September brings a change of pace.
The light turns richer, and the mountain ridges and terraced vineyards of the Valtellina begin to shift towards amber and red.
But there is another colour catching the eye these weeks in the Florio Folini boutiques: the colour of sapphire.
Sapphire is September's birthstone, and it is also the gem associated with the fifth and forty-fifth wedding anniversaries. Two very different milestones, held together by a single idea: fidelity, first taking root and then deepening.
Sapphire: a stone named after the sky
The name comes from the Greek sappheiros, a word that in all likelihood originally referred to lapis lazuli. In the popular imagination, sapphire has always meant blue.
In ancient Greece and Rome, kings and queens believed that blue sapphire shielded its wearer from envy and harm.
In the Middle Ages, the clergy wore it as a symbol of Heaven, while ordinary people believed it drew down divine blessings.
In other times and other places it was credited with different powers altogether: making peace between enemies, influencing spirits, unlocking the secrets of oracles.
Traditionally, sapphire stands for nobility, truth, sincerity and faithfulness. For centuries it adorned the robes of monarchs and churchmen alike.
Not every sapphire is blue
And here is the part that surprises almost everyone.
Sapphire and ruby are the very same stone: corundum, aluminium oxide.
The only difference is colour. When corundum is red, we call it ruby. In every other case, we call it sapphire.
Which means there are violet, green, yellow, orange and pink sapphires, and every shade in between.
Some are grey, black or brown. Some change colour with the light, reading blue by daylight and violet under an incandescent bulb. The trade calls these fancy sapphires, and they are the most fascinating, and least known, branch of the family.
Rarest of all is the padparadscha, a delicate pinkish orange whose name means lotus blossom in Sinhalese. The first stones to carry the name came from Sri Lanka.
Why sapphire is a stone you can wear every day
There is a practical reason sapphire is such a happy choice, and it deserves saying.
On the Mohs scale, which measures the hardness of minerals, sapphire reaches 9. Only diamond goes higher, at 10. This is a stone that stands up to daily wear, which makes it well suited to rings that never come off, engagement rings included.
Lady Diana knew as much. In 1981 she chose a Garrard engagement ring set with a 12-carat oval Ceylon sapphire framed by diamonds. The same ring is worn today by Catherine, Princess of Wales, and it has made blue sapphire one of the most imitated choices in the history of fine jewellery.
Sapphires at Florio Folini Gioielli
In our Sondrio and Livigno boutiques, sapphire appears in more than one guise.
In the Florio Folini Collection you will find an 18-carat white gold ring set with a 3.02-carat central blue sapphire, surrounded by 1.82 carats of brilliant-cut diamonds. This is the classic, in its fullest expression.
From the same collection comes a white gold necklace, its chain punctuated with brilliant-cut diamonds and sapphires, with a central pendant of three fancy-shape diamonds totalling 1.79 carats set among multicoloured sapphires. It is the piece that best tells the story above: sapphire is never just one colour.
Choosing a sapphire with Florio Folini Gioielli
Choosing a sapphire means looking at colour, of course, but also at cut, at clarity and at where the stone came from.
These are judgements best made in person, with the stone in your hand and under the right light. More than that, they are best made alongside someone with real training, someone like Antonella Folini, a GIA-qualified gemmologist.
Whether it is for a September birthday, for an anniversary, or simply because it is the stone that looks like you, come and see us in Sondrio or Livigno and discover everything sapphire has to offer.
