A Large Oval Ruby Single Stone Ring almost 10 Carats
[14251M]
RUBY is a red gemstone that varies from a light pink to a blood red, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). The colour is caused mainly by chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Natural rubies are exceptionally rare. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are sapphires. It is considered one of the four precious stones, together with the sapphire, the emerald and the diamond.Rubies are mined in Africa, Asia, Australia, Greenland, Madagascar and North Carolina. They are most often found in Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka, Kenya, Madagascar, and Cambodia, but they have also been found in the U.S. states of Montana, North Carolina and South Carolina. The Mogok Valley in Upper Myanmar has produced some of the finest rubies but, in recent years, very few good rubies have been found there. The unique color in Myanmar (Burmese) rubies is described as "pigeon's blood". They are known in the trade as "Mogok" rubies. In central Myanmar the area of Mong Hsu also produces rubies. The latest ruby deposit to be found in Myanmar is situated in Nam Ya. In 2002 rubies were found in the Waseges River area of Kenya. Sometimes spinels are found along with rubies in the same rocks and are mistaken for rubies. Rubies have a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Among the natural gems only diamond is harder (Mohs 10.0 by definition). Note that the Mohs scale is logarithmic, & a hardness of Mohs 10 is twice as hard as Mohs 9.
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