Head to Big Sky Country, sift through sapphire-bearing gravel and discover a September birthstone of your very own.
Head to Big Sky Country, sift through sapphire-bearing gravel and discover a September birthstone of your very own.There’s something undeniably special about a sapphire. September’s birthstone has been treasured for centuries, traditionally symbolizing wisdom, loyalty and good fortune. But instead of walking into a jewelry store to buy one, what if you could actually go looking for one yourself?
Welcome to Montana, where sapphire hunting is still very much a thing. Montana has been producing sapphires for more than 150 years, with important deposits found around Rock Creek, the Missouri River, Dry Cottonwood Creek and Yogo Gulch. Today, the state remains one of America’s best-known sources of gem-quality sapphire.
And these aren’t necessarily the dark royal-blue stones you may picture when you hear the word sapphire. Montana sapphires can appear in shades of pale blue, blue-green, green, yellow, purple and even pink. Some stones are heat-treated to enhance their color, while others are sold in their natural state.
Head to Philipsburg
One of the most fun places to turn sapphire hunting into an actual vacation is Philipsburg, a historic 1890s mining town in western Montana.
Here, visitors can try their hand at sapphire prospecting, washing and sorting gravel while searching for the tiny flashes of color that might signal a sapphire hiding among the ordinary rocks. Montana’s official tourism site lists sapphire prospecting among Philipsburg’s signature experiences, with opportunities right in town to sift gravel and have your finds evaluated.
That’s what makes this such a great September getaway. You aren’t simply shopping for a birthstone. You’re searching for it. Find a promising stone and the adventure doesn’t necessarily end there. Depending on its size, color and quality, a rough sapphire may be suitable for cutting and polishing into a gemstone—and potentially turned into a ring, necklace or other piece of jewelry.
Imagine coming home from Montana and, when someone asks about your sapphire, being able to say, “I found it.”
What About Yogo Sapphires?
Montana’s famous Yogo sapphires are a little different. Found at Yogo Gulch in central Montana, they are prized for their naturally saturated blue to violet-blue color. Unlike many sapphires from Montana’s secondary deposits, Yogo sapphires generally don’t require heat treatment to produce their celebrated color. They also tend to be small, making larger cut Yogo sapphires particularly desirable.
So while you shouldn’t head to Montana expecting to casually pull a large Yogo sapphire from a tourist mining bucket, knowing that one of America’s most distinctive sapphires comes from Montana makes the state’s gemstone story even more fascinating.
Know Before You Go
Finding a sapphire and finding a valuable sapphire aren’t necessarily the same thing. Rough stones can look very different once cut, and their eventual value depends on factors including color, clarity, size, treatment and the quality of the finished cut.
If you’re purchasing a more expensive finished Montana sapphire, ask whether the stone has been heat-treated and whether its Montana origin can be documented. For a significant purchase, an independent gemological report provides much more assurance than simply taking a seller’s word for it.
Did You Know?
Sapphires and rubies are actually members of the same mineral family—corundum. When corundum is red, we call it a ruby; nearly every other gem-quality color is considered a sapphire. And while September is famous for blue, Montana sapphires can appear in beautiful shades of teal, green, blue and even yellow.
A Little History
Sapphires have been treasured for thousands of years and were once associated with protection, wisdom and good fortune. Montana’s sapphire story began in the 1800s, when the stones were discovered while miners were searching for gold. What was once tossed aside as an unwanted curiosity eventually became one of Montana’s most distinctive treasures—and today, visitors can still head to Big Sky Country and search for sapphires of their own.
