Red color of ruby – difference ruby and sapphire

Corundum, which is considered a gem quality and has any shade of red or pink, is considered a ruby. In the United States, there are specific requirements regarding the saturation of a ruby. It must meet certain standards to fall into the ruby category, otherwise it is called a pink sapphire.

These include hue, saturation and tone. Hue refers to the color of the ruby as we see it. Saturation determines the visibility of the color. Is it light? Dark? Or somewhere in between? Finally, hue tells us the purity of the color. If it is a pure tone, there are no secondary colors. If it is not a pure tone, it may contain one or more secondary tones such as pink, purple and orange.

• Saturation requirements
• Specific standards: Hue, saturation and tone
• Pure tones or secondary tones like pink, purple and orange

Crystalline structure in close-up:

Mineral group corundum – colourless with trace elements

In its purest form, the mineral corundum is colorless. Trace elements that become part of the crystal structure of the mineral cause variations in its color. Chromium is the trace element that causes the red color of ruby. Rubies are a red variety of the rock corundum. Corundum is the second hardest mineral after diamond, with a Mohs hardness of 9. You probably already know this mineral from our article about the blue, green, pink or orange mineral corundum, i.e. the gemstone sapphire.

• Colorless mineral corundum
• Trace elements give the ruby its colour
• Second hardest mineral

The grinding of a ruby – video

In this video you can see the process and the result when a ruby is cut.

Origin of the ruby – India

India was classically considered the country of origin of ruby for more than two thousand years. More recently, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan have uncovered substantial ruby deposits. In Southeast Asia, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam have also long been considered sources of fine rubies.

• Country of origin of the ruby: India
• Otherwise from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Origin of the name of the ruby – the king of gemstones

The name ruby comes from the Middle Latin word “rubinus” = ruby (red stone), or from the Latin “ruber” = red. In Sanskrit, the ruby is called “ratnarai”, which means “king of gems”. Ruby is also a common Hebrew first name for boys and means something like “Behold, a boy!”.

Spiritual meaning of ruby – birthstone July

The ruby is filled with the essence of pure, loving energy. In ancient times, the ruby was considered one of the most powerful gemstones in the universe. In addition, the ruby cleanses the aura of toxic energy and fills one with a sense of bliss, passion, protection and prosperity. It strengthens both the physical and emotional heart. When one is unable to focus, this stone helps one to achieve a more focused consciousness, mental clarity and wisdom. Ruby is the birthstone of July and therefore the birthstone of the zodiac sign Cancer.

• One of the most powerful gems
• Cleanses the aura from toxic energy
• Bliss, passion, protection and prosperity
• More focused consciousness, mental clarity and wisdom
• Birthstone July, Cancer

Use and spiritual significance of the ruby – Video

Here you will learn about the spiritual meaning of the gemstone ruby and its uses.

Buy rubies – quality factors of gemstones

Rubies can fetch the highest price per carat of all colored stones. This makes the ruby one of the most important gemstones in the colored stone market. There are 4 important factors that determine the value of a stone – the 4 Cs. The 4 Cs stand for Color, Clarity, Cut, Carat.

Color is the most significant factor affecting the value of a ruby: fine gemstones are a pure, vivid red to slightly purple. When a ruby’s inclusions affect its transparency or brilliance, they significantly reduce the gemstone’s value. Rubies are usually produced as a mixed cut with brilliant cut crowns and step cut pavilions. Fine quality rubies of more than one carat are very rare, and the price increases significantly as the size increases.

• Color – color of the ruby
• Clarity – Purity of the gemstone
• Cut – Gemstone Cut
• Carat – Carat weight

Recognize real ruby – measure the value of a gemstone

First you should look for blemishes or inclusions. The second step to check if it is a real gemstone, a breath test. To do this, you should hold the ruby in front of your mouth and exhale. A real gemstone does not fog up, because the heat is distributed directly on the stone. For a breath test, however, the ruby must not be dirty or greasy, because this would affect the result. Another test to find out if a ruby is real would be to shine a light through the stone. For this, you just have to hold a flashlight to the ruby to detect small blemishes or air bubbles in the gemstone.

This test is followed by the scratch test. After diamonds, ruby is one of the most durable gemstones used in jewelry. It has a hardness rating of 9 on the Mohs scale. This means that a substance of equal or lesser hardness cannot scratch a ruby. So if you scratch the stone with a coin and it leaves a scratch, you can be sure that it is not a real ruby.

Nevertheless, the most reliable option is of course to have the stone certified by a jeweler. This way you can be one hundred percent sure that it is a genuine sapphire that is worth its money.

1. Look for blemishes or inclusions
2. Breath test
3. Shine a flashlight through the sapphire
4. Perform scratch test
5. Get Saphir certified

Top 5 most expensive rubies in the world – video

Check out the top 5 most expensive rubies in the world sold at auction here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E–w2P-JAs

Gemstones as a capital investment

Because of their universal and above all increasing value, gemstones were already used as a form of money in ancient times. Whether ruby, sapphire or emerald – they all become rarer and this is exactly the reason for their increase in value. Furthermore, investing in gemstones in general brings with it a number of advantages:

• The investment is long-term (value and capital accumulation over years)
• Gemstones are an asset for the owner and are not subject to any taxes
• Gems can be passed down from generation to generation without cost or bureaucratic procedures
• It is a safe investment; gemstones are real assets
• Investment gemstones must be untreated

List: Opal to sapphire to emerald

Before we take a more detailed dive into the topic of gemstones, here are some basically important, high-priced gemstone types that you should have at least heard of. The most expensive gemstones:

• Diamond
• Musgravite
• Taaffeit
• Topaz
• Sapphire (Padparadscha sapphire and Kashmir sapphire)
• Red Beryl / Bixbit
• Black opal
• Grandidierite
• Poudretteit
• Painite
• Jade
• Emerald
• Aquamarine
• Ruby
• Alexandrite
• Garnet
• Taubenblutroter Rubin / Pigeon Blood Ruby
• Benitoit
• Citrine
• Tanzanite
• Serendibit
• Amethyst
• Yeremeyevite
• Zircon
• Blue Topaz

The most expensive gems in the world: Video

Gemstones are not only incredibly beautiful. Above all, they are incredibly expensive. The following video presents the most expensive gemstones in the world.

Opal mining: How the gemstone is extracted

About 95 percent of all opals from Australia. How they are extracted, you can see in the following video. Read more about opal here.

Which gemstone is the most valuable?

Here is the top 10 list of the most expensive gemstones in the world. The prices serve as a rough guide. They may vary based on clarity or size.

• Tanzanite: $1,200 per carat
• Black Opal-$9,500 per carat
• Red beryl – $10,000 per carat
• Musgravite-$35,000 per carat
• Alexandrite-$70,000 per carat
• Emerald – $305,000 per carat
• Ruby: $1.18 million per carat
• Pink Diamond-$1.19 million per carat
• Jadeite: $3 million per carat
• Blue diamond – $3.93 million per carat

The most valuable gemstones in detail

Tanzanian

This color-changing gemstone has a blue to violet hue, the color of which depends on the orientation of the crystal and the lighting. It is only found in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Since it can only be mined in this one location, it comes with a high price tag of 500 pounds ($630) per carat.

Taaffeite

This gemstone comes in a beautiful range of colors from translucent to pink. Only a handful of stones have been found in Sri Lanka and Tanzania, making this stone extremely rare and valuable. Its value is more than 1,000 pounds ($1260) per carat.

Black opal

Black opal is the rarest of the opals. These black stones are speckled with vibrant colors, making each one unique and magnificent. Almost all black opals are mined in New South Wales in Australia and cost around £1,900 ($2400) per carat.

Poudretteite

This pink stone was originally found in Mont St. Hilaire in Quebec, Canada. It was thought that this was the only place it was found for many years, but it is now known that it can also be found in Magok, Myanmar. This gemstone is worth more than £2,600 ($3300) per carat.

Benitoit

This beautiful blue gemstone is found in Japan and Arkansas, in the USA, and is also mined in San Benito, California. Because of the rarity of benitoite, it is usually sold in increments of less than one carat. Per carat, the price of this gemstone is more than 2,600 pounds ($3300).

Red beryl

Often referred to as a scarlet emerald, this magnificent red crystal is said to be 1,000 times more valuable than gold. It is found in the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah and sells for more than 8,000 pounds ($10,000) per carat.

Alexandrite

Named after Tsar Alexander II, this color-changing gemstone ranges from red to green depending on the incidence of light, making it highly sought after. The original deposits, found in the Ural Mountains of Russia, had almost disappeared when new deposits were found in East Africa, Sri Lanka and Brazil. It is still extremely rare and has a price to match, at nearly 10,000 pounds ($12,500) per carat.

Serendibit

This magnificent gemstone, which ranges in color from pale yellow to blue to jet black, is found in Sri Lanka and the Mogok region of Myanmar. Its value is more than £14,500 ($18,000) per carat.

Jadeite

Not to be confused with jade! Jadeite is much rarer and quite a bit more expensive. The deep green stone is found in Myanmar and has a price tag of over 16,000 pounds ($20,000) per carat.

Grandidierite

Priced at more than 16,000 pounds ($20,000) per carat, this semi-translucent blue-green gemstone is also available. This exquisite and rare stone is found in Madagascar.

Musgravite

For many years, only eight occurrences of the blue-violet stone were found in South Australia. Recently, however, small amounts have been found elsewhere. The stone remains one of the rarest in the world and is worth nearly 29,000 ($36,000) pounds per carat.

Painite

Only two specimens of the orange to brick-colored gem existed for many years. More have been found in Myanmar, but it is still extremely rare and has a price tag of about 41,000 ($51,000) pounds per carat.

Pink star diamond

The 59.6-carat pink diamond was mined in South Africa and sold for the highest price ever achieved for a gemstone. This was a whopping £68,298,350 (about $86 million). Read more about diamonds here.