Ruby

The red glowing color of Ruby symbolizes love, vivacity, passion and power. Ruby is considered to be the most valuable and precious gemstones ever existed. The origin of this magnificent stone is India. The Ruby in Sanskrit is known as ‘Ratnaraj’ which means ‘king of the gemstones’ and yet it is so. Ruby signifies royalty. Throughout the history of the world we find Emperors, Queens, Kings and Sultans wearing Ruby studded ornaments and crowns. Ruby studded ornaments like earrings, necklace, bangles etc. are still adored by most women and men of all age.

Ruby is a variety of the corundum mineral which is red in color. It is one of the hardest minerals on Earth. According to Moh’s Scale the hardness of Ruby is 9. Ruby consists of aluminum oxide and chrome. The color of Ruby varies from light pink to bright sparkling red. The naturally formed Rubies are very rare. The Rubies that we commonly see in the market is a synthetic or created Ruby.

The Synthetic Rubies are being produced since the end of 19th century. There are several process on which Synthetic Rubies are created like, ‘flame fusion’, ‘pulling process’ and ‘hydrothermal process’.

Rubies are primarily mined in Africa, Asia, Australia, Greenland, Madagascar and North Carolina. Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Kenya are the other countries where Rubies can be found. The fascinating red color of the Burmese Rubies are compared and described as “pigeon’s blood” and are commonly known as “Mogok” Rubies.

The price of Ruby varies according to its color, cut and clarity. The intensity of the color of a Ruby decides how expensive it would be. In 2006 a 38.12 carat cabochon Ruby was sold for $5,860,000 in an auction.