THE ROYALS LOVE OF SAPPHIRES

An untreated sapphire with beautiful deep colour and great brilliance is an incredibly rare find. The best of the stones come from Burma and occasionally Sri Lanka, and are sold at a very high price. To acquire a large sapphire with such characteristics would certainly break the bank and only a select few have had the opportunity to get their hands on a matching set of such high quality sapphires in such sizes (as featured below) . With all of these contributing factors it is no doubt that the sapphire has made its mark throughout royal history. The royals clearly have an eye for elegance and quality, therefore it’s no surprise that in the vast European royal families collections sapphire is a feature in a large array of their pieces.

Queen Victoria’s sapphire and diamond tiara

Belonged to Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna of Russia, 1910

Belonged to Princess Eugenie de Grece

PERCY MARKS

A close-up of the Bonaparte sapphire necklace

Russian Imperial Orb (1762AD)

Czar Nicholas II, wearing the Great Imperial Crown and holding the Imperial Orb (pictured below) made for Catherine the Great’s 1762 coronation.

OUT OF AFRICA

Not long ago here at Percy Marks we held a private event for some of our very loyal customers. We decided to put together an intimate gathering of fifteen where Mr. Cameron Marks could share his knowledge of African gemstones with our guests.

Over several glasses of champagne Mr. Marks went through specific parts of Africa that have provided the world with some amazing stones. From Namibia through Zambia and the shores of Tanzania, South Zimbabwe following the east coast and across the Mozambique Channel to Madagascar, our guests were shown several stones from the vast land as well as provided with interesting facts and the important history of both mining and the markets desire for the stones.

Gemstones in the past have been split into two categories of precious (sapphire, ruby, emerald, diamond) and the highly undervalued semi precious for all the others. This is no longer the case, the market has found a new found appreciation for tanzanite, tourmaline, spinel and various others, as the multiple range of colours and shades provide the consumer with various options to create a more personalised piece for their own specific style.