After searching literally high and low in mountaintop villages and in steamy river deltas for large-sized sapphires, through seven countries in six time zones, we met a professor of geology. Dr. John Ho was kind enough to meet us in the civilized Peninsula Hotel overlooking Hong Kong Harbor. What he showed us after reaching into his pocket took our breath away: a handful of magnificent 22 carat plus, faceted sapphires in deep midnight blue.

Most jewelers would charge exorbitantly high prices for 22 carat stones, but Stauer can keep the price under $150. A gemological rarity with ethereal blue tones, the sapphire is one of the hardest stones known to mankind, second only to diamonds. The history of sapphire collecting goes back over 2,400 years and sapphires have adorned the finest jewelry from British Royal crowns to Princess Di's engagement ring. It goes without saying that this is a limited edition, since we are never sure if we can find any more stones of this size and cut.