India

These are absolutely fantastic specimens! The deep, deep red of these ruby specimens comes close to being of gem quality! These kind of ruby crystals are typically a light to medium red; almost never this dark and brilliant. We are so pleased to be able to offer these rubies to the members of the Mineral of the Month Club!

Ruby is a variety of carborundum. With a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, only the diamond is harder than the ruby. The deep red color is caused by a small amount of chromium that has replaced some of the aluminum in the stone.

In gemmological terms, ruby has to be blood-red, clear, and facetable quality. Lesser quality stones are called pink saphhire rather than ruby. Sapphire has the same composition as the ruby.The stones we are offering lead, quite heavily, toward the ruby end of the spectrum.

The Mogok Valley in Upper Myanmar (Burma) was the main source for rubies for many years. They are mined in Thailand, Cambodia, India, Afganistan, and Pakistan. The best deposits in the U.S. are in North Carolina.

In lore and tradition rubies are said to bring intensity with clarity and wisdom. It is also said to provide protection against harmful intentions. The oldest healing uses for rubies have found to be the cleansing of the blood from toxins, and protection from the plague.

Platinum level Group 3 Specimen