Sapphire

蓝宝石

The Logan Sapphire is displayed in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. At 423 carats, this blue sapphire is the largest one on public display. The name sapphire comes from the Greek word "sappheiros" for blue.

洛根蓝宝石陈列在自然历史博物馆中。该蓝宝石重423克拉，是目前公开展示中最大的蓝宝石。‘蓝宝石’这一名称源自希腊语‘sappheiros’，意为蓝色。

Sapphire is a type of the mineral corundum. In fact, any gem-quality corundum is called sapphire unless it is deep red, and then it is called ruby. Corundum is Al₂O₃, and it is clear and transparent if there are no impurities. It has a refractive index of 1.76-1.78 and a hardness of 9. Its crystal symmetry is trigonal. A trace of chromium creates pink, iron creates green and yellow, chromium plus iron creates orange, and titanium plus iron creates blue. This blue sapphire color is difficult to render by a monitor, so the color has to be seen to be believed.

蓝宝石是一种矿物刚玉。事实上，任何具有宝石品质的刚玉都称为蓝宝石，除非它是深红色，这时它被称为红宝石。刚玉是Al₂O₃，如果其中不含杂质，它是透明的。它的折射率为1.76-1.78，硬度为9。它的晶体对称性为三agonal。少量的铬会使其呈现粉红色，铁会使其呈现绿色和黄色，铬加铁会使其呈现橙色，钛加铁会使其呈现蓝色。这种蓝色的蓝宝石颜色很难在显示器上准确呈现，因此必须亲眼看到才能相信其颜色。

Sapphires and rubies exhibit double refraction, which resolves a beam of incident light into two beams which emerge with different colors. These two gems also sometimes exhibit a six-pointed "star" effect from reflection off microscopic, needle-shaped rutile crystals which intersect at 60° angles.

Sapphire 和红宝石表现出双折射现象，这会将入射光束分解为两个出射光束，后者具有不同的颜色。这些宝石有时也会由于反射 off 微观的针状 rutile 晶体而表现出六角形的“星”效应，这些晶体以 60° 角相交。

Myanmar (formerly Burma) is the major source of rubies and sapphires.

This is the Hall Sapphire and Diamond Necklace. It features 36 matched sapphires from Sri Lanka totaling 195 carats. Their deep sky-blue color contrasts brilliantly with a sparkling sea of 435 diamonds weighing 84 carats.

这是霍尔蓝宝石和钻石项链。它配有36颗来自斯里兰卡的匹配蓝宝石，总重195克拉。它们深天蓝色的色泽与84克拉、闪耀如海的435颗钻石形成鲜明对比。

This is the Bismarck Sapphire Necklace with a 98.6 carat sapphire. The deep blue sapphire is surrounded by 312 diamonds.

这是Bismarck蓝宝石项链，主石是一颗98.6克拉的蓝宝石。深蓝色的蓝宝石周围环绕着312颗钻石。

This is the 330 carat Star of Asia Sapphire, one of the most famous sapphires. It is said to have once belonged to India's Maharajah of Jodhpur.

这是330克拉的亚洲之星蓝宝石，是世界上最著名的蓝宝石之一。据说它曾属于印度贾布尔王的王室。

Montana Sapphire Butterfly "Conchita". An 18k yellow gold brooch with 27.87 carats of sapphires. It is set with 333 fancy-colored Montana sapphires, most from the famed Rock Creek deposit.

蒙大拿蓝宝石蝴蝶‘Conchita’。一枚18K黄金胸针，镶嵌了27.87克拉的蓝宝石。其镶嵌了333颗 fancy-colored 蒙大拿蓝宝石，大部分来自著名的Rock Creek矿脉。

The sapphire and diamond jewelry shows the rich blue color we usually associate with sapphires..

蓝宝石和钻石珠宝显示出我们通常与蓝宝石关联的鲜艳蓝色。

This is a 16.8 carat sapphire gem from Burma. It illustrates the fact that sapphires are not always blue.

这是一颗来自缅甸的16.8克拉蓝宝石，它说明了蓝宝石并不总是蓝色的。

This display is designed to emphasize the fact that any corundum gem that is not red (which would make it a ruby) is called a sapphire. This collection of sapphires of different colors totals 153.2 carats and their source is Montana.

这种展示旨在强调一个事实：任何不是红色的刚玉宝石（如果红色则称为红宝石）都被称为蓝宝石。这组不同颜色的蓝宝石总重153.2克拉，其来源地是蒙大拿州。