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 The
Ruby :
What fairy tales
of enchanted princesses and legendary lore of
the Arabian Nights does not the mere mention
of the ruby conjure up to our imagination! No
stone has been more intimately connected with
poetry and romance, and few gems can compare
either in beauty or value with a perfect ruby.
When Solomon exclaimed that “a virtuous
woman was more valuable than rubies,”
and Job, that “the price of wisdom is
above rubies,” they both mentioned what
to them was the most valuable thing in existence.
And its value and rarity have not decreased
since their time. Today a perfect ruby of five
carats will fetch at least five times the value
of a diamond of the same size and quality, while
rubies without flaw or blemish, and of the true
pigeon-blood variety, weighing as much as ten
carats, are so rare and valuable that ten times
the value of a perfect diamond would be considered
a very low price to pay for so perfect a gem.
The ruby is the oldest or first known of all
precious stones, dating far back in the early
history of Chaldea and Babylonia. The finest
specimens, as well as the largest quantities,
are found in Upper Burma, and at the present
time over one-half of the world’s supply
comes from this locality. The rubies found in
Ceylon, Siam and Australia have not the deep
rich color of the Burmese ruby which is a shade
of red slightly inclined to the purple and is
often called “Pigeon Blood Ruby.”
The value of rubies depends upon their color
and transparency.
The red sapphire or ruby is the most valuable
of the corundum family, and when found of a
good color, pure and brilliant, and in sizes
of one carat and larger, it is much more valuable
than a fine diamond of the same size.
Rubies and Sapphires are scientifically the
same stone, differing only in color. Corundum,
the predominating mineral of both, is composed
of nearly pure alumina. The coloring substance,
which differentiates rubies and sapphires, is
believed to be chromium. In the scale of hardness
the gem ranks as No. 9 and is thus the hardest
of all substances excepting the diamond. Color
is the most important factor in determining
the value of the ruby. The gem is always more
or less imperfect, but its freedom from bad
imperfections is also important. Since fine
rubies of all sizes are extremely rare, the
price increases very rapidly with an increase
in size, and a fine ruby of more than four carats
commands an extraordinary price and can be said
to be the most valuable of all gems, exceeding
greatly a diamond of equal weight. The color
of the ruby varies from the lightest rose tint
to the deepest carmine, but the rarest and most
valuable shade is known as Pigeon Blood. This
is the color of arterial blood. The ruby has
always been greatly admired, and many say that
the ruby in the British Crown is the most beautiful
gem they have ever seen.
Top
The ruby is found in limestone deposits on side
hills, but the largest quantity is found in
alluvial deposits of gravel and clay in riverbeds.
These deposits are about fifteen to twenty feet
below the surface and from a few inches to five
feet in thickness. This material called “byon”
is mined or removed and put through a washing
process by which the rubies are recovered.
The genuine ruby is gotten from the mineral
known as corundum. Emery, so much used, is an
impure form of corundum. The superbly blood-red
color of the perfect ruby is produced by the
very tiny portions of impurity in the substance
after they have been crystallized by Nature’s
wonderful processes. All genuine—that
is natural stones, contain certain tiny flaws
and blemishes and characteristic peculiarities.
The fewer these flaws the rarer the gem. Imitation
stones get their imperfections during manufacture,
and as the chemists are more careful than Nature,
these imperfections are less noticeable. By
the following differences between the real and
the artificial,
you can test your ruby. A real ruby contains
irregularly shaped bubbles; the imitation ruby
contains bubbles that are perfectly round. Natural
rubies all have a silky sheen, due to a number
of tiny parallel lines going in three definite
directions; imitation stones never have this
characteristic.
While lab-created rubies and sapphires have
a distinct use in jewelry, they can never affect
the sale of the real gems any more than is the
case with imitation pearls. Aside from the fact
that the imitation can always be ultimately
detected, the person desiring to purchase a
ruby, as a ruby, and as a work of beauty and
distinction wants a gem which he knows is one
of nature’s rarities and is therefore
possessed of intrinsically great value. A good
illustration of this fundamental feeling is
given by Mr. Zell a noted mineralogist, who
says, “Many perfect copies of the Sistine
Madonna have been made by good artists, the
original is priceless, the copies at the most
are worth a few hundred dollars, this is the
relation of a gem made in nature’s laboratory
to one produced by the chemist.”
Today, the ruby is still considered one of the
most valuable and beautiful of the precious
stones. Artisans of fine jewelry throughout
the world continue to utilize this fine gem
in their creations. Ruby is the birthstone for
the month of July.
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