock, small pegmatite lenses occur, and it is within these lenses that the sapphires are found. Originally a landslip exposed the sapphires at the surface, allowing discovery. At first, huge quantities were obtained by simple digging. In places they were as thick as "plums in a pudding," and sometimes of enormous sizes. Many of the finest stones were obtained by the Maharajah and were stored at the Kashmir State Treasury. A number of authorities reported that large sacks and chests containing literally a king's ransom worth of rough and cut sapphires lay hidden away in the Kashmir State Treasury Chambers. The material, culled from 40 years' production, was quite literally the cream of the crop. C.S. Middlemiss (1931) described this hoard as follows:
We are aware that one of these outcrops, namely that of the Old Mine, continued yielding gemstone [sic] for an appreciable time, and gave an extremely good output of very large stones from about the year 1881 to about 1887. This is a historical fact and is well known to many living people. A few specimens of sapphire then collected are still preserved, jealously guarded by the State, in the toshakhana [treasury], and have been seen by the writer. Of these there is at least one large piece, bigger than a polo or croquet ball, and others smaller all of a rich blue colour. There are also many cases of cut gems of pendant size which are superficially as large as florins.
C.S. Middlemiss, 1931
Incredible! Bigger than a croquet ball. What became of these stones? We just do not know. Although many merchants visited Jammu and Srinagar with the intention of purchasing some or all of these stones, their offers were refused (Halford-Watkins, 1935). The present author recalls reading about a caretaker trying to steal this treasure about 1978–82, taking one piece each day in his lunch pail. He was caught and the stolen goods apparently recovered. Since then, nothing further has been heard of the "hoard of Kashmir." All we can do is wait and hope.
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Middlemiss also discussed the failure of all the first geologists on the scene to describe the actual occurrence from which these fine stones emanated:
But of the details of the in situ rock occurrence whence these magnificent trophies were won we unfortunately know hardly anything, nor have we any recent descriptions by the Mineral Survey or Mining Engineer of the nature of the quarry, pits or other openings made by the early pioneers at this place. It is a curious fact that all the geological and mining men who have visited and reported on these mines, from La Touche downwards, though agreeing as to the position of the Old Mine workings, have one and all seemed to shirk any description of them. Are they rock-face workings, irregular burrowings, tunnels, pits or what, what is their extent and how deep from the surface do they go? We simply do not know! La Touche, in his published paper simply says "here the face of the rock has been laid bare by a landslip, and at first the sapphires were taken out of the granite itself: but when I visited the mines this patch of rock had ceased to yield any for some time, nor did the closest search bring any more to light". Labhu Ram in his report says "the Old Mine is also located in the same actinolite-tremolite mass that contains the New Mines…. No trace of pegmatite veins is found near it and the mine has not yielded any stones for very many years since the late eighties". Later on in his report he discusses the point whether or not the sapphire may have had a different source altogether to that of the New Mines "having been derived either from the garnetiferous gneiss bands found exposed above and below the mine, or directly from the actinolite-tremolite schist".
None of the others who visited the mines, including the Mining Engineer, have anything to say at all on this matter.
This is all very unsatisfactory; but at least we may conclude that very large sapphire pieces were got from this point of the rectangular area mentioned above, although details as to its matrix, mode of occurrence and the nature of the workings remain obscure.
C.S. Middlemiss, 1931
Evidently, those who did have a chance to observe the workings at the Old Mine were so impressed by what was found that they completely forgot to describe the workings. This means that we know little about how these incredible stones were obtained. Today all that remains of the Old Mine are a few shallow burrows dug into the rock.
About 100 m from the Old Mine are a series of shallow adits distributed over a small area. In the early 1980s, much blasting had been done to get at the sapphire-bearing pegmatite (Atkinson & Kothavala, 1983).
In the 30–40 year period during which the mines were intensively worked, Kashmir sapphires achieved a reputation second to none. Today, with the exception of estate sales, fine Kashmir sapphires are virtually unobtainable, mute testimony of the degree to which they are coveted. Outside the collection seen in the Jammu and Kashmir State Treasury, few cut stones of greater than 65 ct have been reported (Schwieger, 1990). Crystals are sometimes of enormous size. Mallet (1882) reported on one which measured 1 ft (30 cm) in length.
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Kashmir sapphires range from near colorless through a deep blue, with the occasional pink to purple stone found. The large fine gems of years gone by were generally cut from the blue areas of much larger crystals. Those specimens that possess smooth faces contain this blue layer intact. However, many pieces feature heavily corroded surfaces and thus the blue layer is only partially present, if at all. The following description of Kashmir sapphire by Jaipur gem trader, Rajroop Tank tallies well with the author's experience:
KASHMIR:--The Sapphires of Kashmir form an exclusive class of their own. In the Jewel trade it is customary to attach the appellation 'Kashmir' to any fine Sapphire regardless of its geographical origin. This is an indication of the outstanding qualities of Kashmir Sapphires. The colour of these Sapphires resembles the beautiful hue of the peacock's neck. Even a small concentration of that fine colour illuminates the entire structure of the Gem.
It may, however, be noted that the product of the Kashmir mines suffers more from flaws and blemishes than that of many other mines. The Gems of Kashmir mines often have window, hole, or cavity in their texture, and they also suffer at times from ambiguity of colours. It requires special skill to cut the Jewels as the crystals are covered with a hard crust of earth and it is difficult to know beforehand the internal structure. If a specimen is free from cavity or window and does not exhibit ambiguity of colour it can be cut into an excellent Gem. The produce of the old mine in Kashmir did not suffer from so many blemishes, but the Sapphires of that mine are no longer available…. Kashmir Sapphires generally remain thick after cutting. Stars are not found in them.
Rajroop Tank, n.d., Indian Gemmology
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Sapphires found at the New Mines differ in one important respect from those of the Old Mine, and this difference is important in understanding Kashmir material. New Mine material comes in two types, both of which are coated with a tenacious white clay. In almost all, the blue color is found mainly at the outer crystal edges, especially the tips. Virtually all are spindle-shaped hexagonal bipyramids, as shown in Figure 6. Other than the blue tips and faces, the rest of the crystal is typically colorless (the New Mines also produce the occasional stone with blue tips and a pink core). What this means is fine blue stones must be cut from the tips of the crystals, similar to the way in which Sri Lanka's ottu sapphires are cut. Witness the statement by Parkinson (1952):
I am quite satisfied that many of the so-called "Kashmir sapphires" are actually of Ceylon origin; certainly they are not mined in Kashmir.
To this author, it seems that Parkinson saw a stone that looked like it was from Ceylon, and so assumed it was. Many faceted Kashmir sapphires bear a certain resemblance to Sri Lankan ottu stones.
One of the ways in which ottu stones are typically cut is to lay the table facet parallel to a pyramid face, along the intensely colored area at that face (see Figure 9.3 on page 200). While this produces a larger stone, it also produces an overly blackish color, as well as losing the velvety softness. Many Kashmir sapphires display this color. [2]
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In the vast majority of New Mine and placer stones, the blue faces have been corroded away. Rather than having flat, well-formed faces, most have deeply pitted faces; thus the colored areas are, by and large, missing due to surface corrosion. When the faces are intact, fine stones can be cut. This fact alone may account for the great scarcity of fine Kashmir sapphires, as the Old Mine, where evenly-colored stones were apparently more common, has produced virtually nothing since 1887.
Probably the only detailed description ever recorded of Old Mine material was that of Grahame Young of Kulu, which is reproduced here:
…The vein consists of
…The facts I have collected regarding the first discovered deposit are derived from an examination I made of about an hundred weight [1 cwt. = 50.8 kgs] of the crystals; their owner would not allow me to apply any tests, but I used a compound lens magnifying 30 diameters.
A. Grahame Young, Kulu, Aug. 8, 1882 (from Shepard, 1883)
The above was written prior to the discovery of either the New Mine or valley placers. Extrapolating, we can surmise that at least some Old Mine material contained substantial internal coloration (nos. III. and IV. above). From this location of color in the crystal, we can further extrapolate that the polished shapes of those Old Mine stones with substantial internal color would differ from New Mine stones. In fact, many of the Kashmir sapphires today sold at auction are cut as "sugarloaf" cabochons. While this is in contrast to Tank's statement that Kashmir sapphires generally remain thick after cutting, he was probably familiar only with New Mine material. The author's own experience with New Mine material also agrees with Tank's, in that gems are often strongly zoned and cut with deep pavilions, similar to Sri Lankan ottu sapphires. But apparently the Old Mine produced some material which would allow both more even coloration and, thus, stones cut to normal proportions.
In summary, it is impossible to say, based on evenness of coloration and shape, that an individual stone came from the Old or New Mine. Both mines produced the ottu-type material so similar to that from Sri Lanka. But based on the historical record, the Old Mine appears to have produced far more of the top-grade, evenly-colored material.
Heat treatment can produce dramatic results with Kashmir sapphire. One large lot examined by the author both before and after burning showed a success rate better than even the best Sri Lankan geuda material. Nearly every piece had been transformed to a rich blue color. Why aren't we seeing this material in the market? The answer is simple. No rough. Even low-grade material is scarce, and no mining is being done at present.
The following is based on the studies of Gübelin (1953, 1973), Gübelin & Koivula (1986), Hänni (1990a), Phukan (1966) and Schwieger (1990), as well as the author's own studies on a 1 kg lot of Kashmir material.
Kashmir sapphires bear a strong resemblance to those of Sri Lanka, with almost all being spindle-shaped hexagonal bipyramids. Some of these are flattened slightly. However, the Kashmir stones often consist of intergrowths, with one crystal twisted around another, or even as multiple intergrowths of as many as ten or more crystals grown together in a single mass. Kashmir sapphire rough is easily recognized due to its distinctive mode of occurrence. Coated with a white clay-like matrix, which fills the pits of heavily corroded surfaces, this clay-like material also appears to be included in many stones with irregular cavities just beneath the crystal surfaces. So tenaciously does it cling to the skin that hydrofluoric acid is required for its removal. [3] Most crystals are small, in the 1–4 ct range, and some feature small brown tourmaline prisms [4] and mica flakes adhering to their surfaces, or intergrown with them.
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Kashmir sapphires contain solid inclusions of a number of types, but these are generally small, requiring magnifications of up to 100x to resolve their morphology. Most distinctive are the small, slightly corroded, colorless crystals of zircon. Commonly adhering to these are tiny black crystals of uraninite. Uraninite also occurs alone, typically with radiating stress fractures.
Occurring with the sapphires are dark green and brown prisms of tourmaline. These may be found growing right up against the sapphire and are occasionally included within the gem itself. Euhedral allanite crystals have also been encountered, as well as long needles of pargasite (amphibole). Specimens examined by the author have also displayed inclusions of what appears to be mica. Unidentified brown crystals of large size have been seen by the author in one specimen.
Among the most distinctive inclusions of the Kashmir sapphires are the negative crystal guests. These tend to occur in patterns and in many cases contain small black crystals growing within. These black crystals are prismatic in habit and may possibly be tourmaline. The negative crystals containing black crystals within represent the most distinctive inclusion feature of the Kashmir sapphires examined by the author.
a. Table 1 is based on the author's first-hand experience, along with published reports of Gübelin (1953, 1973), Gübelin & Koivula (1986), Hänni (1990a), Phukan (1966) and Schwieger (1990). [return to Table 1]
Due to the irregular distribution of color in Kashmir rough, cut stones will also often display strong color zoning, similar to Sri Lankan material.
The hallmark of the Kashmir sapphire is its velvety texture, a slight haziness which, under magnification, is revealed as numerous fine particles oriented in three directions at 60/120° in the basal plane. The identity of these tiny exsolved inclusions has in the past been the subject of much dispute (see Phukan, 1966; Gübelin, 1953). While their exact identity is still yet to be determined, today it is generally accepted that they consist of exsolved rutile (Hänni, 1990a; Schwieger, 1990).
The exsolved rutile of Kashmir sapphires differs from that of Burma and Sri Lankan stones in terms of the size of the crystals. Many appear as tiny dots in snowflake patterns, and magnification of 40x or more is often required to resolve individual crystals. Due to its extremely fine nature, Kashmir rutile provides subtle light scattering without materially affecting transparency, giving these gems their velvety appearance.
This haziness is present in virtually every piece examined by the author, but is not the sole province of the Kashmir stone. Sapphires from Sri Lanka, Thailand (especially Kanchanaburi) and Pailin may also exhibit a certain milkiness, making confusion a real possibility. The haziness in Kashmir stones, however, is extremely fine in nature, not enough to seriously degrade the clarity, but just enough to impart the distinctive velvety luster to the stones (see Hänni, Fig. 1, p. 69, for an excellent illustration of this effect).
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Kashmir is not the only locality in India producing corundum. Other sources exist, but are of lesser importance in world markets, due to the lower qualities of production. Other Indian corundum localities are given in Table 2 (based on Iyer & Thiagarajan, 1961, Kuriyan, 1993a-b, Viswanatha, 1982).
| Gem tracts |
Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar Karnataka (including Mysore) Kerala Madhya Pradesh Orissa Rajasthan Tamil Nadu |
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For many years India has been the world's biggest supplier of low-end ruby cabochons and star rubies. These localities include:
Andhra Pradesh. Low-quality ruby (including stars) has been reported from a number of areas in Andhra Pradesh state. These include Anantapur, Krishna, Kurnool, and Warangal (Fernandes & Joshi, 1995).
Bihar. Facet-grade ruby has been reported from an unknown locality in Bihar. The percentage of facet-grade material has been reported up to 25% of total production (Durlabhji, 1994).
Kangayam (Tamil Nadu). Facet-grade ruby occurs in the Kangayam area of the state of Tamil Nadu, of which Madras is the capital. Stones from this area are of a reddish color with a slight darkish tint, but are generally heavily included. This source also produces star rubies.
Karnataka (including Mysore). Another important ruby source in India. Gems come mainly from the Channa-Patna area, but lack transparency and so are suitable only for cabochons and beads.
The Indian star rubies are generally heavily included, and so of poor color and transparency. They do possess sharp stars; however due to the lack of transparency the color is poor, and so they are usually but a few dollars per carat, or less.
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Orissa. In the early 1980s, important gem strikes were made in Orissa, eastern India. These included both ruby and sapphire. Ruby is found at Jhillingdhar, Hinjhrilbahal, Charbati, Rabaandangar and Odashali in Kalahandi district, while sapphire is found at Amera and Karlakot in Kalahandi, and Sangamara in Balangir district. To date, with the exception of the ruby mine at Jhillingdhar, most mining is done by small teams of locals (Kuriyan, 1993a-b). Rough ruby is of variable shapes, from distorted hexagonal crystals to rolled pebbles. They often have a coating of greenish-black or brown material. Facetable material is said to be relatively rare. Sambalpur district has also been reported as a source of ruby in Orissa (Durlabhji, 1994).
Because of their poor clarity, Indian star rubies they are often dyed and oiled. Most are filled with cracks, polysynthetic twin lamellae and parting planes which allow penetration of oils and/or dyes. The Indian trade magazine, Journal of Gem Industry (Anonymous, 1976), suggested that "the packing material used in wrapping these stones should never be absorbent, if good customer relations are desired." Perhaps even better customer relations would result from omitting these dyes and oils altogether.
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This page is http://www.ruby-sapphire.com/r-s-bk-india.htm v. 1.0
Page updated 7 March, 2013
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mong
the greatest collectors of jewels were India's
princes--the maharajahs.[
