Sapphire colors: what is true Cornflower Blue?

[VeryUndecided]

Just wondering, does anyone have real-life photos of true Cornflower Blue Sapphires? I wonder what they look like under different light conditions.

 

[T L]

Cornflower blue is subjective in the trade. I’ve seen everything from medium dark vivid blue to pale denim blues called cornflower blue. If there’s a color you like or want to see a trade ideal color, people can post examples. I’m very biased against vague metaphors to describe color.

I think many of us even disagree on what is considered lavender, so you may see lots of subjective opinions on cornflower blue here.

 

[DAF]

Just look a the 64 count box of Crayola Crayons.

 

[Neptune]

Cornflower blue is subjective in the trade. I’ve seen everything from medium dark vivid blue to pale denim blues called cornflower blue. If there’s a color you like or want to see a trade ideal color, people can post examples. I’m very biased against vague metaphors to describe color.

I think many of us even disagree on what is considered lavender, so you may see lots of subjective opinions on cornflower blue here.

+1,

True cornflower blue sapphire finds. Post here.

I don’t have one to post, but I thought this might be helpful to people, if we post sort of a “someone needs to buy this gem” but for true Ceylon (cornflower?) blue sapphires.

www.pricescope.com

Whence this cornflower blue?

Just out of curiosity: what series of events gave rise to this "cornflower blue" becoming the #1 color of blue sapphire in terms of demand and price? I have had several jewellers tell me this, and it seems to be fairly true. I am of course ignoring the extreme rarity of Kashmir sapphires, and...

www.pricescope.com

 

[Bron357]

With sapphires it’s more than just “colour”.
Its hue, tone and saturation.
What people call “cornflower blue” varies.
A “top sapphire” aka traditional Kashmir would be violet blue hue, with medium tone and vivid saturation.
So you can have the hue or colour of cornflower blue but the tone can be lighter or darker and have lesser levels of vividness.
People also have different tastes.
To some dark inky blue is their choice, others prefer pastel tones.
This small sapphire of mine I feel is closest to vivid saturation.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

This box is my take, but I also include stones with a little violet in their hue.
I guess about B to vB, Tone 3 to 5, saturation medium to strong

 

[LD]

This box is my take, but I also include stones with a little violet in their hue.
I guess about B to vB, Tone 3 to 5, saturation medium to strong

What is designated in this graph posted above as “cornflower blue” looks far too grey to me. As TL said above I doubt you’ll get an agreement on what us right or wrong. For me, cornflower blue has a slight touch of lavender or purple but not grey. The photo below gives an indication of the colour I would look for.

 

[Rfisher]

Just look a the 64 count box of Crayola Crayons.

I very unscientifically dug out a crayola cornflower circa late 1970’s maybe 80’s, to compare with a crayola cornflower circa 2008. My best recollection/guesstimate of time period, of course.
They are different colors. Slight - but noticeable.

I even scribbled a bit to wear off the patina. The gold crayon is covered in a very deep green patina

sorry for the detail, OP!

 

[lilmosun]

According to Google:
“Cornflower” Blue Sapphire is a color also coined by GRS in 1996. GRS says: “the color term reflects important historical roots, traditionally describing the finest color range found in sapphire from Kashmir (India).

Because Kashmir sapphires are prized for their color (and rarity), the descriptive "cornflower blue" has become synonymous to many with what the trade considers top color (as well as a marketing label applied by many to get top dollar for stones that don't meet that standard).

In reality, top colored Kashmir sapphires are more a pure velvet blue (no modifier) than pictures I've seen of cornflowers which are lighter in tone and have a lavendar/purple modifier.

So I think a cornflower descriptor is more accurate for stones that match @LD 's description/picture which is different than the original labelling by GRS.

To confuse matters further, GRS (GemResearch Swisslab) also coined the term “Royal Blue” Sapphire as a descriptor the finest vivid blue colors coming out of Sri Lankan and Burmese (Myanmar) Sapphires…”

 

[Rfisher]

Just wondering, does anyone have real-life photos of true Cornflower Blue Sapphires? I wonder what they look like under different light conditions.

A Blue Sapphire Journey

My hunt for a blue sapphire started 7 months ago. I have always wanted a nice blue sapphire since it is my birthstone. But I’ve never actively pursued one. Through my PS ‘education’, I knew I wanted a pretty large stone (I already had a dream setting in mind) that was either an elongated...

www.pricescope.com

In this thread, shows her gorgeous one in multiple lightings, and a few other contenders she passed on in different lightings as well.

I dont think - but don’t know- that one lab over another would take into consideration the degree color shift in different lightings in achieving a cornflower label.
It would be interesting to find that out, between the different labs and to what extent. Pads too.

 

[VeryUndecided]

It would be so nice if we have some sort of replicable, dependable color scale for sapphires. Kind of like hexadecimal color codes As it is everybody interprets the name of a color in their own way and (judging from photographs) "Cornflower Blue" encompasses a big variety of blue tones.

I am just a customer. If a color scale was possible with diamonds, why not with sapphires? Wouldn't that make things easier for everybody?

 

[VividRed]

It would be so nice if we have some sort of replicable, dependable color scale for sapphires. Kind of like hexadecimal color codes As it is everybody interprets the name of a color in their own way and (judging from photographs) "Cornflower Blue" encompasses a big variety of blue tones.

I am just a customer. If a color scale was possible with diamonds, why not with sapphires? Wouldn't that make things easier for everybody?

AGL has developed the color codex, it’s their proprietary attempt at doing exactly what your describe

I don’t have any experience with it but apparently it is very easy to use, even for people who are not familiar with it.

The only downside is that it costs 2’000 US$ so it’s either for the trade or for serious collectors.

ColorCodex

www.color-codex.com

 

[VeryUndecided]

AGL has developed the color codex, it’s their proprietary attempt at doing exactly what your describe

I don’t have any experience with it but apparently it is very easy to use, even for people who are not familiar with it.

The only downside is that it costs 2’000 US$ so it’s either for the trade or for serious collectors.

ColorCodex

www.color-codex.com

How interesting! I had no idea. Thanks for posting this!

Just looked at the instructions. They do seem easy enough to follow. But like you've said, it's something more for serious collectors or people in the trade. I don't have that many ring fingers!

 

[LemonMoonLex]

I'm not sure if it's already been said or not & I missed it but what will make this conversation continue on in a neverending pursuit is the fact that color is not objective. The way we all process color & see it can be different as well. Actually quite interesting but is a bit futile!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I'm not sure if it's already been said or not & I missed it but what will make this conversation continue on in a neverending pursuit is the fact that color is not objective. The way we all process color & see it can be different as well. Actually quite interesting but is a bit futile!

Over the years I learned what clients see as nice deep blue is nearly black and boring for me.

 

[Blingismything]

 

[LemonMoonLex]

Over the years I learned what clients see as nice deep blue is nearly black and boring for me.

I think that this can be said for a lot of us PSers & those who visit the forum eventually are indoctrinated into this line of thinking that isn't common in the broader, more typical market.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Velvety stunning

 

[T L]

What is designated in this graph posted above as “cornflower blue” looks far too grey to me. As TL said above I doubt you’ll get an agreement on what us right or wrong. For me, cornflower blue has a slight touch of lavender or purple but not grey. The photo below gives an indication of the colour I would look for.

And I call that flower color, “periwinkle blue.”

lol!!

it’s a gorgeous color, no matter what it’s called.