| RUBY - The most valuable variety of corundum is ruby. The name comes from Latin rubrum, “red.” Like other red stones, it has also been called carbunculus, or carbuncle, meaning a small coal or ember. The color varies from fiery vermilion to violet red, but because rubies are pleochroic, different colors are also found in the same stone; bright or sometimes brick red in one direction, tending to carmine in the other. The color is also accompanied by marked fluorescence, which is stimulated by ordinary, artificial light and above all, by the ultraviolet rays of direct sunlight. Thus rubies turn brighter red under such light and the purplish ones look “redder.” If he color is too pale, they are no longer called rubies, but pink sapphires; if it is more violet than red, they are known as violet sapphires. But it is hard to establish precise limits, as all the intermediate shades are possible. The brightest red and thus the most valuable rubies (usually from Burma) often have areas full of inclusions in the form of minute rutile needles, which interfere with the light, producing a distinctive silky sheen known, in fact, as silk. When the silk is not heavy, the stones are clearer, more attractive, and even more valuable. Rubies of this type are not usually more than a few carats in weight. The rare exceptions generally contain copious inclusions. Violet red, sometimes quite dark, rubies come principally from Thailand. The type most often found on the market nowadays, they can be several carats in weight. They are normally clearer, without patches of silk. While good-sized clear stones are found, specimens with many inclusions are commonly sold as well. Rubies are usually given a mixed cut, which is generally oval, but can be round or, more rarely, other shapes. In the past, they were given a cabochon cut, like all stones outstanding for their color. Today, however, this cut is reserved for less transparent stones with numerous inclusions. On the Moh's scale Rubys are a 9.0 Rubies can often be distinguished by their immediately visible characteristics: a fairly obvious pleochroism, a distinct brightening of color in strong light, the silk effect, and a considerable luster, it is not pleochroic, turns much less bright in strong light, and never displays the silk effect. Red garnet is not pleochroic and the color does not brighten in strong light; it has a similar luster, but when given faceted cut often displays dark, blackish areas within the stone. Red tourmaline is usually a completely different shade, but can be very similar, with a pleochroism comparable to that of ruby. It does not, however, brighten in strong light, and this can be sufficient indication to warrant testing its physical properties, which are quite different. The rubies with the finest color come from the Mogok region in Burma. These are most truly vermilion, though they still have a touch of carmine. Thailand, however, is today main source of rubies. Thai rubies are usually slightly less attractive, a bit darker with a violet tinge, but they often have fewer inclusions. Rubies are also found in Sri Lanka, but in very small quantities. Often pale, almost pink, they can be attractive, with an appearance that is both brilliant and lively. Small quantities of very fine rubies also come from the area of Cambodia on the border with Thailand, while rather opaque specimens, mainly of inferior quality, are found in India and Pakistan. Tanzania and neighboring countries have also been mining rubies for a few years. Some of the rubies found in these countries are almost as finely colored as those from Burma, with inclusions similar to rubies from Thailand, while others are semi-opaque and of very limited value. Ruby has very occasionally been imitated by glass, which has rather different, less lively color and an inferior luster. Doublets, have sometimes imitated it with the top part consisting of garnet, to provide luster, hardness, and natural-looking inclusions and the bottom part of red glass, fused rather than cemented to the garnet layer. But such imitations are uncommon. Synthetic ruby has been produced from the beginning of the twentieth century and was the first synthetic gemstone to be manufactured on an industrial scale. To make these synthetic stones harder to distinguish from some natural rubies with numerous inclusions, they have sometimes been produced in the Orient. The top part of these doublets consists of poorly colored natural corundum with obvious, typical conclusions; and the lower part is synthetic ruby, held to the corundum by transparent cement. The effect is highly deceptive: the reassuring presence of natural inclusions and characteristic luster combined with a color which is not perfect, but is normal for the majority of rubies, can be much more convincing than a synthetic ruby. Intensifies love and compassion, stimulation and active expression of the sex drive. Brings circulation to normal. High energy stone for courage, boldness and action. Good for blood purifier, sex drive, and physical energy. RUBY Contentment Fortune Circulation, Fevers RUBY IN ZOISITE- Strong energizer, positive vibrations, clears heart. RUBY ZOISITE see Zoisite Ruby Trivia In ancient legends, it was believed the person who wore a ruby was blessed with health, wisdom, wealth, and outstanding success in affairs of the heart. Long ago it was said that rubbing your skin with a ruby would help maintain its youthful appearance. Unflawed rubies in sizes larger than five carots are more valuable than diamonds of equal quality and size. The ruby mines of Myanmar (Burma) where Stone Age and Bronze Age mining tools have been found. Marco Polo wrote that Kublai Kahn, Mongol Emperor of China, offered and entire city for a ruby the size of a man's finger. Eastern ledends maintain that the ruby contains the spark of life and is "a deep drop of the heart's blood of Mother Earth." |