SEPTEMBER: SAPPHIRE is calming and soothing, representing sincerity and truth. Ancient priests and sorcerers honored sapphire above all gems, for this stone enabled them to interpret oracles and foretell the future. Ancients believed the Ten Commandments were written on a sapphire tablet. Sapphire refused to shine when worn by the wicked or impure. Sapphire was also used to detect infidelity in a spouse: if the stone’s luster dimmed, the spouse had been unfaithful. (You might want to be careful here.) The sapphire was used as a remedy for various bodily ailments. The ancients also reputed sapphire to protect the wearer from danger, treachery, evil suggestions, spells and even snakes. In thirteenth-century France, sapphire had the power to transform stupidity to wisdom and irritability  to good humor.

Sapphire, a variety of corundum, comes in all colors except red (the red variety being known as ruby), but is especially popular in deep blue. Fancy colored sapphires-including pink, green, orange, and golden yellow-are magnificent when combined in a necklace or bracelet.

Prince Charles chose a blue sapphire for Princess Diana's engagement ring. The stone's durability, combined with its beauty, makes it the perfect alternative for an engagement ring.

As part of the customary fashioning process, virtually all blue, yellow and golden sapphires are heated to permanently produce or intensify their color.

Sapphire is found in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Kashmir, Australia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, China and the U.S.