Most likely you have heard of the beautiful sapphire of cashmere, that region between India and Pakistan, where there is great political tension; and for many years, the military and the local independentistas have disputed their dominance. It is there, in that tense area of the world, where exactly Zanskar is located, a town that is located in the Hindu part, where the famous Sapphire of Kashmir was produced; since the first pieces of these beautiful and expensive gems were found in 1881.
The story about these stones is very interesting, and it is that a great landslide that occurred in the highest part of the Himalayas, approximately 4,500 meters above sea level, specifically in the Padar region, was what revealed this great deposit of extraordinary gems, which the mountaineers of the region exchanged for salt, when the exploitation process began.
Even the miners, naively, without knowing the great value that these stones had, exchanged them in equal parts; and as they have great hardness (9 on the Mohs scale), they used them to sharpen work tools. Imagine what their reaction would be when after a while, they met their high price.
This is how, later in the year 1882, a small group of jewelers bought a large number of sapphires for a price of $90,000; and for this reason, the Maharaja of Kashmir realized its enormous value, and seized the mines, guarding them with the military and prohibiting the uncontrolled trade in these precious stones.
This is how the Cashmere Sapphire, it becomes the stone of immortality for Hindus, and has a deep symbolism for the ancient Persians, who believed that the universe settled on a sea of sapphires. With this great spiritual, but also economic value, the Maharaja’s government was able to extract many gems between 1882 and 1887, when the mine was very productive, and great gems of high quality and beauty were extracted.
However, in 1887, production drastically declined, so the Maharaja of Kashmir requested geological assistance from the government of English India, as an alternative to improve production and not lose this great source of income for his government; but it was corroborated that the original mine was depleted, which caused a period of very little extraction of these stones.
Thus, the exploitation of the Kashmir sapphire was able to remain active until 1979, due to the depletion of the deposits, which caused the sudden stoppage of this mining activity; although later, some pieces have been found very sporadically, which manage to be seen from time to time on the market.
Over time, some deposits have been reopened, the most active being, the Padder mines in the Himalayas, where there are about fifteen miners who exploit them for a few months of the year, when the weather is not so harsh, due to low temperatures , under police and military surveillance.
In this exploitation process, it is estimated that between 50 and 100 grams of Kashmir Sapphire can be extracted daily; which are located by the miners, in the veins of a white aluminum silicate, called kaolinite, and which are later transferred by the military guarding the mines, to Kichtwar. The closest town to these centers of extraction of one of the rarest gemstones in the world, and characterized by having inclusions of rutile, which makes it have a numb appearance or the effect called “blue velvet”.
On the other hand, the Kashmir sapphire is highly valued in the gemstone market, for its fabulous cornflower blue color, which no gem equals; and its quality can be compared to some of the best sapphires in Burma and Ceylon; However, this sapphire continues to have the reputation of being the best in the world, for its extreme rarity and beauty.
Currently, Kashmir sapphire is rarely shown, not even at the world’s top gemstone auctions. However, in 2007, an auction was held at Christie’s where a 22.66-carat Sapphire was sold; that it was set in a pendant surrounded by diamonds, for a price of $3,064,000; which gives a value of $135,000 per carat; establishing a record associated with the sale of sapphires.
On the other hand, recently in the Principality of Monaco, at 10.81 carat Sapphire of Cashmere has been sold to a Swiss diamond merchant, at a price of 750,000 euros; And it will surely take a few years for another large sapphire to be seen at the world’s most renowned auctions.