One of the four precious gemstones, sapphires are sourced from the corundum mineral. Sapphire is a stone believed to be good for attracting blessings, abundance, and gifts. Moreover, it is also used to calm the mind, protect against negative energies, invite spiritual clarity, and strengthen intuition. These stones are most commonly known for their striking color – blue, but they also appear in other colors – purple, pink, yellow, white, and green.
Sapphires – Historical glance
Sapphires and sapphire jewelry are often prominently found in numerous beliefs, past and present, but they have also been used for healing rituals and astrological prophecy throughout centuries. In the earlier days, it was believed that precious gemstones, including sapphires, had virtues that would benefit man. Hence sapphires have been famously known as a gemstone with a heavenly touch.
What do Sapphires look like?
Blue sapphires have remained popular and come in various colors and types. Although sapphires are naturally formed, they can possess certain flaws and inclusions. But these flaws are not to be taken as a drawback. These inclusions prove that the gemstone is genuine and unique, making them a good choice for jewelry. Moreover, in most cases, flawless sapphires are lab-created.
Sapphires – What are they made of?
Naturally formed Sapphires
Sapphires are gemstones with origins in the mineral corundum – a crystallized form of aluminum oxide. Corundum usually forms in crystalline rocks containing different types of gemstones, according to other minerals present during its formation. This amalgamation then works together over thousand years to produce rare, beautiful, coveted gemstones such as sapphires.
Lab-created sapphires
While natural sapphires may take thousands of years to form correctly, technological advancement has led to the formation of sapphires much faster.
These lab-created sapphires are formed from synthetic forms of corundum. Since natural and lab-created ones are extracted from the same mineral, the lab-created ones are similar to their visual appearance and hardness counterparts. However, lab-created sapphires are cheaper due to their faster creation and reduced rarity.
The top 4 factors to be considered while buying sapphire jewelry:
When purchasing sapphire jewelry, one must look at various factors. Some of these include:
Color
The most important factor during the buying process is the color of the sapphire. However, one must also check for the measurements of hue, saturation, and tone to ensure the gemstones are not colorless, dull, or gray.
Hue
The hue of a sapphire usually describes the gemstone’s balance of color. For instance, in blue sapphires, one can call it an intense purple, slight purple, slight green, or strong green. Furthermore, the closer one gets to the “true” blue, the more expensive the gemstone gets.
Tone and saturation
The tone of the sapphire describes how light or dark the stone is. This may range from very light to very dark. If one wishes to choose a sapphire, the medium to the dark range is the best choice as the look of the lighter sapphires is more watered down. Finally, the saturation tells the vibrancy of the color – ranging from weak/dull to vivid.
Hence, it’s important to remember that the most desired sapphires will possess a highly saturated and vivid color without any areas of brown or gray.
How to buy a suitable Sapphire – Which type to choose?
When most people hear sapphire, the extremely popular blue comes to mind. But the stone does come in different colors, and the price of this precious gemstone often depends upon its color. Hence, here are some of the types of sapphires to choose from.
Blue Sapphire
One of the most desired and popular colors (in sapphires), blue, is mined in various locations, and the different environments produce varied results. For instance, some countries are known for some of the clearest cornflower blue sapphires, and others are famous for producing lighter green ones. This type of sapphire comes in a range of blue shades and is known to be one of the finest precious gems in the world. Some blue sapphires are teal sapphire, Ice blue sapphire, and corn blue sapphire.
White Sapphire
White sapphires are known to be colorless and contain no trace elements. This precious gemstone is extremely rare; most lab-created ones have removed traces. White stands for joy, purity, and mental clarity and can be bought as an excellent alternative to a diamond engagement ring.
Pink Sapphire
Pink or red sapphires are the perfect choices for romantics, as the stones symbolize love and compassion. Earlier, pink sapphires were a rare find, but due to a large deposit, this gemstone has become incredibly popular. The colors of the stone can range from pastel pink to hot pink, and the more intense ones have only grown in the form of sapphire jewelry pieces.
Conclusion
Buying a Sapphire involves fewer technicalities than buying a Diamond, as the latter is sought-after for its brilliance, while the former is treasured for its color. Unlike diamonds, sapphires and other gemstones do not have a grading standard due to their variety in colors and characteristics. With so many different types of sapphires available, one can choose the best according to their personality, the stone’s meaning, and color.
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How to make bread without yeast
Read moreIf you think that making a delicious bread without yeast is impossible, think again! There are many types of unleavened breads that are nutritious as well as delectable! But you must be thinking that why you should switch from the good old yeast bread to an unleavened bread!
Unleavened bread is an extremely healthy choice to make for your body, especially if you’re suffering from any yeast infections in your digestive tract. It is lower in calories and reduces your sugar levels to an acceptable rate. To be healthy, you don’t have to give up bread, you just should alter the way you cook it.
So how can you make an unleavened bread at home?
The most basic bread you should start off with is the flat bread, and it cannot get any simpler. It hardly takes 30 minutes to prepare this beautiful piece of bread. All it takes is some white flour/ all-purpose flour, some water and salt. After you roll out the dough into circular flat pieces, place them on the pan, you can coat it with some olive or butter, and heat it, until it bubbles up. And that’s it, they’re ready. You can serve this in your meals with beautiful vegetables or gravies. And if you happen to just whip these up because you were hungry, you can eat them plain or with a dip, and even with some leftovers from last night.The other variety in unleavened breads are the tortillas which elevate the beauty of Mexican culinary varieties like tacos and burritos. Chapati on the other hand is the Indian version of flat bread but it’s made from whole wheat flour. Prepared on a rounded grill it is somewhat thinner and lighter in density as compared to a flat bread.
During snack time if you have a desire to gobble down a sandwich, try making the pita bread. You can stuff up the pockets of the pita bread with fresh and delightful stuffing like meats, tomatoes, herbs and cheese. Almost all the types of unleavened breads have the same combination of elements, you can change the flour or adding various components for distinctive flavors.
If you want to try something extremely different then the Norwegian flat bread aka Lefse is something that you shouldn’t miss. Unlike the other versions of flat bread, Lefse has a unique and rich combination of ingredients like flour, potatoes, milk or cream and salt. You can add sugar according to your liking. It can be eaten with both sweet and savory flavors.
The most amazing part of making an unleavened bread is that it doesn’t take away any kind of versatility because of the absence of yeast. You can still experiment with a variety of food elements and make it equally appetizing.
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Why no contract cell phone plans are better than postpaid plans?
Read moreCell phones are an important part of our lives. A lot of work is done merely over cell phones. With cell phones also come plans. The phone plans are mainly of two types: postpaid plans and no contract plans (also known as prepaid plans). Both the plans have their pros and cons. While the postpaid connections give you a freedom to make as many calls you want and simply pay the bill at the end of the month, no contract cell phone plans require you to pay in advance and then avail the services. In the postpaid plan, even though you can make calls without worrying about the balance, the end billing amount might be much more than what you were originally expecting. On the other hand, prepaid plans are much more economical as you only pay what you actually want to spend, no more, no less.
When the concept of cell phones was quite new in the market, postpaid plans were more popular back then. With time, prepaid plans have made their place in the mobile phone market. Often, these connections are more preferred over postpaid ones because of the better offers available. There are no base charges, unlike in postpaid plans. Also, you’ll get frequent updates on what amount has been consumed and what remains. This acts as a constant check on the balance amount; that you’re not being charged for anything.
Owing to all the above reasons, the no contract cell phones are much preferred among people of every class. All one needs to do is look for the best no contract cell phone plans. It is best to get no contract cell phone plans when you’re a student and do not have much to spare for your phone charges. But, it’s not just the students who may do so; it is best to buy cell phone plans with no contract to save on phone money. Nowadays, the no contract plans available are economical and much better than postpaid plans. So, it totally makes sense to get a no contract cell phone plan.