Top Gem Burma Ruby and Ceylon Rubies

THE BIRTHSTONE for JULY
The 15th and 40th ANNIVERSARY STONE
The 80th ANNIVERSARY JUBILEE STONE

Ruby is one of the symbols of love, and the mineral is Corundum. Red color Corundum is called Ruby, any other color is Sapphire.  Some gem dealers debate the borderline between ruby and pink sapphire. Historically, the word ruby referred to shades of red, which technically included pink. But the names ruby and pink sapphire reflect a bit of a difference in value. That’s why, given a choice, a gem dealer would prefer to be able to call a corundum gem ruby rather than pink sapphire.  Pink Sapphire is really just Light Red Ruby. The International Colored Gemstone Association passed a resolution that the light shades of the red hue be included in the category Ruby since it was too difficult to legislate where red ended and pink began.  In practice, however, pink shades are now known either as Pink Ruby or Pink Sapphire.  Either way, these gems are among the most beautiful of the corundum family. 

Ruby hues range from strongly purplish-red to orangy-red.  The finest ruby has a slightly purplish-red to pure vibrant red hue.  As the hue becomes more purplish or orangy, the ruby moves down the quality scale into good and commercial ranges. The highest-quality rubies have  vivid saturation.  Medium tone to medium-dark tones are preferred as long as the tone is not so dark that it has a negative effect on brilliance.  At the other extreme, if the tone is too light, the stone is considered pink sapphire, even if saturation levels are high. The most valuable ruby colors are red (R) to slightly purplish red (slpR) with medium (5) to medium-dark (6) tones and strong (5) to vivid (6) saturation.  Typically these are called Cherry Red to Pigeon Blood Red colors.  Chrome imparts the Redness to Ruby.  Here are charts showing the GIA master hue/tone/saturation to determine if corundum is ruby, or if it’s pink, purple, or orange sapphire.  Gem Laboratories that use the GIA scale, grade on the principle that red must be the dominant hue before a stone can be called a ruby, and since identification of the dominant hue is subject to personal perception, in some areas of the world pink sapphires are considered rubies.  Ruby is an excellent choice for jewelry and has a high refraction which produces a bright stone.  Ruby's relative density is high, so a one Carat Ruby will be smaller in millimeter dimensions than a one Carat Diamond.

We typically offer only the finest Burma and Ceylon Rubies.  The Mogok region in Burma, or Myanmar, is the source historically for the finest Rubies.  Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and Mong Hsu Burma Rubies are what we would consider the regions producing the next to the finest grade Ruby, whereas Rubies from Thailand, Africa and Vietman are typically in the commercial grade of Ruby.  Facet grade Ruby stones are usually cut in the Cushion or Oval shapes.  Native cutters take liberties with the cutting of the pavilions or back side of Rubies to produce larger stones by lifting out dark inclusions, sometimes leaving small cavities (or divets), allowing the culet or bottom point to be a little bit off-center, or by having deeper or shallower than ideal pavilions. Generally these minor points are not noticeable when the stones are mounted, and generally they do not affect the price. Precision cuts required for designer jewelry are cut by strict standards, and consequently the cutting adds to the overall cost of the item.

Ruby was the first mineral to be produced by commercial Gem synthesis and dates to the 1880's.  Many customers have brought family heirlooms for insurance only to be told that their "Gem" is not a natural stone, so just because it's old doesn't mean it's the real thing.  We have only genuine natural Ruby, so you will not find synthetic Ruby, among our Gemstones.