What are some gemstones that look like blue sapphire?

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I have a very close friend who has a milestone birthday coming up and I would like to gift her a pendant. She likes how blue sapphire looks, but in her culture blue sapphire is considered unlucky so she won’t be able to wear it. What are some gemstones that look similar to blue sapphire (most importantly the same cornflower/royal blue color, the faceting pattern/RI is of less importance) that are hopefully less expensive and also of a reasonable hardness to wear in a pendant 3x a week (she will remove it to sleep, shower, gym etc - she isn’t a big fan of wearing jewelry for these activities). She is looking for a big (5ct) size (so an inexpensive stone is good, but open to more expensive alternatives if what we are looking for does not exist since she is willing to put in the difference), shape is not important (she likes squares, but will be good with an oval/pear if square/princess is hard to find). Thank you for your help!

 

[Austina]

Blue spinel?

 

[Bron357]

How about Kyanite.
It is a bit soft to wear in a ring but as a pendant, no problem.
Here is an eBay item, a pendant set with diamonds in gold. About $210 US.

 

[Lexililac]

Iolite

 

[shelovesinclusions]

Tanzanite. It comes in a range, some swinging royal blue.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Blue spinel?

Spinel should be easy to source as well, right?

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

How about Kyanite.
It is a bit soft to wear in a ring but as a pendant, no problem.
Here is an eBay item, a pendant set with diamonds in gold. About $210 US.

This is lovely! And wow, so much cheaper than I expected. Do you think it would be fine in a ring for occasional wear by the way? I like it so much I want to get it as a ring for myself!

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Iolite

I haven’t even heard of Iolite, how cool! And a very pretty color!

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Tanzanite. It comes in a range, some swinging royal blue.

Tanzanite I’ve heard of, but I thought it was more purple than blue. Definitely will check it out!

 

[Austina]

The iolite I’ve seen was more purple than blue.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

The iolite I’ve seen was more purple than blue.

I just looked it up on google and it seemed blue, but of course it depends on what the eyes see thanks for the heads up!

 

[qubitasaurus]

Spinel should be easy to source as well, right?

Unfortunately it I'd hard and expensive to find spinel in a decent size which has a nice colour of blue.

Tanzanite is far closer to what you want there is a nice one here

- Litnon

 

[voce]

Spinel should be easy to source as well, right?

Easy to source synthetic spinel. If you would buy synthetic please contact Alternatives Lapidary in Etsy. Spinels of any color are rare above 2 ct, and nice blue ones are difficult to find, if you stick to natural spinel.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Easy to source synthetic spinel. If you would buy synthetic please contact Alternatives Lapidary in Etsy. Spinels of any color are rare above 2 ct, and nice blue ones are difficult to find, if you stick to natural spinel.

Unfortunately it I'd hard and expensive to find spinel in a decent size which has a nice colour of blue.

Tanzanite is far closer to what you want there is a nice one here

- Litnon

thank you for the info! I think she would like a natural stone, not a synthetic but I will ask her. I don’t really know anything much about colored stones, only the names of the “big 3” (ruby, sapphire and emerald) so I figured asking here was my best bet I guess spinels are out, but tanzanite, iolite and kyanite are still in

 

[Nick_G]

Benitoite is a beautiful sapphire blue too but is very rare. Only found in gem quality in one location in California.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Benitoite is a beautiful sapphire blue too but is very rare. Only found in gem quality in one location in California.

Ooh it is beautiful but way out of our (collective) price range! I wish rare =\= expensive!

 

[JackTrick]

5 cts is going to be quite expensive for most natural stones. Tanzanite and Iolite are possible. Spinel is going to be trickier to find as blue. How would she feel about London blue Topaz?

If synthetics are a possibility, a whole new world opens up

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

5 cts is going to be quite expensive for most natural stones. Tanzanite and Iolite are possible. Spinel is going to be trickier to find as blue. How would she feel about London blue Topaz?

If synthetics are a possibility, a whole new world opens up

London blue topaz seems a bit different in hue to sapphire, so I’d have to check with her! Her preference is natural, but I’m not sure if she would rather go down in size or go to synthetic if the natural 5ct stone proves to be too expensive. We do have a few months to take the call, I just had a conversation with her about this a day or so ago and thought I could put in some research.

 

[Roger Dery]

Tanzanite can certainly occur in a very rich blue, and it normally has a violet to purplish modifier. 4-5ct sizes are do-able for much less than a comparable Sapphire.


Iolite is an up and coming gemstone in the jewelry trade. Not so well known 20-25 years ago. Is available in 5ct sizes in reasonable prices though it almost always has a slight grey modifier. And, depending on how the crystal was oriented in faceting, it could lean more to either blue or purplish.

Spinel, as noted above, is do-able. Though finding a nice blue in the 5ct size would be very difficult to locate and pricey. This color in Spinel is often sought after by the true collectors.

Kyanite is available in 5ct sizes, however is not popular with custom gem cutters nor goldsmiths and gem setters do to its fragility as well as numerous cleavage planes.

Benitoite – would be near impossible to find something over 3cts, and would be very pricey as well.

Tourmaline “could” occur in a color similar to Sapphire as I have seen it, but this would be a true rarity. This would take time to locate, as well as being quite pricey. And, they almost always have a green secondary hue.

Hope this is helpful in laying out the colors available in blue gemstones. I should point out that all the above gems are not available.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Tanzanite can certainly occur in a very rich blue, and it normally has a violet to purplish modifier. 4-5ct sizes are do-able for much less than a comparable Sapphire.


Iolite is an up and coming gemstone in the jewelry trade. Not so well known 20-25 years ago. Is available in 5ct sizes in reasonable prices though it almost always has a slight grey modifier. And, depending on how the crystal was oriented in faceting, it could lean more to either blue or purplish.

Spinel, as noted above, is do-able. Though finding a nice blue in the 5ct size would be very difficult to locate and pricey. This color in Spinel is often sought after by the true collectors.

Kyanite is available in 5ct sizes, however is not popular with custom gem cutters nor goldsmiths and gem setters do to its fragility as well as numerous cleavage planes.

Benitoite – would be near impossible to find something over 3cts, and would be very pricey as well.

Tourmaline “could” occur in a color similar to Sapphire as I have seen it, but this would be a true rarity. This would take time to locate, as well as being quite pricey. And, they almost always have a green secondary hue.

Hope this is helpful in laying out the colors available in blue gemstones. I should point out that all the above gems are not available.

Thank you so, so much for taking out the time to write this out for me! I appreciate it so much!

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

As an update to the ones who took the time to comment - she seems to be leaning towards Iolite, since apparently it is a gem that is worn quite a lot in her culture (as we both found out when we started looking into it). The plan is for her to source the gem and maybe also pendant herself in her country of origin, once international travel opens up, since iolite is apparently mined in that area and is quite cheap and easy to find. Thank you all so much for your help!