Kashmir sapphire: record of the building of the Himalayan Range English translation of the article "Kaschmir Sapphire und ihr Erinnerungsvermoegen an die Entstehungsgeschichte des Himalayagebirges" (1990), by Peretti, A., Mullis, J., Kündig R., written for Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 187, p. 59. For a period longer than 100 years Kashmir sapphires range amongst the most rare and the most beautiful gemstones. But they are not only just beauties, they additionally bare some scientific secrets. Within the sapphire little tiny solid- and fluid inclusions allow scientists to get useful hints on the Himalayan orogeny. Sapphire is built from the elements aluminum (A1) and oxygen (O) by the chemical formula A1203. The crystalline system belongs to the trigonal class. This is one of the reasons for the gemstones hardness and durability. The blue color of the crystals originates from traces of iron (Fe) and titanium (Ti). All over the world several localities of sapphire outcorps are known. The genesis of the sapphire is either due to magma activity or due to metamorphic processes deep within the earths crust. One of the tasks for the expedition last September was to get some more information on one of the world most famous sapphire mine, the Kashmir locality. The data are now used for an interdisciplinary scientific programme. Figure 1: Geological-tectonical map showing the location of the Kashmir mine within the high metamorphic section of the Himalaya. Expedition to the mine The mine complex in Kashmir is situated approx. 4600 m above sea level within a hardly accessible mountain region on the southern slopes of the Zanskar range (northwest Indian Himalaya, state of Jammu & Kashmir: fig. 1). Only a few months during the year, between the end of the early summer rain season and the first snowfalls in autumn, one can travel into this area. Starting from Atholi or Kishtwar, the last villages accessible by jeep or truck, several days of hard walking leads to the mine spot - a complex system of several galleries driven into the hard country rock high above the village of Sumcham (fig. 1). The mining area is well guarded since 1881 when the first sapphires were found. At first the mines belonged to the Maharaja of Kashmir, later they got under state control with different leases. The permission to enter the mine area in atumn 1989 was guaranteed by the Jammu & Kashmir state Minerals Ltd. As well as by the actual lessee. The expedition further could take advantage of previous geological and logistical work done by a group of ETH geologists (PhD thesis works on the subject of tectonic and metamorphic processes in the Higher Himalaya in Ladakh, Zanskar). The expedition produced a lot of film and photographic material and of course scientific sampling has been done all over the region. All material is now in the laboratories for further examination.