Eternally associated with passion, matched in hardness by sapphires, this gemstone has a worldwide popularity.
Ruby Buying Guidelines
As with most gemstones, the factors that come into play are color, cut clarity and carat. Amoro believes that in Rubies colour is the most important, and can be broken down into three parts:
- Hue - the basic colour of the stone which is red
- Tone - the depth of colour, ranging from light to dark
- Saturation - the ‘fire’ within the stone – the more ‘fire’ the more the Ruby is valued
Most Rubies have numerous flaws, or inclusions which is the hallmark of most natural Rubies, and generally the best colored stones are sometimes the most included. Rubies may exhibit a range of secondary hues namely purple, the more purple, the less valuable the stone. Almost all quality rubies have inclusions, although they will not be visible to the naked eye, so you'll need to examine under a loupe. When purchasing your ruby look for a clear stone with few inclusions. If you have to choose between good color and more inclusions or poor color and few inclusions go for the best color. The cut of the ruby is important. A good cut makes the ruby look like it is glowing with a deep fire.
Treatment & Enhancement
Heat treatment has a permanent effect on these stones and the radiant color spreads deeply and uniformly into the stone. Heating residues are deposited along healed fractures during the heating process. Heat treatment is definitely the desired form of treatment for rubies.
