Distinctly Montana Magazine

W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA NA . C O M 73 Yogo sapphires are certain to increase in value and collectability in the future for a number of reasons, but chief among them is their naturally acquired blue color. As it happens, ordinary sapphires may be altered in color by subjecting them to sustained heat, but the artificially colored gems are not nearly as valuable. In fact, industry experts estimate that around 95% of all marketplace sapphires have been heat-treated, which drives up the value of naturally blue Yogo gems. It is true that Yogo sapphires tend to be smaller than their counterparts found elsewhere, but the purity of their cornflower color more than makes up for their size. And when a Yogo stone is large enough to yield a large cut gem—watch your pocketbook! While modest stones of less than a quarter carat can be had at rea- sonable prices beginning at $300, a full carat-cut gem can range as high as $10,000. A carat, incidentally, is a unit of weight equivalent to about 1/140 of an ounce. Stacy Henry at Barnes Jewelry in Helena emphasized that the value and price of Yogo sapphires really depends on several factors, all of which must be taken into account in trying to locate the specific stone you might want. Presently, for example, Barnes has in its inventory a full one carat Yogo in a vintage ring that is priced at $14,000, while a more modest pendant of a half carat is only $2,200. "e pendant stone has an inclusion," Henry said, "which affects the value of the stone." Almost any jeweler in Montana will tell you that the experts on Yogo sapphires are the folks at the Gem Gallery in Bozeman, which specializes in Yogos. "When it comes to Yogo sapphires, we like to say that 'we have something for everyone,'" said April Mize at the Gem Gallery. "We sell the popular Montana state pendant which features modest Yogo sapphires, beginning at around $300." at pendant was designed by Jason Baide, a 2018 graduate of MSU and the son of Gem Gallery owner Don Baide. e Gem Gallery has also marketed some of the most expensive and impressive Yogo sapphires ever discovered: a 3.72 carat stone sold a few years ago for $170,000—just the gem, not including a setting. It's hard to appreciate a gem like the sapphire until you actu- ally see one up close and revel in the almost otherworldly depth of its blue color. It's fitting that the Yogo is found only in Montana, because like the expansive blue skies for which the state is so well known, the singular blue of a Yogo sapphire adds to Montana's signature mystique.

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