History | Jake Hoover is the man known for discovering the Montana Yogo sapphire. Miners in Montana often discarded the translucent blue stones that would clog their sluices while prospecting for gold, but Jake decided that the ones that he had found were unique. He sent a small parcel of the "blue pebbles" to Tiffany & Co. in New York, and shortly thereafter, Tiffany's returned a check for $3,750 along with a note stating Jake had found "sapphires of unusual quality" due to their clarity and color. Geology | Millions of years ago, an inland sea that covered Montana left behind a large bed of limestone, which developed a fault near Judith County. Within and around this fault, there developed a series of caverns in the limestone. Several thousand feet below the surface, an intrusion dike formed within these cavities and brought with it a unique variety of tiny crystals that would later become the building blocks for today's gemstones. As further limestone caverns were created and collapsed, this dike eroded into the limestone rubble. There, the crystals formed with iron and titanium over time and developed into the brilliant and deep Montana Yogo Sapphires. Unique and Untreated | The rare Montana Yogo Sapphires are not treated by chemical or heat methods, making their natural beauty one-of-a-kind. This is exceptional because over 90% of the world's sapphires are treated to enhance their color and clarity. Rare and Beautiful | One of the world's premier sapphires, the Montana Yogo Sapphire stands alone with its beautiful cornflower-blue color. Mined in one location in the world, Yogo Gulch, Montana, the Yogo Sapphire is an all-natural gemstone that is not heat-treated for its color or clarity. Often compared to sapphires from Kasmir and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in terms of striking color depth and brilliant blue tones, the Montana Yogo sapphires are unique because of their consistency in color, straight out of the ground.
