Formed over 150 million years ago deep in the earth’s crust brought to the surface in igneous rock high in alumina low in silicon such as Basalt rocks. Basaltic volcanic rocks of eastern Australia are a major source of corundum, Sapphire and Ruby. However they are rare and not mined from these rocks as it is very expensive to extract small gems from rock with many breaking during the mining process. Instead they are more easily mined when these basaltic rocks weather down over time eroded away leaving behind tougher resistant gems such as Ruby and Sapphire. Transported by rain, floods, streams and rivers they concentrate in numbers and deposit into placer deposits in rivers and streams. These deposits are rare. Deposits such as these occurred at Subera, Anakie and Hoy Province in Central Queensland, enter Australian Natural Sapphire Company.
At a time when selling these rare gems to Thailand was a normal practice one collector of fine Gems had a vision and acquired the best available material for future use. The top 2% of all mined Queensland Gem Field material had been stockpiled and acquired. Famous mining regions such as Ruby Vale, Sapphire, Tomahawk Creek, Subera, Anachy, Glenn Alva and Willows are just some of the locations the stockpile has been sourced. The mineral rich soils of some of these locations led to a larger than normal range of colour-change and colour-shift Sapphires across all the colours of the spectrum. Each piece of this 150 million-year-old gem material is treatment free just released from the depths of the Australian rare earth soils and washed in water.
Each Australian Natural Sapphire Company gem is studied at great length by the owner until the perfect orientation shape and colour direction are determined. Viewing windows are then polished into the rough uncut gem to allow an internal visual inspection. Any flaws and colour zoning are shown at this point along with confirmation of shape and colour. Only at this point is the Sapphire allocated to one of our four professional in house cutters for a consultation prior to cutting. Once a final cutting plan is discussed the rough is facetted and polished to 100,000 diamond grit sized polish. Only a rare gem from Australian Natural Sapphire Company has this attention to detail to guarantee the largest gem return weight possible to exacting proportions and symmetry, there is no re-cutting twice or three times of substandard cutting or flaws of second grade material.
Established in 1995 and supplying wholesale to the trade Australian Natural Sapphire Company now has partnered with Michael Muratore of Murazzo a truly great artist offering a concept to completion skill set like no other. Michael starts at the very beginning with a piece of rough uncut Australian Natural Sapphire Company crystal. Once studied and a design is chosen he cuts away to exacting standards to reveal a one of a kind bespoke gem of the highest standard.
With a client’s input or from his own knowledge of fashion and design, Michael handcrafts the jewellery from a forged ingot of platinum or gold to cradle the Sapphire allowing it to shine like no other. Michael then sets each gem and finishes each piece with his own hands to meticulous levels of detail. Each Sapphire and jewellery item is crafted to consider colour, shape, size and of course the future owners needs whether it be a pendant for a thank you gift or a stately engagement ring capturing and reflecting love, passion, longevity and commitment.
At Australian natural sapphire company our commitment to quality and uniqueness is our companies number one focus. Our rough Sapphire is selected to be flaw free, pure of colour and above all to capture the true colours of the Australian landscape from which it came. Blue of sky and ocean, green of grasslands and forest, yellows of desert sands, orange and reds as only an Australian Sunset and soils can match.
