All About Gems & Jewelry Making — Ruby

It has always amazed me how much people pay for a ruby!  Rubies are simply red sapphires!  Granted, there are differences and specifically in how trubies are created. 

Experts and professors around the globe are yet to settle on a precise explanation for how rubies are formed. It’s known that a ruby is, in essence, a type of corundum, which is itself colorless when pure, and turns ruby red when chromium is introduced. Sapphires, incidentally, are also a type of corundum, created when titanium and iron are part of the mix, turning the stones beautiful shades of blue. But the conditions needed to create rubies are so rare that a definitive explanation for their creation remains elusive.

For rubies, it is their color, rather than their clarity, which makes them so valuable, and this is greatly determined by where the rubies are found. Ranging from vibrant orangey red to almost purple in hue, rubies can be many different shades.There are many red gemstone that can be confused with a ruby.  Red spinel is one of my favorites because it looks identical and is a fraction of the cost.