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Buy Padparadscha Sapphires in Beruwala, Sri Lanka

Neither quite pink nor orange, padparadscha is the lotus-coloured treasure of Sri Lanka and among the rarest sapphires on earth. When one appears below, compare its colour balance, carat and treatment carefully — they sell fast.

Padparadscha — the name comes from the Sinhala word for the lotus blossom — is the rarest of the sapphire colours, defined by a delicate balance of pink and orange in which neither hue dominates. Sri Lanka, and the Ratnapura and Embilipitiya gem fields in particular, is the historic source. The classification is strict: a stone that leans too far pink or orange becomes a pink or an orange sapphire instead.

Because the colour is judged under specific lighting, appearance can shift between a shop and daylight, so always compare a padparadscha in more than one light. Fine stones are most often found under three carats, and value is driven far more by the quality of the colour than by weight. Beryllium diffusion has been used to imitate the colour in pink sapphire, which is why certification from a recognised laboratory matters especially for this variety.