Facts About Rubies
The following are facts about rubies.
- Clear rubies of deeper shades are the most highly prized
- Fine rubies are exceptionally rare even despite the best efforts of gemstone merchants to enrich the color via technology
- In America, rubies are mined in North Carolina and also near Helena, Montana. The finest rubies are found in central Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) in the neighborhood of Mogok. Important specimens of rubies are also found in Thailand, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, India, China, and the former Soviet republics.
- In India the Ruby was regarded almost as royalty itself and many times a king would have a new discovery of a spectacular ruby welcomed almost as royalty itself
- Many stones are falsely referred to as rubies, such as the Balas, or Balas ruby, which is a type of spinel; the Bohemian ruby is rose quartz; the Siberian ruby is red or pink tourmaline; American ruby, Cape ruby, Montana ruby, and Rocky Mountain ruby are varieties of garnet
- Rubies are celebrated in the Bible and in ancient Sanskrit writings as the most precious of all gemstones
- Rubies have at times been considered as one of the most valuable gemstones in the world and India has been considered “The” ruby country
- Rubies vary in color from rose red to ruby red to a deep purplish red called “pigeon blood”
- Ruby jewellery should be cleaned using warm soapy water, rinsed thoroughly afterwards and thoroughly dried. Enzyme and other chemical cleaners should be avoided as some chemicals may cause cracking of the gemstone as well as have an affect on the metal in which the stone is set.
- Ruby is a hard gem which is rated 9 on the mohs hardness scale, and is just below diamond, which is 10 and talc is 1
- Ruby is the birthstone for the month of July and the anniversary gemstone for the 15th and 40th years of marriage
- Ruby is the red variety of the corundum mineral species, while all other colors of corundum are called Sapphire. Corundum is the mineral name for aluminum oxide.
- The term ruby comes from the latin “ruber”, meaning red and in sanskrit the ruby is called the “king of precious stones”
- Throughout history rubies have been so highly prized and valued that they have, at times, reached a value over 7 times the value of diamonds
- To maximize their purity and the intensity of their red coloring, rubies are commonly heated to a high temperature, which also may dissolve any impurities or make them less noticeable. A ruby must have the required chemistry for heating to improve it’s color.
