The Ruby Gemstone has been said to be the most important gem on earth. Ruby is so named because of its red color (Latin-ruben).

Ruby gemstones as well as sapphire are members of the corundom family. Corundom, not of gem quality is a hard mineral and is used as an abrasive to cut and polish materials. Until about the 1800s , the red spinel and the red garnet was classified as ruby, and is still confusing to a certain extent today. The chromium in ruby and the titanium in sapphire in each gives each its different colors. The saturation of color in ruby is often uneven and can have a brownish tone, this is because iron is present. Ruby in the rough stones is dull, but after cutting and polishing, the luster is as good as that of a diamond. Burmese rubies are the best, and the pigeon’s blood red-red with a hint of blue is the best color. Stones of this caliber are very expensive.

Ruby gemstones are 9 on the mohs scale of hardness, but are brittle and need special attention when cutting and setting. Inclusions are common, but that doesn’t mean the stones are inferior, but shows that it is genuine and not fake. Rubies sometime have inclusions of needle-like crystals of rutils called silk, that sometimes forms like a star. They are cut into cabochons to display the star. The star ruby is very much sought after, and is very expensive. These can be forged by cutting lines in the base of the cabochon and filling it with reflective materials.

Synthetic ruby gemstone has become plentiful, and tons are being produced each year. Some of these stones are of such high quality that they are very hard to distinguish from the real without the help of a laboratory. An especially good synthetic ruby has been produced in Mexico.

The best ruby gemstones come from Burma (Myanmar), they also come from Tanzania, Thailand, and Madagascar. Sri Lanka produces the largest variety of stones, but the rubies are usually too pale to be called ruby gemstones, so therefore they are classified pink sapphire.

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