Its hardiness also makes it a great choice of centre stone for engagement rings. Like rubies and sapphires, padparadschas are part of the corundum family with a Mohs hardness of 9, making them ideal for setting into sapphire jewellery. Read more about hunting ceylon sapphires in Sri Lanka However, the South Asian country is best known for the cornflower-blue Ceylon sapphire and the padparadscha sapphire, both of which are mined in Ratnapura (Singhalese for “gem town”), around 100km from Colombo. Sri Lanka is home to the stunning and rare padparadscha sapphire. Mining on Sri Lanka dates back at least 2,000 years and the island is sometimes referred to as Gem Island or the Jewel Box of the Indian Ocean because of the wide variety of gemstones it yields. This is not Princess Eugenie's ring but serves to demonstrate just how valuable these padparadscha sapphires are, particularly in this most desirable orangey-pink tone and if they are un-heated. The most valuable padparadscha sapphire that we have seen to date is David Morris' ring shown at Paris Couture in 2016 (below) with a price tag of just over one million euros. Most resellers have no idea what this is and the market is flooded with these stones, the beryllium alters the colour and is used to make the padparadscha colour. We would never buy a beryllium-treated gemstone as it is not natural. The layman can not tell the difference between any of these treatments and it comes down to disclosure and in our case Gubelin SSEF or GRS certification.' 'Heating affects clarity more than colour,' adds Hirsh, 'by finishing off what the natural earth has not. Generally they will be heated as rough, often at the mines, in a furnace at approximately 300 degrees. Beryllium treatment is what needs to be avoided.

An un-heated padparadscha will sell for the double the price. The padaparadscha is heat treated and retails for £48,000. The Hirsh Princess 4.05 carats padparadscha sapphire ring is similar in size to Princess Eugenie's ring.

Padparadscha