Sapphire History

In 1870, the first sapphire was found at Withersfield in Central Queensland. At that time the fever was for gold and it was not until years later that sapphire mining became an active industry in Queensland. The sapphire miners who settled at Retreat Creek and Policeman Creek named the respective towns there Sapphire and Rubyvale. The price then paid for sapphires was $2 per ounce for the best blues. The blue was rightly considered to be the true sapphire, while the other translucent corundums in other colours, such as green, yellow, orange and the particoloured were called 'fancy stone'.

For more than a decade the Australian sapphire failed to attract the overseas market, but eventually news of the unique blue colours of the Anakie sapphire spread abroad. It captivated the hearts of the nobility of Tsarist Russia and the Queensland gemfields became established.

The price soon climed to the equivalent of $20 per ounce and approximately 1,000 miners were employed on the field. Germany also became interested in the Australian sapphire and the future for the gems looked bright.