Ruby Gemstone Colors

Beside for its bright color it is a most desirable gem due to its hardness durability luster and rarity transparent rubies of large sizes are even rarer than diamonds.

Ruby gemstone colors. To begin with a ruby is essentially a red sapphire a gemstone of the corundum mineral variety. Ruby is gem quality red corundum. Though there are many other gemstones that display a red color including red diamonds there are properties that are exclusive to rubies. The color comes from traces of chromium.

The word ruby comes from ruber latin for red. Natural b this category accounts for over 50 of natural gemstones. Gems of perfect saturation are rare and therefore more expensive. All other color varieties of gem quality corundum are referred to as sapphire.

Too much color and the ruby can appear dark opaque and lifeless. A ruby is what most often comes to mind when one thinks of a red gemstone. Sapphire the other gem variety of corundum encompasses all colors of corundum. Fine color large and eye clean lacking visible inclusions rubies like this 11 01carat ct stone from myanmar formerly known as burma are extremely rare and valuable.

In its purest form the mineral corundum is colorless. Trace elements that become part of the mineral s crystal structure cause variations in its color. Ruby history and lore. The tone is the amount of color in a ruby.

The name ruby is derived from the latin word ruber which means red. Okay so we know rubies are red but which red is best. Jan goodman co ruby can command the highest prices of any colored gemstone. The hue specifies how red the gemstone is are there any hints of yellow blue or brown for example.

We need to break down the color of rubies into three parts the hue the tone and the saturation. This makes ruby one of the most important gems in the colored stone market. Medium tone is the most desirable for a ruby as it is the best balance. A ruby is a pink to blood red coloured gemstone a variety of the mineral corundum aluminium oxide other varieties of gem quality corundum are called sapphires ruby is one of the traditional cardinal gems together with amethyst sapphire emerald and diamond.

Like other colored gemstones they also look great in halo settings which emphasize the rich color of the ruby center stone. Chromium is the trace element that causes ruby s red color. For example this 1 04 carat ruby engagement ring has an impressive halo setting that attracts attention to the beautiful center stone all while giving the ring an elegant classic appearance. Stones lighter than this are called pink sapphire.

When determining the quality of ruby based on its color the hue saturation and tone must always be taken into account. Ruby is distinguished for its bright red color being the most famed and fabled red gemstone. The redder the better. Too little color and the ruby can appear to be flat glassy and not like the red color you expect.

Ruby is the red variety of the mineral corundum.