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Rubies get their deep red color from chromium in the mineral corundum, which is also the hard foundation stone of sapphires. Rubies are rarer than sapphires, in part because sapphires encompass gemstones that range in color from blue to pink to...
Rubies get their deep red color from chromium in the mineral corundum, which is also the hard foundation stone of sapphires. Rubies are rarer than sapphires, in part because sapphires encompass gemstones that range in color from blue to pink to orange. In contrast, rubies are always and only some variation of red, although jewelers have been known to market pink sapphires as rubies since rubies command a premium price.
Although rubies are mined around the world, the biggest supplier of stones is Thailand. The corundum found there is plentiful, but it contains enough iron to give Thai rubies a brownish tinge. Just across the border, however, in Myanmar, iron is almost absent from that nation’s corundum, especially in the rock taken from mines in the Mogok district, source of the most desirable rubies in the world—pigeon's blood rubies.
In Mogok, tunnel and surface mines are dug to retrieve these precious gemstones. Some surface mines are no wider than the miner himself, who digs for rubies in marble deposits. Larger surface mines are reinforced with bamboo and tree branches. Miners working in industrial-scale mines run by the government use either dynamite or hydraulic methods to get at the gemstones, which is why panning the tailings below the mines is a good way to find smaller stones.
With a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, second only to diamonds, rubies can be given brilliant, step, and mixed cuts, or they can be polished into impressive, rounded cabochons. When a ruby's rutile inclusions are aligned in multiple directions, they can produce a silky type of cat's-eye effect called asterism, which gives us the so-called "star rubies."
In fact, inclusions—or, more precisely, their absence—are a good way to tell if you are looking at a real ruby or a synthetic one. The history of misidentified rubies has actually been a problem since before the 19th century, when certain types of garnets were given names like Bohemian ruby. As with many gemstones, heat treatments have long been used to increase the intensity of a ruby's natural color, while diffusion treatments are still employed to give the surfaces of paler rubies richer hues. Then, in the early 20th century, synthetics arrived, which can even be engineered and polished to create synthetic star rubies.
As the birthstone for people born in the month of July, the ruby is known in India as the "Lord of the precious stones." Rubies are thought to be talismans of health and wisdom, although the Bible specifically prizes wisdom over the stones. Throughout history, due to their great cost, rubies have always been obvious signs of wealth, but they also symbolize less-fleeting achievements—a ruby anniversary is celebrated when a couple has shared 40 years of marriage together.
Continue readingRubies get their deep red color from chromium in the mineral corundum, which is also the hard foundation stone of sapphires. Rubies are rarer than sapphires, in part because sapphires encompass gemstones that range in color from blue to pink to orange. In contrast, rubies are always and only some variation of red, although jewelers have been known to market pink sapphires as rubies since rubies command a premium price.
Although rubies are mined around the world, the biggest supplier of stones is Thailand. The corundum found there is plentiful, but it contains enough iron to give Thai rubies a brownish tinge. Just across the border, however, in Myanmar, iron is almost absent from that nation’s corundum, especially in the rock taken from mines in the Mogok district, source of the most desirable rubies in the world—pigeon's blood rubies.
In Mogok, tunnel and surface mines are dug to retrieve these precious gemstones. Some surface mines are no wider than the miner himself, who digs for rubies in marble deposits. Larger surface mines are reinforced with bamboo and tree branches. Miners working in industrial-scale mines run by the government use either dynamite or hydraulic methods to get at the gemstones, which is why panning the tailings below the mines is a good way to find smaller stones.
With a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, second only to diamonds, rubies can be given brilliant, step, and mixed cuts, or they can be polished into impressive, rounded cabochons. When a ruby's rutile inclusions are aligned in multiple directions, they can produce a silky type of cat's-eye effect called asterism, which gives us the so-called "star rubies."
In fact, inclusions—or, more precisely, their absence—are a good way to tell if you are looking at a real ruby or a synthetic one. The history of misidentified rubies has actually been a problem since before the 19th century, when certain types of garnets were given names like Bohemian ruby. As with many gemstones,...
Rubies get their deep red color from chromium in the mineral corundum, which is also the hard foundation stone of sapphires. Rubies are rarer than sapphires, in part because sapphires encompass gemstones that range in color from blue to pink to orange. In contrast, rubies are always and only some variation of red, although jewelers have been known to market pink sapphires as rubies since rubies command a premium price.
Although rubies are mined around the world, the biggest supplier of stones is Thailand. The corundum found there is plentiful, but it contains enough iron to give Thai rubies a brownish tinge. Just across the border, however, in Myanmar, iron is almost absent from that nation’s corundum, especially in the rock taken from mines in the Mogok district, source of the most desirable rubies in the world—pigeon's blood rubies.
In Mogok, tunnel and surface mines are dug to retrieve these precious gemstones. Some surface mines are no wider than the miner himself, who digs for rubies in marble deposits. Larger surface mines are reinforced with bamboo and tree branches. Miners working in industrial-scale mines run by the government use either dynamite or hydraulic methods to get at the gemstones, which is why panning the tailings below the mines is a good way to find smaller stones.
With a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, second only to diamonds, rubies can be given brilliant, step, and mixed cuts, or they can be polished into impressive, rounded cabochons. When a ruby's rutile inclusions are aligned in multiple directions, they can produce a silky type of cat's-eye effect called asterism, which gives us the so-called "star rubies."
In fact, inclusions—or, more precisely, their absence—are a good way to tell if you are looking at a real ruby or a synthetic one. The history of misidentified rubies has actually been a problem since before the 19th century, when certain types of garnets were given names like Bohemian ruby. As with many gemstones, heat treatments have long been used to increase the intensity of a ruby's natural color, while diffusion treatments are still employed to give the surfaces of paler rubies richer hues. Then, in the early 20th century, synthetics arrived, which can even be engineered and polished to create synthetic star rubies.
As the birthstone for people born in the month of July, the ruby is known in India as the "Lord of the precious stones." Rubies are thought to be talismans of health and wisdom, although the Bible specifically prizes wisdom over the stones. Throughout history, due to their great cost, rubies have always been obvious signs of wealth, but they also symbolize less-fleeting achievements—a ruby anniversary is celebrated when a couple has shared 40 years of marriage together.
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