ETHIOPIAN SAPPHIRES

Ethiopians have been mining sapphires artisanally for many years in Tigray, the
northernmost of the nine regions of Ethiopia, particularly around a local town called
Chila. There are three well-known types of sapphire in Ethiopia. Blue Star sapphire and
Fancy sapphire are common, but it is the colour-changing’ sapphire from the areas
surrounding Chila which is of highest quality and commercially sought. These colour
changing gemstones feature a blue, star and green series and can be classified as either
‘High-Fe’ sapphire or ‘Low-Fe’ sapphire, and are formed by magmatic and metamorphic
processes. Ethiopia also produces the rare and coveted pink sapphires known as
‘padparadscha’ (from the Sinhalese word meaning aquatic lotus blossom), which
has seen renewed interest since England’s Princess Eugenie revealed her salmon
padparadscha engagement ring in early 2018.