It is rare to find good-quality padparadschas of more than two carats, and any stone above five carats is considered a world-class gem. As such an unheated padparadscha sapphires command a premium at auction. Like other sapphires, padparadscha sapphires can be heated to improve the colour of the stone. 2020, thegemmuseum.gallery/padparadscha-the-king-of-sapphires/#:~:text=Padparadscha%20appeared%20to%20be%20an,meaning%20of%20%E2%80%9Clotus%20flower%E2%80%9D.A Sri Lankan padparadscha sapphire ring, with modified kite-shape diamond shoulders and rose-cut diamond gallery. “Padparadscha, The King of Sapphires.” The Gem Museum, 2 Oct. The only thing in common is they agree that its colour should not be too dark or light in tone. As the Sri Lankans say it must have a pink majority body tone however there are some who said it should be salmon or sunset-like tone. In the trade, there are many stones that differ in tone and saturation and it is still deemed as Padparadscha. How to judge a Padparadscha’s colour is still up for debate. African Padparadscha tends to be darker in tone and lean more towards the orange tone, which contradicts the definition of its name.

Supplies from other producing countries like Madagascar, Tanzania, and Vietnam however, are not quite able to match the finer quality compared to Sri Lankas in terms of colour and clarity. Many sapphires above 100 carats were found there, notably the largest star sapphire in the world: “The Star of Adam.” Padparadscha is still being found in Sri Lanka, however, the supply is very limited. Sri Lanka is a country abundant with gemstones, sapphires in particular. For Sri Lankans, Padparadscha must have a dominant pink tone to its subtle orange mix. To best describe Padparadscha’s orangy-pink tone, a lotus flower has to be struck by a sunset orange light to obtain that bi-coloured body tone. Rich in pink, at first glance the flower may not resemble the colour of Padparadscha entirely. Its name was originated from Sri Lanka where it is first discovered, translated from Sinhalese which is a native Sri Lankan language, with the meaning of “lotus flower”.

It has a dominant pink body tone which is what its name referred to. Padparadscha is an orangy-pink variety of sapphire.

Padparadscha meaning