Rubies for July

The birthstone for July is the ruby, the most treasured amongst gemstones. Large rubies are more rare than even large diamonds and emeralds.

Ruby, and it's cousin the sapphire are both a form of the mineral corundum. Corundum is normally a drab grey mineral, but on a few occasions corundum will be red, and when so it is called a ruby. All other colours of corundum, yellow, orange, green, blue,black and purple are called sapphires. Interestingly, when corundum occurs with hematite, magnetite or spinel, corundum is called emery. Emery is an abrasive used for sandpaper and fingernail files. The red colour that makes corundum ruby is caused by chromium oxide.

The word ruby is Latin for "ruber" which means red. Ruby then, was universally used to describe any red stone: anything from red spinel, to red tourmaline and red garnet. The broad usage of the word means that many famous stones called rubies are in fact, other gemstones. As an example, the famous Timur ruby belonging to Queen Victoria was in fact red spinel and not a real ruby!

Rubies were very treasured gems in the ancient Orient. They were thought to contain the essence of life itself, a drop of blood from Mother Earth herself. It was even believed that the stones were self luminous and they were often referred to as the "stone which glows." An ancient Chinese legend tells the story of an Emperor who once used a large ruby to light his chamber.

The idea of the stone producing light can be found in many cultures. Ancient Hindus believe that the dwelling places of the gods were lit by huge emeralds and rubies. Greek legends told a story about how Hercules once rescued a stork from some peril, and that the stork thanked Hercules by giving him an enormous,brilliant ruby. Hercules took it home and there, it lit his room at night.

In fact, rubies can be fluorescent, glowing red or orange in ultraviolet light, and some give off orange flashes when sawed or hammered.

In ancient times, Hindus, Burmese and Ceylonese thought that sapphires were a form of "unripe" rubies and that if they took the stone and buried it in the ground, after a period of time it would grow to a deep red ruby.

During the Middle Ages it was a popular belief that rubies could bring good health as well as they could guard against evil thoughts, anger, and arguments. If a ruby turned darker in colour, it was believed that the owner should be on the lookout for accidents, some form of misfortunes or even death. A legend tells that Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII, predicted her death by seeing the darkening of her ruby. Medicinally, it was thought that rubies could cure bleeding wounds.

Rubies tend to be rare, and large rubies very, very rare. Because of that, there are only a few famous rubies in history. In his 13th century book, Marco Polo tells a story about a beautiful gem that he believed to be a ruby It belonged to the King of Ceylon and was said to be nine inches long and as wide as a man's arm! Apparently the gem was so large and so impressive that Kublai Khan, the Emperor of China offered an entire city to the King of Ceylon if he would only give the ruby to him! But the King of Ceylon knew how valuable and rare his gem was and refused to part with it.

Rubies are only found in a few places around the world. Upper Burma is one of the most famous sources for large, deep red rubies called "pigeon's blood rubies." Such rubies are very rare. Dark, reddish-brown rubies can be found in Thailand. Both Thailand and Burma have a ruby as their national stone. Recently Tanzania has become a source for rubies.

It is interesting to note that there are several methods of producing synthetic rubies. The first method was invented by a French chemist in 1891. It was accomplished by melting a suitably pigmented powder in an oxyhydrogen flame and allowing the hot rain to build up a stalagmite, which was then cut up into decorative stones or "gems." More recently, rubies have been grown by hydrothermal methods, crystallized from molten solutions and "pulled" from pots of fused alumina. Even these synthetic rubies have value for their beauty!

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