RUBY: THE TRUE RED For thousands of years, ruby has been considered one of the most valuable gemstones. According to Judaeo-Christians, the ruby was the most precious of all 12 stones created by God. It is also an extremely rare gemstone, especially in finer grades. Next to diamond, ruby is the most expensive stone in the world in sizes over three carats. The finest-quality rubies are still believed to be those from the Mogok region in Myanmar (Burma), but these days, new sources of supply in India, Africa, Vietnam and Thailand have made lovely rubies in all sizes and colours more readily available. Ruby is a member of the corundum family and has the chemical composition of crystallised aluminium oxide. This group, consisting also of sapphires, is the hardest of all known coloured stones outside of diamonds, and while it presents itself in various shades, only the red colour is classified as ruby. Indeed, it is to its colour that the gem owes its name, derived from the Latin word ruber, meaning red.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 01:31:49 +0000
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