Can rubies be blue?

Scientifically speaking, rubies and sapphires are the same mineral (corundum). Both are made of alumina and oxygen, but they just differ in color. When a corundum is red, it is classified as a ruby, and when it's blue, it is called a sapphire.

What is a blue ruby called?

Red corundum is called ruby, blue corundum is called sapphire, and all other colours are called fancy sapphires.

Why are rubies blue?

These are the very electrons that can be triggered and can lead to the absorption of light, which essentially creates the color in rubies. Traces of iron, titanium, chromium, copper, and magnesium are what upset the otherwise “perfect” makeup of pure corundum and lead to the blue color of sapphires.

What is a blue ruby stone?

Natural sapphires

Sapphire is one of the two gem-varieties of corundum, the other being ruby (defined as corundum in a shade of red). Although blue is the best-known sapphire color, they occur in other colors, including gray and black, and also can be colorless.

Can garnets be blue?

Only reported in 2017, Blue Garnet is a rare and unusual sub-variety of an already rare Garnet, Color Change Umbalite, and despite its beauty, will always have an inadequate supply, making Blue Garnet highly collectable and very exclusive.

Price Comparison (Most Expensive Substance)

What color ruby is the most valuable?

Color is the most significant factor affecting a ruby's value. The finest ruby has a pure, vibrant red to slightly purplish red color. In most markets, pure red colors command the highest prices and ruby with overtones of orange and purple are less valued.

Are sapphires blue rubies?

Scientifically speaking, rubies and sapphires are the same mineral (corundum). Both are made of alumina and oxygen, but they just differ in color. When a corundum is red, it is classified as a ruby, and when it's blue, it is called a sapphire.

Can a ruby be purple?

Ruby is defined to be red. All other hues of the gem species corundum are called sapphire. Ruby may exhibit a range of secondary hues, including orange, purple, violet, and pink.

How do you tell if a ruby is real?

The rub test includes rubbing your ruby across a smooth (but hard) surface, like glass, and seeing if the gem leaves any color behind. Glass only has a hardness of 5 on the Mohs scale, so it's much softer than actual rubies. Real rubies and some gems shouldn't leave any color behind, but cheap fakes or imitations can.

How do you tell if a ruby is real with a flashlight?

Tell by the color and the shine.

Real rubies glow with a deep, vivid, almost "stoplight" red. Fake gems are often dull: they are "light, but not bright." If the gem is more of a dark red, then it may be garnet instead of a ruby.

Is sapphire blue?

Sapphire is generally known as a blue gemstone but surprisingly it comes in a wide range of colors and quality variations. In general, the more intense and uniform the color is, the more valuable the stone. Sapphires that are not blue are known as fancy sapphires, and may be any color—except red (which is a ruby).

Can ruby be green?

Ruby-Zoisite

Ruby in zoisite is a translucent to opaque rock composed of ruby crystals, green zoisite and black hornblende. The official name for this gem is "anyolite," from the Masai word anyoli, meaning "green." This gem is usually used as an ornamental stone due to its stunning color contrasts.

Is blue ruby expensive?

Blue Ruby's bracelets are locally hand-crafted using gold-fill beads and a variety of semi-precious stones with prices ranging from $35 - $125.

How is blue sapphire formed?

Sapphires, like any naturally occurring gemstone, are formed by the different shifts, mixings and chemical changes that are constantly taking place in the earth. Sapphires are created through certain shifts in heat and pressure, and can be found in both metamorphic and igneous rocks.

What is the rarest gemstone?

Painite : Not just the rarest gemstone, but also the rarest mineral on earth, Painite holds the Guinness World Record for it. After its discovery in the year 1951, there existed only 2 specimens of Painite for the next many decades. By the year 2004, there were less than 2 dozens known gemstones.

How can you tell the difference between a ruby and a garnet?

Rubies are harder, a much more brilliant red, and much more expensive. Examine the color closely. If the stone has hints of orange or other earthy tones — other than red — it's likely a garnet. Rubies are considered best with a vivid redness, but sometimes they have purplish or bluish secondary hues.

What is pigeon blood ruby?

Pigeon blood ruby is the most sought-after color variety of ruby gemstone. Pigeon Blood Ruby meaning is primarily associated with its color that matches exactly with the blood drawn from a freshly killed pigeon.It displays bright red hue with a slight tint of purple that appears deep red when seen in light.

Can ruby be pink in colour?

Rubies are known for their bold red color, but here's a fun fact, most rubies are actually pinkish or purplish-red. The pigeon blood red is extremely rare and because of this rarity, rubies with this color saturation are always marked at a higher price point.

How do you tell the difference between a ruby and a sapphire?

Ruby is defined as red corundum. The presence of chromium is largely what makes a corundum gemstone red. All other varieties of corundum, anything not red, are classified as sapphire. (Sapphires may contain a mix of chromium, titanium, and iron traces).

Is ruby more expensive than emerald?

A fine quality ruby is generally more expensive than most sapphires and emeralds, with record prices of up to $1,000,000 per carat. Sapphires can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $11,000 per carat, but you'll find good-quality stones at $450 - $1,200 per carat. Emeralds range from $525 to $1,125 per carat.

Are emeralds rubies?

Emeralds are a variety of the beryl family of gemstones and are not quite as hard as rubies or sapphires, but they are still very solid and have an indistinct gemstone cleavage. All three stones have a hexagonal crystal structure.

Is ruby more expensive than diamond?

As we mentioned earlier, rubies are generally significantly less expensive than diamonds. However, some rubies with exceptional natural color may command prices similar to those of diamonds, or even higher.

How can you tell a natural ruby from synthetic?

Chemical traces are left in the stone of a lab-created ruby and this is not seen in natural rubies. Minimal internal flaws, higher quality at a lower price and a larger ruby for the same price as a smaller one will tell you that it is synthetic.

Is ruby rarer than diamond?

Gem-quality rubies are significantly rarer than diamonds, though there are certain types of diamonds that are very rare too. If we weigh the most spectacular examples of rubies and diamonds against one another, diamonds that show color are even rarer.