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Ruby and Sapphire
It’s hard to imagine that a mineral with a name as mundane as corundum
yields gems as exquisite as the ruby and sapphire, or even that these
two stones, so different in color and mystique, are actually the same
mineral family.
Lucky you if your birthstone is sapphire (September) or ruby (July).
These are among the richest-colored of all gemstones with a romance and
history as colorful as they are. Rubies are actually rarer than
sapphires, and only red corundums are called rubies. Any other color is
a sapphire. When grading colored stones, the density and hue of the
color are part of the evaluation, and it’s the richest, deepest colors
that are the most prized. In rubies, the most prized variant of color
is called pigeon’s blood. Large gem quality rubies can be more valuable
than comparably sized diamonds and are certainly rarer. There is a
relative abundance of smaller, (1-3 carat,) blue sapphires compared to
the scarcity of even small gem quality rubies, making even these
smaller stones relatively high in value.
Stones of Burmese origin generally command the highest prices. The vast
majority of rubies are \"native cut\" in the country of origin. High
value ruby rough is tightly controlled and rarely makes its way to
custom cutters. Occasionally, such native stones are recut to custom
proportions, albeit at a loss of weight and diameter. Custom cut and
recut stones are usually more per carat.
Sapphires exist in all the shades of blue from the deep blue of evening
skies to the bright and deep blue of a clear and beautiful summer
sky. Sapphires also come in many other colors, not only in
the transparent grayish misty blue of far horizons, but also displaying
the bright fireworks of sunset colors – yellow, pink, orange and
purple. So sapphires are really and truly heavenly stones, although
they are being found in the hard soil of our so-called \"blue planet”.
