1940s Sapphire
Vintage 1940s French Bangles
Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1940s Unknown Cluster Rings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
Vintage 1940s Unknown Art Deco Engagement Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Platinum, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1940s American Retro Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Early 20th Century American Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Platinum
Vintage 1940s French Retro Drop Necklaces
Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, Diamond, 18k Gold, Platinum, Rose Gold
Mid-20th Century Dutch Signet Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s Unknown Art Deco Band Rings
Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s Engagement Rings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, White Gold, Platinum
Antique 1640s Brooches
White Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold
Vintage 1940s Italian Drop Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, Silver
Vintage 1940s Unknown Art Deco Cluster Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum
Vintage 1940s Unknown Tennis Bracelets
Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1940s American Retro Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 14k Gold
Vintage 1940s Unknown Art Deco Cluster Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Platinum
Vintage 1940s French Retro Signet Rings
Diamond, White Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow ...
Vintage 1940s French Retro More Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, Platinum
Mid-20th Century English Band Rings
Sapphire, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1940s French Retro Three-Stone Rings
Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Rose Gold
Vintage 1940s Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum
Mid-20th Century Retro More Rings
White Diamond, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, Platinum
Vintage 1940s Retro Clip-on Earrings
Moonstone, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1940s Brooches
Citrine, Diamond, Sapphire, 14k Gold
Vintage 1940s British Victorian Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s Unknown Engagement Rings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
Vintage 1940s French Brooches
Diamond, Moonstone, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s Unknown Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1940s French Cluster Rings
Blue Sapphire, Diamond, Sapphire, White Diamond, Platinum
Vintage 1940s French Retro Cluster Rings
Blue Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s French Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
Vintage 1940s American Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Platinum
Vintage 1940s Unknown Engagement Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
Vintage 1940s French Engagement Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
Vintage 1940s Retro Brooches
Moonstone, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1940s British Victorian Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s British Victorian Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold
Mid-20th Century British Art Nouveau Drop Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold
Vintage 1940s American Retro More Objets d Art and Vertu
Sapphire, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1940s American Retro More Jewelry
Sapphire, Yellow Gold
20th Century Unknown Modern Wrist Watches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, 14k Gold, Rose Gold
Vintage 1940s French Engagement Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s Unknown Retro Bangles
Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, 14k Gold
Vintage 1940s Unknown Engagement Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum
Vintage 1940s Unknown Engagement Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Platinum
Vintage 1940s Unknown Art Deco Stud Earrings
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold, Platinum
Vintage 1940s American Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Platinum, 14k Gold
Vintage 1940s Unknown Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
Early 20th Century Unknown Retro Cluster Rings
Diamond, Blue Sapphire, Platinum
Vintage 1940s American Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Moonstone, 14k Gold
Vintage 1940s American Retro Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s American Retro Bangles
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s Italian Charm Bracelets
Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s British Art Deco Cocktail Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, 15k Gold
Vintage 1940s Unknown Charm Bracelets
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, 14k Gold, Platinum
Vintage 1940s Retro Engagement Rings
Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum
Vintage 1940s Unknown Brooches
Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold
Vintage 1940s American Retro Link Bracelets
Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, 14k Gold
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1940s Sapphire For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a 1940s Sapphire?
The Legacy of Sapphire in Jewelry Design
On 1stDibs, shop the bright blue gems that star in sapphire rings, sapphire necklaces and other vintage and antique sapphire jewelry.
Sapphires — the stone of choice for Napoleon, Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor — have been a favorite of aristocrats and the well-to-do since the time of the Ancient Greeks.
Picture a sapphire. If the stone you conjure is a deep cornflower blue, you’re seeing only part of the picture. Although blue Kashmirs are considered the most valuable, sapphires come in every color except red. No matter the hue, this very special gem is rich in history and beloved by royals (FYI, Princess Diana and Kate Middleton share an 11-carat sapphire engagement ring), so September babies are in very noble company.
America’s version of royalty — old money and celebrities — have also shown a predilection for the blue stones. In 1940, John D. Rockefeller Jr. had Cartier mount a 62-carat sapphire he had bought from an Indian maharajah in a brooch for his first wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; in 2001, the piece sold for a then-record of $3,031,000 at Christie’s New York.
The grand dame of jewelry, Elizabeth Taylor had a passion for the gems that her lovers were happy to indulge. Second husband Michael Wilding gave her an engagement ring set with a cabochon sapphire, while Richard Burton famously presented her with a BVLGARI sautoir set with diamonds and sapphires, including at its center a cabochon Burmese weighing 52.72 carats. One of the star lots in the sale of Taylor’s jewels at the Christie’s New York in 2011, it sold for $5,906,500.
You don’t have to have blue blood or a bulging bank account, however, to get an eyeful of this much-coveted gem. A number of outstanding examples reside in public collections.
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History owns the 423-carat Logan sapphire, a gift from the Guggenheim family, and the Hall sapphire and diamond necklace, designed by Harry Winston and featuring 36 fine, well-matched cushion-cut Sri Lankan sapphires weighing a combined 195 carats. Also in the collection is the Bismarck sapphire necklace, designed by Cartier and sporting a central sapphire weighing 98.6 carats, which Mona Von Bismarck donated to the museum.
Sapphires are composed of corundum. Their color derives from trace elements, such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper or magnesium. When the trace element produces a ruby hue, the stone is called, what else, a ruby. (which is, as mentioned above, why sapphires cannot be red by definition).
The allure of large gemstones endures throughout the periods characterized as vintage, and sapphire features frequently in vintage engagement rings. (On 1stDibs, a range of buying guides can be found for those in the market for antique engagement rings, vintage engagement rings or Art Deco engagement rings.)
Find an exquisite collection of vintage and antique sapphire jewelry on 1stDibs.