Rubies

The ruby and diamond are two of the most popular gems on the market today. Besides sharing a few fundamental characteristics, rubies are widely considered to be more virtuous to many cultures because of their unique hue. There is actually a robust history behind this stone that deserves to be acknowledged. It is difficult to imagine that there is a gem out there that is equally sought after as the diamond. If you take the time to gather up information about this stone, you will realise just how special it really is.

Rubies are known to be one of the hardest stones, ranking a 9.0 on the Moh scale of mineral hardness. They are the only stones that are similar in hardness as diamonds (10.0 Moh) and moissante (9.5 Moh).

The ruby comes in the most striking of colours. Every kind of hue that this gem comes in is reminiscent of raw passion, love, mystery and valor. Rubies come in shades of  transparent reds, pinks and other softer variations of reds. When rubies are mined, there are some hues of blue and brown that can be found. They are heated up to 2,000 degrees to help bring out the vibrant red color that it is known for. A ruby that has a tone that is medium-red in tone is the best colour.

History of Rubies

Rubies were called many things through ancient tongues. In the old-language of “Sanskrit”, this stone was called “ratnaraj” which roughly translates to “the king of precious stones”. The status of rubies was heightened when a Persian sage during the 11^th century appointed these stones as having “the first place in colour, beauty and rank” among the entire family of unearthed stones. The true value of rubies did not reach their peak until 1550. A goldsmith named Benvenuto Cellini sighted that a one-carat ruby that is either “flawless” or “internally flawless” is eight times more valuable than a one-carat diamond.

After this discovery, the fever of hunting down the ruby throughout Europe ran rampant. Because of this, English jewel companies invaded the Mogok Valley in upper-Burma in 1885. They began setting up annexes after it was exposed that a French mining company found rubies in that area. Rubies that were found in that area had the best of hues and the richest colour were simply called “pigeon’s blood”. Other countries such as Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Madagascar also had rubies that came in slightly lighter tints.

Today, rubies are just as popular as they ever were. Rubies symbolise many more elements of human nature than any other gems.