years. In 2017 Queen Elizabeth II marked the sapphire jubilee of her accession to the throne. The sapphire is the birthstone of September. An Italian superstition holds that sapphires are amulets against eye problems, and melancholy. Mary, Queen of Scots, owned a medicinal sapphire worn as a pendant to rub sore eyes. Pope Innocent III decreed that rings of bishops should be made of pure gold, set with an unengraved sapphire, as possessing the virtues and qualities essential to its dignified position as a seal of secrets, for there be many things "that a priest conceals from the senses of the vulgar and less intelligent; which he keeps locked up as it were under seal." The sapphire is the official state gem of Queensland since August 1985. Notable sapphires Extensive tables listing over a hundred important and famous rubies and sapphires can be found in Chapter 10 of Ruby & Sapphire: A Gemologist's Guide. See also Geuda Emerald List of sapphires by size References External links Webmineral.com, Webmineral Corundum Page, Webmineral with extensive crystallographic and mineralogical information on Corundum Oxide minerals Optical materials Dielectrics Transparent materials Aluminium minerals Superhard materials Trigonal minerals Minerals in space group 167 Corundum gemstones Crystals