Hidden in the mountains and rivers of Montana, shiny rocks were found and discarded by gold miners, who had no idea about what they had discovered, but eventually one curious miner took action to find out about these glimmering pebbles, which turned out to be sapphire. Despite their wondrous color and steady supply, these American beauties are often overlooked in the world of sapphires.
An Accidental Find
Sapphires were first found in Montana in 1865 during the gold rush of the 1860s. Gold miners were sifting through rock and dirt in search of the precious metal, which was easily identifiable by its color. Mixed in with those gold nuggets were pebble size rocks that were shiny and colorful, not knowing the value of the stones, the “pebbles” were tossed away. Shabby treatment for what is today the official state stone of Montana also known as the Treasure State.
The gems were first identified by Tiffany & Co. gem expert George Frederick Kunz, who was also a special agent for the United States Geological Survey. In 1895, Jake Hoover a gold miner in Montana decided to send a cigar box of the shiny stones to Kunz in New York City. Kunz identified the stones as sapphires and Tiffany & Co., purchased the lot for $3,750. The stones were subsequently used in a number of Tiffany & Co. designs.
Mining Sapphires
Sapphires are found in a few places located in central and southwestern Montana. Yogo Gulch is the most famous of the mines, but there are a few others. There is the Missouri River mine, near Helena; Rock Creek, near Philipsburg and Yogo Gulch, all of which have been producing on and off since their discovery. The mines have produced sporadically, not because there were no sapphires left, but instead because the mining companies kept running out of money.
Mining is an expensive venture and the sapphire mines kept getting new owners who only held the mines for a couple of years at a time. Enter London gem dealers Edwin W. Streeter and Horatio Stewart. The duo went to Montana to check out the Missouri River bar in 1890. A year later the English Mine Company purchased 3,900 acres of land in the heart of Montana’s mining country, allowing the rough to be taken out of the ground and even sent to Europe. At this point, Americans were not interested in Montana sapphires, they wanted gems from Asia.
For Sale Again
The English Mine Company decided to put the sapphire mine up for sale after World War II. The Yogo Sapphire Montana Company jumped on the opportunity to acquire the mine. After ten years of negotiating for the property, they concluded the deal in 1956, but by that time, so much money had been spent on making the deal that, once again there was no money left to mine and after a few years of operations, the mine closed in 1959.
The mine was leased and at one point to Arnold Baron, who recognized the value of cutting and marketing the gems. The sapphires were sent to Germany and Thailand to be cut and polished. Even so, the gems still didn’t catch on with the American consumer. When Baron’s lease expired, the mine was sold to Sapphire Village in 1968. Sapphire Village made the decision to cut the gems in Montana, and in 1973, one of its business partners, Chikara Kunisaki, bought out the other partners’ interests in the mine, by 1976, he was out of business.
Marketing Montana Sapphire
Two years later the mine was leased once again to new management. The new mine head, Victor de Suvero, was a marketing guru and began widely advertising Montana sapphires, earning the gems a mention in JCK in 1978, the first time the rocks were given any trade publicity. Finances once again got in the way and de Suvero lost the lease to the mine. The mine was put up for sale by Kunisaki and purchased by American Yogo Sapphire Ltd.
This time, not only did the new company cut and polish the stones, but they also set the gems in jewelry selling the line to retail stores. Even with all of this effort it wasn’t enough to keep the mine afloat, and the company lost the mine in 1986. Eventually it was purchased by the Roberts Yogo Sapphire Company. Sapphires that come from the Yogo Gulch mines are a particularly bright blue, while the other mines produce a lighter blue, as well as pink, green, yellow or orange hues. In general sapphires from Montana, including the Yogo Gulch, tend to be smaller in size, usually under 2-carats.
Today, the Montana sapphire mines continue to produce the gems that are prized not only for their color, but because they are a distinctly American gem.
Top of Page: Montana sapphire rough from a small quarry at the Spokane Gravel Bar, near Helena, Montana, photo by James St. John, courtesy WikiCommons.
Authored by Amber Michelle