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Stone Lore
Ruby comes from the Latin word
"ruber" which means red. An ancient
Indian language called Sankrit used
the word ratnaraj meaning "king of
gems" to describe this beautiful
stone. Ruby is the red variety of the
corundum family. There are many
legends about the ruby. It was
believed that the wearer of a ruby
was blessed with health, wealth,
wisdom and outstanding success in
affairs of the heart. According to an
ancient verse of uncertain origin,
"the gleaming ruby should adorn,
All those who in July are born, For
thus they'll be exempt and free,
from lover's doubts and anxiety".
Ruby is the birthstone for the month
of July and is designated for the
40th wedding anniversary. Rubies
are routinely heated to eliminate
purple and brown overtones and
to improve clarity by reducing
cloudiness caused by rutile needles.
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Ruby is the birthstone of July & anniversary
gemstone for the 15th and 40th years of
marriage.
Ruby's day is Tuesday, its season summer, its apostle
St. Matthew. The scarlet-colored gem, July's birthstone
under the sign of Cancer, is said to accord wearers wisdom,
happiness and health, and to bring particularly good luck
to gamblers and lovers.
Rubies are more than talismans or good-luck charms, not
only historic and exotic but also valuable. Value is a human
set of conditions: gems must have rarity, durability and
beauty. Great rubies display all three hallmarks. Rubies -
especially fine rubies - are rarer than diamonds, emeralds
or sapphires. The beauty of their color is without peer. And
their durability is often a surprise to new buyers.
On the famous Mohs hardness scale of 1 to 10, everyone
knows that a diamond, as the hardest natural substance
on earth, rates a 10. Rubies, at Mohs 9, are harder than any
other material except diamonds. You may already have
noticed that rubies and sapphires are often paired. For
good reason. They belong to the same family, corundum,
the crystal form of aluminum oxide.
Fine rubies are the most expensive of all gems (with the
one exception - very rare colored diamonds, such as red).
It is safe to say that, outside of museums, most people
never see either large or fine rubies. Most of the material
sold today is commercial quality, usually small and heavily
included.
If you own rubies, it is good to remember that hardness
and susceptibility to breakage are not necessarily related.
Even though exceedingly hard, heavily included stones
may crack or chip when hit. Let common sense be your
guide. Remove jewelry before doing heavy work. Take
care of your ruby by treating it gently and by keeping your
gems and jewelry clean. Lightly included stones usually go
safely into ultrasonic cleaners. Soaking rubies in alcohol
(or vodka) overnight loosens stubborn debris, which then
can be rinsed and brushed away. Always use a soft
brush but no abrasives, not even toothpaste; such
abrasives will not hurt rubies but will scratch the softer
gold or platinum settings.
Some of the famous rubies recorded were a 98- and
74-carat pair, a 400-carat rough that was later cut to
produce a 70-carat finished jewel, a 45-carat gem said to
have sold in Mandalay and a 20-carat jewel sold in Calcutta.
When buying, use a few simple guidelines. Size, quality,
color and price are absolutely related. You can get a ruby
twice the size for the same price if you are willing to have
one with less than half the color and quality. When one
feature improves, others have to come down to hold the
same price.
Shape is a personal preference. Most rubies are fashioned
as ovals or cushion-cuts. But there are emerald-cuts,
rounds and more if those set your heart pumping. Cutting
standards are far more relaxed for colored stones than for
diamonds. Most rubies are faceted overseas, producing
what the trade calls "native cuts." Dealers here often have
to recut off-center and asymmetrical gems.
Clarity guidelines are not as rigorous with rubies as with
diamonds because a natural flawless ruby is a virtual
impossibility. Rubies, like emeralds, are expected to have
inclusions. If you ever see an almost flawless ruby, stop
where you are. Do not buy this ruby until you have had
it tested.
It is perfectly reasonable as a gem customer to ask to see
your stone with a loupe or under a microscope. Look to see
if the inclusions adversely affect the overall look of the gem
or if they are severe enough to threaten its integrity.
Fractures that reach the surface present risks. The less
expensive the ruby, the more inclusions you may see. Avoid
inclusions so numerous as to make the gem cloudy or even
opaque.
Of course, color is everything with rubie How red can you a
fford? The richer, deeper, better the red, the more expensive
and rarer the ruby. Factor color into your personal mix to
decide what you want. Imagine a red without undertones, a
pure red. Your dream red may well be the vivacious color of
Burmese rubies.
Now imagine a can of red paint to which you add a little black.
That darker undertone would produce a color normally
associated with rubies from Thailand. Then suppose instead
of black you add purple, another marketable ruby color.
Finally, suppose you have, instead of red, a paler color
between light and dark pink. As the buyer you will want to
see these described and priced as pink sapphires, but the
seller may want to sell them as pale rubies
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