45th wedding anniversary gifts
Sapphire is the traditional and the modern gift for a 45th wedding anniversary, so the year has one clear theme. Australia has its own sapphire country, at Anakie and Rubyvale in Queensland and around Inverell and Glen Innes in New England, NSW, and this guide pairs local sapphire jewellery at AUD prices with a fossicking trip and blue ideas for smaller budgets.
What this anniversary symbolises
Forty-five years is the sapphire anniversary. Sapphire is also the stone the jewellers' gemstone list gives the 5th anniversary, so a couple who marked five years with a small blue stone can return to it four decades later with something grander. Deep blue reads as calm and steady rather than showy, a fitting colour for a marriage that has outlasted most of the houses, cars and jobs it started with.
Australian sapphires come from two regions. Anakie and Rubyvale sit on the Central Queensland gemfields, and Inverell and Glen Innes are in New England, NSW; Utopian Creations sources stones from both. Jewellers in Rubyvale itself, such as Taylor's Fine Sapphires and Rubyvale Gem Gallery, sell finished pieces, so the stone in a 45th gift can come from a town you could drive to and visit together.
Budget shapes this gift more than taste does. Taylor's Fine Sapphires lists Rubyvale pendants from about $990, so genuine Australian sapphire sits at the top of the range. There, choose a pendant or ring for her, or a loose stone set into something he will actually wear. Below it, keep the blue and change the format: a fossicking trip to find a stone yourselves, a reef day in deep blue water, or family photos gathered into a book for parents.
Traditional gift: Sapphire
Sapphire is the gift, and a stone mined in Australia gives it a story beyond the colour. A pendant or ring from a Rubyvale jeweller is the classic choice, while a loose Queensland or New England stone set by your own jeweller lets you choose the design. Ask where the sapphire was found and whether it is natural or created, and write the answer on the card so the provenance stays with the gift.
Modern gift: Sapphire
The modern list repeats sapphire, so there is no second material to juggle. That frees you to pick a different side of the same stone: a green Queensland sapphire, like the 1.80ct freeform stone Utopian Creations listed, or a parti sapphire showing more than one colour, like the 2.85ct pendant at Rubyvale Gem Gallery. Either suits someone who has never cared much for blue.
- Traditional
- Sapphire
- Modern
- Sapphire
- Gemstone
- Sapphire
- Name
- Sapphire anniversary
In Australia: Australian sapphires come from Anakie and Rubyvale in Queensland and from Inverell and Glen Innes in New England, NSW. A Queensland fossicking licence is required in every area of the Central Queensland gemfields, and mining leases need the holder's permission.
Gift ideas by budget
Under $100 (AUD)
Gemfields fossicking day
Buy a Queensland fossicking licence before you go, checking the current fee on the Queensland Government site, then spend a day fossicking at Anakie or Rubyvale for a sapphire of your own.
Front page from the wedding year
Etsy AU sellers print a newspaper from the year of the wedding for about $29, a reminder of how much has changed since the vows.
Forty-five year photo book
Kmart Photos makes a premium hardcover photo book for $50 at 8x12 inches or $60 at 12x12, room enough for a page per year with spares.
Deep blue flowers
Ask the florist for the darkest blues in the shop that week and send them with a card that simply says "sapphire".
$100 to $1,000 (AUD)
Rubyvale sapphire pendant
Taylor's Fine Sapphires in Rubyvale lists a sapphire pendant at about $990, genuine Queensland sapphire at the lowest price in this guide.
Have a found stone cut and set
If the fossicking day turns up a sapphire, have it cut and set as cufflinks, a tie bar or a ring, so his gift comes from a day you spent together.
Green Island glass-bottom boat
Green Island's glass-bottom boat tour is about $122 an adult (about $244 for two), a day on deep blue water for a couple who want the colour without the jewellery.
Custom family tree from the grandchildren
Grandchildren can commission a custom piece from Acorn Family Trees, priced from about $235, showing every branch added since the wedding day.
$1,000 and up (AUD)
Rubyvale sapphire ring
Taylor's Fine Sapphires lists a sapphire ring at about $1,775 and another pendant at about $1,850, and Rubyvale sellers on Etsy AU list a 9ct yellow gold sapphire ring at about AU$1,200.
Parti sapphire pendant
Rubyvale Gem Gallery listed a 2.85ct blue parti sapphire pendant at about $4,000, a statement piece with more than one colour in the stone.
Loose Australian sapphire for a custom piece
Utopian Creations, which sources from both Queensland and New England, listed a 1.80ct green Queensland sapphire at about $6,715 loose, for a couple who want to design the setting themselves.
Family-pooled sapphire
Adult children can pool their contributions through an anniversary registry towards one Queensland sapphire, so the 45th gift is bigger than any of them could manage alone.
Quick picks by recipient
For her
- Deep blue flowers
- Rubyvale sapphire pendant
- Rubyvale sapphire ring
For him
- Gemfields fossicking day
- Have a found stone cut and set
For the couple
- Gemfields fossicking day
- Front page from the wedding year
- Green Island glass-bottom boat
For parents
- Forty-five year photo book
- Custom family tree from the grandchildren
- Family-pooled sapphire
What to write in the card
- Forty-five years and you are still the best thing I ever found. Happy sapphire anniversary.
- To the pair of you on your 45th: may the next chapter shine as clear as a Rubyvale stone.
- Happy 45th. I went looking for something that has lasted as well as we have, and this blue stone came closest.
- Forty-five years of tea in bed, terrible puns and holding hands at the movies. Happy anniversary to my favourite person.
- From all of us: happy 45th to the couple who taught us what staying power looks like.
More wording by recipient and milestone is in our anniversary messages and wishes.
What to avoid
- Assuming any blue stone is sapphire; ask the jeweller to name the stone and say whether it is natural or created.
- Fossicking without a licence; Queensland requires one in every gemfields area, and mining leases need the holder's permission.
- Budgeting from an old fossicking fee you found online; check the current price on the Queensland Government site before you go.
- Planning a long gemfields road trip as a surprise for someone who dislikes long drives; ask first, or choose a sapphire from a Rubyvale jeweller instead.
Ways to celebrate
- Make the anniversary a fossicking holiday on the Central Queensland gemfields, then set the best find as the lasting gift.
- Set the dinner table in navy and cornflower blue, and ask guests to wear something blue for the family photo.
- Look back to the 5th anniversary, which shares the sapphire on the gemstone list, and recreate how you marked it.
- Visit a Rubyvale jeweller together and choose the stone as a couple rather than as a surprise.
- Read out forty-five short memories at the party, one for each year, gathered from family and friends.
45th anniversary questions
Sapphire. Shiels lists sapphire for the 45th, and When Freddie Met Lilly gives "Sapphire or Blue Sapphire". Wikipedia's US list also gives sapphire as the traditional gift, though some summaries say it appears only in modern guides.
Sapphire again. Bridebook UK and Shiels both list sapphire, so the traditional and modern lists agree and the 45th has a single theme.
It is the sapphire anniversary, and sapphire is also its gemstone. The jewellers' gemstone list gives sapphire to the 5th anniversary as well, and the 65th is known as the blue sapphire anniversary.
In Queensland at Anakie and Rubyvale on the Central Queensland gemfields, and in New South Wales around Inverell and Glen Innes in New England. Rubyvale jewellers such as Taylor's Fine Sapphires and Rubyvale Gem Gallery sell finished sapphire pieces; ask where each stone was found.
Yes. The Queensland Government says a fossicking licence is required in all areas of the Central Queensland gemfields, and you need the holder's permission to fossick on a mining lease. Check the current licence fee on the Queensland Government site when you plan the trip, because older figures online are out of date.
In October 2026, Taylor's Fine Sapphires in Rubyvale listed pieces from about $990 to $1,850, Rubyvale Gem Gallery listed a parti sapphire pendant at about $4,000, and Utopian Creations listed a loose 1.80ct green sapphire at about $6,715. Prices change, so check with the jeweller before you buy.
Prefer cash toward something bigger?
Set up a free anniversary registry and let friends and family chip in toward a trip, an experience, or one special gift.