Historical Reading List: Kashmir Sapphires

Dr. James Shigley

April 1, 2024

Although gem corundums of all colors other than red are described as sapphire, blue sapphire is the best known and most valued in the marketplace. For nearly 150 years, blue sapphires from a relatively inaccessible mountainous region of Kashmir along the conflict border between India and Pakistan have been considered the most rare and beautiful of the corundum gems because of a combination of their saturated color, velvety luster, and slightly hazy appearance. The historic mines are in the Himalaya Mountains at an elevation of about 4600 meters (~ 15,000 feet) near Soomjam (Sumjam) in the Pádar District of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The mines were discovered in about 1881 in metamorphic host rocks (gneisses and schists), apparently as the result of a rock exposure due to a landslide. The mines were worked for a limited period until about 1887 when operations declined, and during which time they produced what is generally considered to be the finest sapphires ever found. In subsequent decades, the area was rarely visited, and mining took place only on an intermittent basis. Given the remoteness of the location, the limited period of sapphire production, and despite the notoriety of the blue sapphires from this occurrence, there is relatively little published information on the deposit itself, although discussions of the gemological properties of Kashmir sapphires have appeared in the literature on a more regular basis.

How to Use this Reading List

This reading list gives you an opportunity to learn more about the history of blue sapphires from Kashmir. Entries in the list are presented in chronological order to emphasize the development of ideas over time. The list is not comprehensive, but is a compilation of some interesting information that has often been forgotten or overlooked.

Many of the articles in the reading list exist in the public domain and can be found online at digital libraries such as Hathitrust, Internet Archive, or other digital repositories.  More recent publications can often be found in libraries. Abstracts of these more recent articles can usually be found on the website of the original journal or magazine, and the article itself is often available for purchase from the publisher.

On Sapphires Recently Discovered in the North-West Himalayas, F.R. Mallet, Records of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 138-141, (1882). This is one of the earliest published short accounts of the Kashmir blue sapphire discovery. Although not initially recognized as sapphire, the material was subsequently identified as gem corundum based on its physical properties. The article includes a letter received from A.W. Heyde (a missionary in the area) that provided additional information on the discovery.

The Geology of the Kashmir and Chamba Territories, and the British District of Khagan, R. Lydekker, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. 22, Chap. 1, pp. 335-336, (1883). The author makes a brief mention of the locality where the sapphires had recently been found.

Notice on Corundum Gems in the Himalaya Region of India, C.U. Shepard, American Journal of Science, Vol. 126, No.  155, pp. 339-340, (1883). This short article mentions the discovery of deep blue sapphire crystals up to several inches in length.

On the Newly Discovered Sapphire Mines in the Himalayas, V. Ball, Scientific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society, Vol. 4, No. 7, pp. 393-395, (1885). The author describes some crystals of blue sapphire from the Kashmir locality.

The Sapphire Mines of Kashmir, T.D. LaTouche, Records of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 59-69, (1890). This report, with a locality map and photographs, is the first published account of the sapphire mines by the author who visited the area in the fall of 1887. He describes the topography of the area and he presents details on the occurrence of sapphire.

“A Manual of the Geology of India, Part 1 – Economic Geology – Corundum”, T.H. Holland, Geological Survey of India, Calcutta, 70 pp., (1898). This book reviews the occurrences of corundum in the country including the famous Kashmir deposit.

Kashmir Sapphires, J.F. Halford-Watkins, Gemmologist, Vol. 4, No. 42, pp. 167-172, (1935). The author describes the special qualities of Kashmir sapphires and summarizes the geological setting and history of exploiting the deposit.

The Kashmir Sapphires Mines, R.V. Gaines, Himalayan Journal, Vol. 13, (1946). This article summarizes the experiences of the author who was able to visit the sapphire mining area in the late summer of 1944. A similar article appeared in Rocks & Minerals, Vol. 26, No. 9/10, pp. 464-472, (1951). The author and his associates had to walk nearly 160 miles through rugged terrain from the nearest small town, and then a similar return distance, to reach the remote sapphire mine area near Soomjam in the Himalaya mountains.

Sapphires of India and Kashmir, J.C. Brown, Gemmologist, Vol. 25, No. 298, pp. 77-80, No. 299, pp. 97-100, and No. 300, pp. 129-132, (1956). The author describes the sapphire occurrence in Kashmir, how the material was found, and he provides information on the several efforts to work the occurrence to recover additional gem material.

Kashmir Sapphires, D. Atkinson and R.Z. Kothavala, Gems & Gemology, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 64-76, (1983). The authors present a description of the sapphire locality and the gemological characteristics of the material.

A Contribution to the Distinguishing Characteristics of Sapphire from Kashmir, H.A. Hänni, Journal of Gemmology, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 67-75, (1990). Based on a study of over fifty cut stones, the author summarizes the distinctive gemological properties of the material.

The Cornflower-Blue Sapphires of Kashmir, D.S.M. Field, Canadian Gemmologist, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 55-58, (1992). The summary of a public lecture by the author on the history of the sapphire deposit.

“Ruby & Sapphire”, R.W. Hughes, RWH Publishing, Bangkok, 512 pp. (1997). This book gives a detailed description of the history, occurrences, properties, and treatment of gem corundum.

Age Determination of Zircon Inclusion in Kashmir Sapphire with U-Pb Dating, W.X. Wu, K. Link, C.Z. Liu and L. Kiefert, Journal of Gems and Gemmology, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 1-12, (2020). The two independent analytical methods result in the same conclusion that the zircon inclusions in Kashmir sapphires have crystallization ages of 26-25 million years ago.

The Legend of Himalayan Motherlode - Historical, Cultural, and Economic Significance of the Padder Blue Sapphire, J. Parihar and H. Chauhn, Research Review: International Journal of Multidisciplinary, Vol. 6, No. 12, pp. 50-56, (2021). The authors discuss the historical, cultural, and economic significance of the Padder sapphire and bring to the fore the many facets of the Padder sapphire.