Padparadscha

A sapphire showing a delicate blend of pink and orange, named after the lotus blossom and historically associated with Sri Lanka. Laboratories apply written colour boundaries before using the word, and the boundaries differ between houses: a padparadscha at one lab may be a pinkish orange sapphire at another. Some stones in this colour range shift after exposure to light, so leading labs also test colour stability. The name carries a large premium; insist it appears on a current report rather than only on the invoice.