Sunday today and I thought to publish an article about one of my favourite gemstones. When someone tells you about red colour in gemstones, the first thing that comes on your mind is..Rubies! Many people love rubies, not only because of their beautiful red colour, but also because they show a bright vitreous lustre, making them look so shiny.
Ruby is the red variety of corundum, with a hardness of 9 at Moh's scale, which makes it very durable, both for engagement rings and everyday pieces of jewellery. The majority of gemstones found in the market are cut as faceted, so it is not that usual to see a ruby crystal in jewellery. However, as a geologist-gemmologist, I love crystals. It is so fascinating to look at a ruby crystal and check how it is formed in nature. The ruby crystal on the photo is a six-sided tabular crystal with a flat pinacoid termination. You may notice that the colour is not as bright red as it will probably be when it will be cut as facets and set in jewellery. This happens because the crystal is heavily included and this proves its natural origin. Thus, some crystal inclusions, fluid inclusions, clouds of crystals are really common in rubies. Colour zoning is also present in many rubies and sometimes they might display a lamellar twinning. This feature is displayed as striations across the surface of the crystal or as parallel planes inside a transparent stone, when cut as faceted style. Depending on the crystal inclusions and the chemical composition of the ruby, we can identify the origin of the gemstone.
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| Ruby Crystal |
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| Side pinacoid on ruby crystal |
Let's move on to fashion now 😉 Rubies can be cut either as faceted stones or as cabochons if they are heavily included. Sometimes, when cut as cabochons they might show a star effect, which is visible when rotating the stone under the light. However, the most desirable way of setting the rubies in jewellery is the faceted stones. On the photo below, there is a loose cushion cut faceted ruby together with a cluster ring on a rose gold 18k featuring a beautiful octagonal cut ruby (1.64ct) surrounded by smaller round brilliant cut diamonds. Indeed, rose gold is such a big trend now in jewellery, especially during the summer season. Because of the intense colour of ruby, the rose gold makes a unique contrast and the diamonds add a bit more sparkle. This ring is handmade by Kalfidis Jewellery in Thessaloniki, Greece. So gentlemen, if you want to
propose to your beautiful lady I believe that a ruby ring can be an
ideal choice! It will be a bit different than the classic diamond rings
(which are very beautiful, but kind of usual) and then you can expect
the answer that you are waiting for.. Yes! The ruby ring will add colour to a total black or total white outfit and will make it look more formal and sparklier. You can also wear a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt, add a piece of ruby jewellery that you like, ring, earrings etc. and a pair of brown sandals and you are ready to go! The red colour of ruby can be worn basically all the seasons, from winter to summer.
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| loose faceted ruby / cluster ring featuring octagonal cut ruby |
Let me know in the comment box below if you like rubies and how you would style the pieces of jewellery you have!
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