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PRIMARY: SAPPHIRE - "The stone of holy blessing and wisdom"

Sapphire, the primary September birthstone, is a precious gemstone that has a hardness level of 9.0 on Moh's scale. As noted in the ruby section, any color of corundum other than red is called sapphire, although the traditional sapphire color is blue.

When it comes to categorizing this gemstone, the most valuable stones are those that have the deepest and most intense blue shade. Other than blue, sapphires also commonly come in the following shades, yellow, pink, orange, and gray.

As with rubies, some minor inclusions are expected with a sapphire; "perfect" stones have been heat-treated or are synthetic. A star sapphire is the result of dense, intersecting needle inclusions (called rutiles) which cause a six-rayed star to appear on the surface of this, the September birthstone.

Alternate: Lapis Lazuli - "The stone which encourages integrity"

Lapis lazuli, the alternate September birthstone, is a semi-precious gemstone with a hardness score between 5.0 and 5.5. Unlike most gemstones, lapis lazuli is a composite rock, not just one mineral.

The blue parts of lapis are either lazurite or occasionally sodalite, with sprinkles of golden pyrite. Some lapis also have bands of white calcite, however, the highest quality and most valuable lapis are only blue and gold. A variety called Lapis Armenus, "The Armenian Stone," is blue with specks and bands of green instead of gold.