Blue Is The Colour: Alternatives To Sapphires

If you are looking for crystal jewellery, many factors could be involved in your choice. Fashion, personal taste, associations of particular stones with certain beliefs or times (like birthstones), hardness and price are all considerations.

However, for some a key factor is colour. Most of us have a favourite colour and surveys have shown that all over the world, blue is loved most by more people than any other.

There are those who claim the usual gender dichotomy of blue for boys and pink for girls is culturally contingent rather than innate, but it seems the love of this colour is deeply rooted indeed, with men more likely to prefer it than women, but the fairer sex is also pretty keen on it.

People might like blue because it represents the sky, the sea, or perhaps something as simple as the colours of their football team. Psychologists consider it to be associated with calmness, relaxation and stability, although, of course, we can also use the term ‘blue’ to mean feelings of depression.

If you are looking for blue crystal jewellery, sapphires may be the first things that come to mind. These precious stones are beautiful, glamorous and popular. They are also very hard, as they are a 9 on the Mohs scale, just below diamonds on 10. This makes them the same hardness as rubies, which are also made from corundum.

Sapphire may also appeal to those born in September as it is that month’s birthstone. But it is undoubtedly costlier than most gems, which is why some may look for less expensive, but equally blue, alternatives.

If birthstones are your main interest, several other months have a blue representative; March has Aquamarine, October has Opal and December is represented by both Turquoise and Tanzanite. Zircon is the third December birthstone and it can come in many colours, with blue being a popular option.

Other blue stones include Lapis Lazuli, Sodalite and Blue Agate. Lapiz Lazuli may not be a name many are familiar with today, but it was associated with royalty, honour and wisdom among its attributes in ancient Egypt and in Israel in Biblical times.

Sodalite is believed to have healing properties linking it to aiding personal expression, something those who feel they struggle to do this may be encouraged by. It, too, has been regarded highly for thousands of years.

Agate has a strong association with stability and balance, which applies to the stone in general, but may be particularly attributed to the blue variety as these are the qualities psychologists associate with blue in general.

Where these stones will have a certain disadvantage compared with sapphires is in their hardness levels. For instance, Sodalite is 5.5 to 6 on the Mohs scale, Lapiz Lazuli is between 5 and 6 and Agate is 6.5-7.

That makes them best suited to being worn as necklace pendants rather than on rings, which harder sapphires are best for. But they still provide blue adornments to admire and, for many, to draw deep meanings from.