July babies get the stunning Ruby as their birthstone. Rubies are actually a form of Sapphire and is the most valuable form of the mineral corundum. The most sought after colour is a pure vibrant red to slight purplish red ~ fine ruby glows in sunlight thanks to red fluorescence which intensifies the colour.
Most of the finest Ruby is found in a region of Myanmar (Burma) called Magok, the legendary valley of rubies. In fact, a ruby from this region, set in a ring by Cartier and known as the “Sunrise Ruby”, broke records in 2015 when it was sold in Geneva by Sotheby’s. This huge 25.59 carat ring was expected to sell for between $12-18 million but eventually sold for over $30 million! That’s a whopping $1,185,451 per carat!
Here’s a few lesser known facts about the fabulous Ruby:
In Sanskrit, rubies are known as Ratnaraj, meaning the king of gems
the first laser was created in 1960 using the red fluorescence light emitted by ruby
ruby is the gemstone for the 40th wedding anniversary
people living in India believed that rubies enabled their owners to live in harmony with their enemies
warriors in Myanmar possessed rubies to make them invincible in battle but it wasn’t enough to just wear the rubies…they had to insert them into their flesh and make them part of their bodies!
If you would prefer not to go to that extreme(!) and prefer to wear your rubies in a beautiful piece of bespoke, handcrafted jewellery, get in touch