Yellow Sapphire Buying Guide: Quality and Price
Ideal Origin: Ceylon, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka produces the most desirable yellow sapphires in the world. Stones from other regions can be purchased but they lack the bright, vivid lemon yellow color characteristic of material coming from Ceylon.
Ideal Color: Fine Lemon Yellow
The stronger the yellow color, the more rare and valuable the sapphire. This also makes the gemstone more powerful for Vedic Astrology. Light yellow is also acceptable, but if it’s so pale that the stone almost looks colorless, it decreases in value and becomes more like an impure white sapphire than a nice yellow one.
Ceylon yellow sapphires come in a distinct range of lemon yellow, sunny yellow, and golden yellow. If a sapphire is suspiciously canary yellow or orange-yellow, it can sometimes be an indicator that the stone is heated. Heated sapphires must always be avoided for Jyotish.
Ideal Clarity Grade: Internally Flawless to VS1
Yellow sapphires should be as close to eye-flawless as possible for Jyotish. VS1 clarity is the minimum (very slight inclusions under magnification; no black inclusions). Avoid cracks or milkiness.
Light “feathers,” or subtle streaks of rutile silk within the gem, are not only acceptable but they’re helpful. They confirmation that a gemstone is unheated and can add interesting identifying characteristics. Light silk is translucent and does not affect the quality or rarity of the sapphire. It does not affect the Jyotish properties of the gem either if it’s insignificant.
Avoid all but the most minute crystal inclusions. The gem should have no cracks or cloudiness. Avoid moderate to significant color zoning (streaks of transparency with no color).
Clarity grades below VS1 should be avoided when buying yellow sapphires for Jyotish.
Top Clarity Grades for Yellow Sapphires
IF (Internally Flawless)
VVS1 to VVS2 (Very, Very Slightly Included)
VS1 to VS2 (Very Slightly Included)
SI1 to SI2 (Slightly included)
MI1 to MI2 (Moderately Included)
I1 to 2 (Included)
shape and cut: Oval, cushion, emerald, trillion, round
Sapphires are cut to maximize their carat weight. Ovals and cushions tend to maximize weight and therefore value. Rounds are more expensive as valuable material is cut away from the corners to make a round shape. Radiant cuts have grown in popularity over the past several years. Emerald cut yellow sapphires are a personal favorite of ours.
Precious yellow sapphires should have beautiful brilliant faceting, good symmetry, and no significant or severe windows of transparency through the center of the gemstone.
Size: 2 carats or more is the weight recommendation for Vedic Astrology, but exceptional gems produce effect as low as 1.8 carats. Larger gems will be more powerful if stones of equal quality are being compared.
Enhancements: Yellow Sapphires should always be unheated and untreated in any way. Never buy from a gem dealer without a solid reputation or without a laboratory certification.
Beware: Avoid standard heat treatment, Beryllium Diffusion heat treatment, and significant eye-visible inclusions. Synthetic gems are often sold as natural.
What color Yellow Sapphire should I get?
Yellow Sapphires of a bright lemon yellow are ideal for astrology. The stronger the yellow color, the more rare and valuable the sapphire. Light yellow is also acceptable, but if it’s so pale that the stone almost looks colorless it will not have a strong enough Jupiter energy.
Be wary of stones that have too bright of a yellow color, they are often heat or even chemically treated to produce a false yellow color. Stones like this should always come with a certificate of authenticity from a gemologist or a laboratory certificate.
Optional: Golden sapphires are often sold for Jupiter but be aware if you purchase a stone that is closer to golden-orange you may be getting a dose of Sun energy as well.
Do I need a flawless Yellow Sapphire?
The clarity of Sapphires is probably the most important factor when selecting a stone for astrology, but also one of the most difficult things to gauge. All Sapphires are considered a Type II gemstone, which means they always form with some growth characteristics in them. A perfectly flawless Sapphire under magnification is extremely rare and not a realistic criteria. Instead, the stones should be eye flawless and under magnification avoid any but the most minute inclusions. The gem should have no cracks or cloudiness, nor any crystals that disrupt the flow of light in the stone. There also shouldn’t be any moderate to significant color zoning (streaks of transparency with no color). Characteristics like silk (the gemological term for trace minerals of rutile) are considered ok in moderation. Only a trained gemologist should analyze a stone under magnification to determine its clarity level.
What size Yellow Sapphire do I need?
As with other sapphires, it is recommended to wear one that is over 2 carats. Stones that have exceptional color and clarity can be less than 2 carats but the larger the stone the better the effect. So if you’re looking for a strong dose of Jupiter, you might want to consider something in a larger carat size if your budget allows. Yellow Sapphires are some of the few Sapphires that come in large sizes so you can even find untreated stones in excess of 10 to 20 carats!
What shape of Yellow Sapphire is best?
The shape of the stone you get is not as important as the quality of the cutting of the stone. The shapes can be round, oval, square, rectangle, triangular, pear, etc. The stones should be cut symmetrically so that the bottom point or line of the stone is located centrally under the table (the central face of the stone). Stones should also not be overly shallow, where there is a window of transparency through the center. Gemstones should be cut to enhance the energy of the stone so the cut should be brilliant and pleasing. If you notice a stone looks nearly colorless in the center and has only color towards the outer edge, that is a sign of poor quality and cutting.