(Not so) Rwd Ruby

[AV_]

A search like this - tells of how much less ruby exists than sapphire, even tresspassing any subtleties of red...


I wish this was larger WWW etc.

 

[VividRed]

.
WWW

What do you make of it?

Hi AV,

Thank you for the link. I like it a lot and would consider buying it if it was within my budget

Price is not disclosed but at 2ct, nearly loupe clean, vivid red and unheated I recon it must cost around 10-15k per carat (not Burma)...ouch

 

[AV_]

Hi AV,
I like it a lot and would consider buying it if it was within my budget

In time, I have sort of learned to love the dark, very saturated sapphire - but the dark reds still make my blood curdle...

The price could be right, or could be less. I recall examples of every obscure source of ruby appearing over time, aside the obvious & a couple of world class examples too.

For something small-ish & impossible - a perfect colour sample! - I may try WWW , Pala International (some stock used to be online, I have not looked in ages) & their ilk. They do not usually show much variety of material - but only the closest to the illusory RED, BLUE...

rambling

 

[VividRed]

Little update - I bought another one from AJS - 1.17 ct. heat only Burmese ruby. Color is hard to get on iphone camera, it tends to appear more pink that it actually is. Here some photos in various settings:

Indoor, next to the window. Very gray day, little light and probably also poor angle:



Indoor, mix of daylight from window and incandeacent light from table lamp:


Lastly, daylight with possibly the right angle and pretty strong pinkish fluorescence (looks more red IRL):


Pictures aren’t really great so I can’t really show you its “true” colors but I like this one much more. Happy with my first ruby!

 

[2Neezers]

Little update - I bought another one from AJS - 1.17 ct. heat only Burmese ruby. Color is hard to get on iphone camera, it tends to appear more pink that it actually is. Here some photos in various settings:

Indoor, next to the window. Very gray day, little light and probably also poor angle:



Indoor, mix of daylight from window and incandeacent light from table lamp:


Lastly, daylight with possibly the right angle and pretty strong pinkish fluorescence (looks more red IRL):


Pictures aren’t really great so I can’t really show you its “true” colors but I like this one much more. Happy with my first ruby!

It looks beautiful . Congrats on your first ruby!

 

[VividRed]

Here’s a couple more - shot indoor with normal daylight (no lamps) and a 10x loupe against my iphone camera. It def looks more more pink on camera but it’s still a nice color I find




Am I right in assuming that the glow in the sscond picture is due to fluorescence?

 

[AV_]

Am I right in assuming that the glow in the sscond picture is due to fluorescence?

& internal scattering... - sometimes this goes hand in hand with fluorescence [something to argue in terms of lattice defects & such - one day], but not always...

 

[lovedogs]

Ooooh I like this one much more!

 

[T L]

Here’s a couple more - shot indoor with normal daylight (no lamps) and a 10x loupe against my iphone camera. It def looks more more pink on camera but it’s still a nice color I find




Am I right in assuming that the glow in the sscond picture is due to fluorescence?

It could be, but the best way to make sure is to buy a uv light source and test it yourself in a dark room. They’re sold rather cheaply online (around $5 for a keychain uv light).

 

[VividRed]

It definitely does fluoresce

 

[T L]

Very nice, please post pics after you set it.

 

[VividRed]

Very nice, please post pics after you set it.

Well, I am actually not planning on setting it anytime soon - I don’t wear jewelry but have a small collection of mineral specimens and wanted to add a couple of gems, ruby being my favorite. I might set in one day for my wife or daughter, who knows

By the way, although I really like the stone I ordered another one from the same vendor and am waiting for it to arrive, at which point I will compare the two and decide which one to keep. The new one is labelled Vivid Red by GRS (heat type A, i.e. with insignificant residue) so I have reasonably high expectations. I will share the photos of course!

Happy Sunday!

 

[lmyracle]

Can't wait to see your comparisons!

 

[VividRed]

Friends, waht do you think about this?

https://www.wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/unheated_burmese_ruby_1_01/10910/5768

I am slowly but surely falling in love with it

 

[voce]

That stone gets a thumbs up from me. High chromium saturation and such good crystal! Just, a $21k price tag. Make sure you can afford it.

 

[AV_]

Do I guess it right that these polished rubies are sitting next to a crystal of matching quality in your collection?

 

[VividRed]

Do I guess it right that these polished rubies are sitting next to a crystal of matching quality in your collection?

Unfortunately not the last one I posted from Wildfish is an absolute stunner, a league way above what I own. My perfect vivid red, never dark, always bright, and glowy!

 

[AV_]

Just pictures as yet.

 

[AV_]

Then, so is this, and I believe it -

https://www.leonmege.com/images/stories/virtuemart/product/r1064_027wx.jpg

 

[Anne111]

Vividred, I have been staring at that wildfish ruby for approximately ten hours. Can't get enough of the colors and details. Luckily, looking doesn't cost anything.... it seems like they priced it so high as NOT to sell it. I wouldn't want to sell it, if it were mine either.

 

[VividRed]

Vividred, I have been staring at that wildfish ruby for approximately ten hours. Can't get enough of the colors and details. Luckily, looking doesn't cost anything.... it seems like they priced it so high as NOT to sell it. I wouldn't want to sell it, if it were mine either.

I know the feeling, it’s addictive!!

 

[VividRed]

I could not resist, and here it is. In a UV box it’s a torch, at dawn/dusk it’s a magic red glowing gem; under incandescent light it shows incredible brilliance (80% or so) and under a loupe it’s at good as is it gets, with that little blue core typical of Mong Hsu.

Not an easy stone but having seen many rubies in the last 2 months, this beats them all and I could not be happier. I will set it, one day, in a family heirloom or something; right now I just enjoy watching it

The search is over, for now

 

[Nick_G]

@VividRed Wow. Some lovely stones there. That last one is the Wildfish gems one, is that right?

You mentioned that you also have some mineral specimens. That is my main interest: natural mineral specimens and gem crystals. Do you have any ruby mineral specimens? I have a few ruby-in-matrix specimens, and this is one of my favourites:



This also has a layer of violet inside, as can be seen most clearly on the last picture. These pictures were taken using a studio light (daylight type bulb). I'm not sure where it's from, but Afghanistan would be my guess.

 

[VividRed]

@VividRed Wow. Some lovely stones there. That last one is the Wildfish gems one, is that right?

You mentioned that you also have some mineral specimens. That is my main interest: natural mineral specimens and gem crystals. Do you have any ruby mineral specimens? I have a few ruby-in-matrix specimens, and this is one of my favourites:

This also has a layer of violet inside, as can be seen most clearly on the last picture. These pictures were taken using a studio light (daylight type bulb). I'm not sure where it's from, but Afghanistan would be my guess.

Hi Nick,

That’s right, it’s one from Wildfish - awesome gem, to me at least!

I do have a few mineral specimens, but no rubies - a few vanadinites bought directly in Morocco, a rhodochrosite with a very nice matrix, and a few others (incl. an etched spessartite that looks like a futuristic city under the lens )

 

[Nick_G]

Hi Nick,

That’s right, it’s one from Wildfish - awesome gem, to me at least!

I do have a few mineral specimens, but no rubies - a few vanadinites bought directly in Morocco, a rhodochrosite with a very nice matrix, and a few others (incl. an etched spessartite that looks like a futuristic city under the lens )

Yes that Wildfish ruby is stunning!

I've been into minerals since about the age of 8, lost interest through the late 80s to the mid 90s but then discovered Gergory, Bottley & Lloyd in SW London, and a couple of years after that the Kempton Park Rock & Gem shows. This got me back into the hobby. I've also picked up some superb bargains via eBay over the last year, quite a few of them due to misidentification.

I can certainly see the appreciation of cut gems, but I just love the crystals as formed in nature, as each specimen is unique, and the ones in-matrix are interesting as it shows the geologic environment in which they formed.

My avatar is a pic of a parcel of small sapphires I bought over 20 years ago from the aforementioned Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd, for just £12, and they were labelled as coming from Montana. I know now that this location is completely wrong, and the evidence is pointing to Kashmir as the place of origin. I'm hoping to get that confirmed this year.

 

[Bron357]

I could not resist, and here it is. In a UV box it’s a torch, at dawn/dusk it’s a magic red glowing gem; under incandescent light it shows incredible brilliance (80% or so) and under a loupe it’s at good as is it gets, with that little blue core typical of Mong Hsu.

Not an easy stone but having seen many rubies in the last 2 months, this beats them all and I could not be happier. I will set it, one day, in a family heirloom or something; right now I just enjoy watching it

The search is over, for now

Wow, very very beautiful.
But I’m still suffering from “sticker shock” looking at the website.
$21,000
You’ll be needing an armed guard for that beauty.

 

[VividRed]

Wow, very very beautiful.
But I’m still suffering from “sticker shock” looking at the website.
$21,000
You’ll be needing an armed guard for that beauty.

I used one of the 5 annual discount vouchers (33%) + wire discount (5%), which made it possible. Still, it’s a lot of $$$ but frankly, I have seen a lot of heated (and not as nice!) rubies running at 10k/ct. with little to no room to negotiate and I just could not let this one go.

I will stay quiet for a while

 

[Anne111]

Envy, envy, envy... it seems you have made a very educated choice and thus deserve it all. Counting $13.500/stone/ct that doesn't seem totally luxury over-the-top expensive.
Settings? I'd have some ideas, many ideas, more... You will let us know when you need help, yes?

 

[Nick_G]

I've just been looking at Wildfish Gems' website after VividRed posted pics of that amazing ruby. Yes there are some gorgeous stones on there, but what caught my interest in the 1-2 ct ruby listings was this mineral specimen of ruby-in-marble:

https://www.wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/unheated_afghani_rubies_4_744_gram/10910/15266

I'd argue that it is not facet grade though, and it's a similar size and appearance to this one, which is also probably from Jegdalek, Afghanistan:



The price on that Wildfish specimen is shocking though! Mine cost a LOT less than that, and I mean a lot! There's no way I could afford to spend that sort of money on a thumbnail ruby mineral specimen.

 

[VividRed]

Envy, envy, envy... it seems you have made a very educated choice and thus deserve it all. Counting $13.500/stone/ct that doesn't seem totally luxury over-the-top expensive.
Settings? I'd have some ideas, many ideas, more... You will let us know when you need help, yes?

Hi Anne,

I am not in a rush but would certainly welcome suggestions this will be a family heirloom so I was thinking something like this, maybe?