Tibetan dZi and other Himalayan Beads

Above: Very Rare Ancient Ceylon Sapphire Bead 

26 mm x 16 mm (35 ct)

I recently aquired the above bead as part of a private collection from a gemologist friend of mine. It was collected in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) many years ago. My first impression was that this was a blue chalcedony with a more unusual faceted bicone shape. The facets are rounded at the edges. Under magnification it was much easier to recognise that this was not blue chalcedony. How can you tell this is sapphire? I learnt that if you point a strong beam of light at the end of the bead you can see a faint 6 rayed star, a unique feature of sapphire. The lustre is also much higher than we see with chalcedony.

 above photo from Crystal Treasure

The natural bi-pyramidal shape of a sapphire crystal when found in its rough state (above).

Above: Ancient Blue Chalcedony