What types of rubies are there

Rubies come in a wide variety of colors, including bright red, pink-red, brownish red, dark-red, and even pink or purplish-red. With the exception of the diamond, no other gem is harder than a ruby. Rubies have a hardness level of 9. If you own a ruby that ignites in the darkness, this is a sign that the ruby consists of superb quality.

If your ruby is rubbed on the stone, pay attention to how much rubbing action is displayed. If the rubbing shows up, that gem is called a fine ruby. It is considered to be a good ruby if you rub it and it does not lose weight. There are only four different stones that qualify as a gemstone, and the ruby is one of them.

The other three are diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds. Traditionally, rubies have been worn for protection, as a symbol of power, and for wisdom and beauty. Rubies are referenced in the bible a total of four times, and in ancient times they were even thought to have the ability to make peace between two enemies. Even the movie The Wizard of Oz contains ruby slippers that were thought to ward off evil.

Skip to content Guess how much the most expensive ruby sold fetched at auction? Only diamonds are harder than rubies. Rubies are rare. How rubies are formed? Where are rubies formed and mined in the world? Contents By Type 1. Star 2. Faceted 3. Cabochon 4. Trapiche Types by Location 5. Afghanistan Rubies 6. African 7. Indian 8. Madagascar is yet another, and rather recent, contender in the ruby market.

Depending on the mining region, Madagascar rubies can have a red, or red-orange hue. Lastly, rubies have been mined in Afghanistan for centuries. These stones range from light to deep red, and can be like no others on the planet. While the round shape is ideal for colorless diamonds, cushion and radiant shapes are preferable for most fancy color diamonds.

Although rubies are color gemstones , their structure differs from that of a diamond. For instance, a ruby holds much of its color at the base of the stone. Rubies can be cut into all shapes including asscher , princess , emerald , cushion , and radiant although round rubies , oval rubies , pear rubies , and marquise rubies are the most prevalent. Fine rubies can be purchased already set in jewelry pieces or as loose stones.

Similarly, you may find a Thailand oval ruby, a Mozambique pear ruby, or a Burmese marquise ruby. The most sought-after rubies of all predominantly come from Burma, now known as Myanmar, and best known as Burmese Rubies. The quality of these rubies is generally much higher than rubies from other locations, and usually display a richer more desirable red color. Pigeon Blood Rubies, the most looked-for color for rubies, are often Burmese Rubies.

Click here for more information on Burmese rubies. Being that the color is the most important of the 4 Cs Color, Cut, Clarity, and Carat when talking about rubies, it is logical that stones displaying a very vivid crimson color would be deemed the most desirable. Pigeon Blood Rubies are rubies that display this highly coveted hue. Click here for more information on pigeon blood rubies. Every so often, certain processes occur within nature that coincide with one another resulting in a coincidental and magnificent creation.

All gemstones are the products of similar processes with additional conditions leading to very rare versions of the stones. Historically, ruby jewelry has usually been given as anniversary and birthday gifts. Ruby jewelry is also a popular gift for 15th and 40th wedding anniversaries. As we explained in our guide to anniversary rings , gifting a pair of ruby earrings or a ruby eternity ring is a great way to symbolize your love and affection for your partner.

Over the last decade, rubies have also become popular as engagement ring center stones. To see some examples of what a ruby looks like in engagement rings, visit our list of recently purchased rings from our highest-rated retailers. Although some rubies are incredibly valuable and can command very high prices, most rubies are considerably less expensive than diamonds of the same size. This lower pricing makes a ruby an appealing alternative to a diamond for an engagement ring or other jewelry.

For example, this 1. Very high-end rubies can be far more expensive — in some cases, either as expensive or more expensive than diamonds of the same size. Like diamonds, rubies are assessed using certain quality factors. Of these, the most important, by far, is color. The stronger and more intense the color, the more valuable the ruby. Finally, like with all gemstones, the carat weight of a ruby plays a role in its value, with a larger ruby commanding a higher value than a smaller one. An exceptionally high-quality ruby that combines rich, natural color with other quality factors is exceptionally rare and often worth an incredible amount.

For example, this stunning As with emeralds , the most important factor when evaluating a ruby is its color. The deeper, and more intense the color, the more desirable the ruby. The best ruby color is typically thought of as a deep, vivid red. However, rubies can look stunning in other colors, such as pink or brown-red.

Hue refers to where the ruby falls in the spectrum of other colors. Each ruby has a primary and secondary color. The primary color is red, and the secondary color is usually orange, purple or pink. Some rubies mined from specific parts of the world are known to have certain secondary colors, such as rubies from Myanmar, which are known to have a slight purple secondary color.

Purple as a secondary color can actually be better in a ruby because it makes the red appear richer. Color tip: set a purplish red ruby in yellow gold , like they do in Burma. The yellow color will neutralize the blue in the purple, making the ruby appear even more red. This brings us to our last color criterion, saturation. Also, rubies that fluoresce glow in ultraviolet light can have even greater saturation. It should go without saying that if the color of a ruby is by far the most important factor, it would be crazy to even consider buying a ruby sight unseen.

This is the only way, for example, that gemologists can distinguish between pink sapphires and rubies. But it also leaves some room for error, so beware of these murky waters if someone is trying to sell you a ruby that looks a lot more to you like a pink sapphire!

But these shapes are rare in larger sizes and higher qualities. Ruby rough is very expensive, so many cutters try to conserve as much weight as possible. They might fashion flattened ruby rough into shallow stones, even though light escapes through flattened pavilions, causing an unattractive see-through area in the stone called a window. Pleochroism—the appearance of different colors in different crystal directions—is another factor that influences cut. In ruby it typically appears as red to purplish red in one crystal direction and orangy red in the other.

Cutters can minimize the orangy red color by orienting the table facet perpendicular to the long crystal direction. Fine-quality rubies over one carat are very rare, but commercial-quality rubies are commonly available in a wide range of sizes.

The price per carat goes up significantly for ruby as it increases in size. Ruby Quality Factors. The mixture of these untreated and heat-treated rubies show a range of darker and brighter red colors.

Intersecting needles of the mineral rutile create a common ruby inclusion called silk. When they are intact, they prove the ruby was not heat-treated at very high temperatures. Photo: John I. Koivula, GIA.