Fancy Colored Sapphires - Pure corundum is colourless. Slight traces of elements such as chrome, iron, titanium or vanadium are responsible for the colour. These gemstones have excellent hardness and high luster. Only red corundum is entitled to be called ruby,
Sri Lanka is well known for the finest quality sapphires. They come in a range of colors and also colorless which is the White Sapphire.Mining continues from ancient times to this day. Sri Lanka is known for producing the finest and largest sapphires in the world.
Sapphires and rubies are both members of the corundum family with the same hexagonal crystallographic structure. The basic chemical formula is AL 2 2O 3 .. the same for both ruby and sapphire. It is the presence of trace elements like chromium, iron, vanadium and titanium which are responsible for the wide range of colors in which the mineral occurs. When a corundum is red, it is known as a ruby and any other color is a sapphire. In practice however, the determination is not always so straightforward because there are no internationally accepted standards for the color of a ruby. Gemologists could describe the same stone as a purplish red ruby or a purplish red sapphire and borderline cases are not uncommon.
Sapphires are noted for the large range of colors in which they occur. The name fancy sapphire, is used to describe sapphires which are not blue. Fancy sapphires are available in an amazing range of colors including yellow, green, violet, pink, brown, purple, violet, white, black and orange. 
