Sapphires

Yogo Sapphires & Montana Sapphires

There are two types

• Montana Yogo Sapphires
• Montana Sapphires

(These are two totally different items.)

And

These are one of the finest Sapphires in the world, and are very rare. Montana Yogo Sapphires are found at only one place in the entire world: the Yogo Creek near Utica, Montana. Most Yogo Sapphires that are mined, are very flat, meaning, they have no depth. This makes deeper Yogo’s very rare. They are never heat-treated and have a very uniform color called zoning. Most Jewelers, especially in other states, have not to recover them from the earth, various forms of Hard Rock mining are used. Many Yogo Sapphires become smaller when these methods are used. Imagine if you will, using one of these forms, dynamite. The dynamite blasting causes the next problem.

When an explosive charge is placed in the hard rock to break it up, the Yogo Sapphires end up broken up also. This is why larger Yogo’s are very rare and are worth more money. In some larger sizes they are worth more then diamonds.

In smaller sizes they cost less then diamonds, as they are more plentiful. Now you start to see why some Yogo’s can get very expensive and others are not. Yogo Sapphires usually come in a cornflower blue color or sometimes a purple color.

Second: Montana Sapphires, These are different from Yogo Sapphires. They cost less and they come in a variety of colors. They are found in and around the Missouri River near our hometown of Helena, Montana and also west of Helena at Gem Mountain. They are comparable to sapphires mined around the world in cost. What makes these sapphires unique are the variety of colors they can be found in. The most common are various colors of greens and blues, with some yellows and reds. Heat treatments are sometimes used in Montana Sapphires but not always. Heat Treatments may sometimes enhance the color of the sapphires. We sell both heat-treated and non heat-treated.

Some jewelers will tell you that heat treatments are good; others will say that heat treatments are bad. We believe that either is fine. Heat-treating is a permanent change and we have both for your selection.