“The King of Colored Stones” takes its rightful place as the birthstone for July’s beautiful babies. A favorite of royals and soldiers alike, this brilliant red powerhouse has the look of the love and passion that it symbolizes.
The ruby is special because it simply owns the color red. Derived from the Latin word “ruber,” which as you probably assumed means red, it gets its rich, saturated color from trace amounts of the element chromium. The most popular variety of ruby is known as “pigeon blood red,” as it has a slight amount of purple in it to make it quite a visually stunning piece of jewelry.
As you probably can guess, these vibrant minerals cost a pretty penny. The ruby comes from the same family of gems as sapphire, in fact synthetic ruby is essentially a red sapphire! They come in both natural (expensive) and synthetic (inexpensive), and like everything else, you get what you pay for. Qualities can run the gamut from queen to the peasant, so we recommend not buying them while on vacation as you might not be getting the real thing.
What makes the ruby so special is its rarity, though. It is considered to be one of the most ancient of the stones, which makes sense since it is a favorite among English kings and queens. The ruby’s grading system takes rarity into account more than the beauty, however the synthetic versions can look just as good. KC, one of our esteemed sales consultants here on staff, told us that people often like the inexpensive versions better than the more expensive ones.
Rubies are fantastic for daily wear thanks to their durability and sturdiness. Always buy ruby from a reputable source, however, as fake ruby tends to be filled with lead glass. We are sad when people bring in their prized rubies and we have to give them the bad news!
Here are a few of our favorites!
Round Center Diamond Oval Rubies Ring
Marquise Rubies Round Diamonds Band
Lab-Grown Ruby & Natural Diamond Slide Pendant
