Welcome, July, and your handsome birthstone, the ruby!
Rubies have always been amongst the most precious of "cardinal" gemstones—along with diamonds, emeralds and sapphires. In fact, rubies and sapphires are just different colors of the same stone: Corundum. This clear, hard stone is principally aluminum oxide. Different metallic "impurities" give the stone its different colorations. In the case of rubies, chromium is the impurity which makes it red. Corundum becomes blue (a sapphire) due to iron and titanium impurities. Both rubies and sapphires are very hard (which measure 9 on the Mohs Scale); only diamonds (with a hardness of 10) and moissanite (9.5) are harder. The most beautiful, valuable stones are used for jewelry. Lesser examples are used for watch crystals, electronics components or abrasive applications.
Rubies derive their name from the Latin word for red: ruber. Like other gemstones, color, clarity, carats and cut affect the stone's value. With rubies, color is the most important factor in value. The most expensive natural rubies are the very rare Burmese "Pigeon's Blood" color variant (with a deep, saturated red). But rubies can run a range of colors from deep red to pink to blue (at which point they are called sapphires). In the United States, a pink ruby legally must be sold as a "pink sapphire."
The next most-important factor in value is clarity. All natural rubies contain some flaws called rutile inclusions. These needle-like "silky fibers" which run through the stones cannot be helped. If a stone is "eye-clean" (that is, appears clear to the naked eye) it is awarded top marks for clarity. A natural "eye-clean" ruby is very valuable. Some gemologists treat their lesser rubies by heating them (or subjecting them to other processes). A treated ruby will have improved clarity, but it will always be of lesser value than a perfect, natural and untreated stone. Because of these rutile inclusions—and the way they catch the light—a ruby can exhibit Asterism: the appearance of a reflected three- or six-point star. Such stones are cut en cabochon—as a smooth, polished dome (without facets).
Rubies have been (and still are) mined in a "ring" around the Indian Ocean: Eastern Africa, Australia, South- and Southeast Asia. The most coveted rubies are those deep-red, Burmese Pigeon's Blood rubies from Myanmar (which already may have been "mined-out," making them even more rare). Very, very few rubies ever have been mined in Europe or North America.
LEO Design has no rubies in stock at present. The closest I can offer is this handsome, ruby red glazed pitcher by Ernst Löesche, made in Ammersee, Bavaria, West Germany in the Sixties.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248