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Burmese Ruby(ies)

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rubi

Rough_Rock
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Oct 23, 2006
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Hi, I am new to this board. I have a collection of jewellery and loose stones of only Burmese rubies purchased by my late parents in the late 60s while they were in Burma. Some of these look brilliant (can''t reproduce the exact brilliance in a photo, but have tried my level best).

One of these is a ruby in a ring which might be around 3 - 5 carats? there is also a lovely star ruby, in which a star dances around when light falls at different angles. Is it wise to get them appraised before a possible sale? Any of the learned board members care to comment? Thanks

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Date: 11/12/2006 1:43:20 AM
Author:rubi
Is it wise to get them appraised before a possible sale? Any of the learned board members care to comment? Thanks
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Unless you know what an item is worth, how would you know what amount to sell it for? Either you must have it appraised or you must deeply trust the jeweler to whom you sell it. If you do not have such a jeweler in your life, I would opt for appraisal.


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Date: 11/12/2006 10:36:14 AM
Author: strmrdr
I would get them in the hands of Richard Sherwood for an appraisal asap if they were mine.

http://www.sarasotagemlab.com/
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Storm,

Who drug you out of the closet? Was it the rubies? I am glad to hear from you!


rubi,

Listen to Storm. He always knows the best person for a job and he surely knows his rubies!!!

Deb
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Date: 11/12/2006 10:41:03 AM
Author: AGBF



Date: 11/12/2006 10:36:14 AM
Author: strmrdr

I would get them in the hands of Richard Sherwood for an appraisal asap if they were mine.

http://www.sarasotagemlab.com/
Click to expand...


Storm,

Who drug you out of the closet? Was it the rubies? I am glad to hear from you!


rubi,

Listen to Storm. He always knows the best person for a job and he surely knows his rubies!!!

Deb
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LOL
cant sleep so im surfin.
been up since noon yesterday and was up till after 9am yesterday morning too.
 
thanks for the suggestions. Attached is a photo of another piece.

How does a person residing at the other of the world send the items to USA, etc for an appraisal? I can manage to go to Bangkok if there is a good appraiser whose appraisal would be accepted.

Suggestions

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I don''t know much about rubies, but I just wanted to chime in and say how beautiful your pieces are.
 
Those are beautiful.
 
I would definitely have those looked at by an expert before trying to sell them.

I''ve heard that there are good gem labs in Bangkok, but I can''t name them. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

Your pieces are lovely. Would love to see more...

the star ruby?? Please?? Please??
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I love the bangle!
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That bangle is beyond gorgeous. Follow Storm''s advice. Good luck!!!
 

I will definitely follow the expert advice here. I am in India. So Bangkok is the closest, but I could try and make a trip to the USA, though it would be costly. I was wondering if gems given for appraisal can be switched?? I have virtually no idea of how this works, so your advice and the rest is most valuable to me.


Maybe a good appraisal will make Christies/Sotheby take a look.


Here is the star ruby. this picture does no justice to the actual gem, as the photo had to be shrunk to upload it.




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BTW: The star ruby emits 5 rays.

Here is a pair of rings

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Richard will do the appraisal in front of you if you take it there in person.
Im pretty sure Vincent can arrange that also.
I wouldnt worry about it happening with either one.
When I buy my big ruby I plan on just sending it to Richard.


Honestly replacing a ruby with one close enough in looks to pass a close inspection would be very hard to do pretty much anywhere.
 
Just to chime in.

To me you need to make sure the lab you send it or take it to has the capability of checking for heat treatment.

Untreated rubies are worth a ton more.

A second consideration, is the jewelry it is set in. If the item is old, or belonged to someone important previously, that has a lot of bearing on it too.

A local person who is well versed in establishing the value of this item based on the jewelry is rather significant in this assignment.

A gemological lab, may not know the value of the jewelry or the stones, and the opposite is true from someone who just know the values.

So you''d probably have to first get a gemological report on the stones, and then a separate report made by an appraiser,who knows the values.

While there is "chance" that you possibly may find one person capable of both services, you may not, and need two experts for this.

Rockdoc
 
Clearly the first ring you show would be of great interrest to Christies if natural (even in the 60''s you would find some synthetic in Burma). Your photo isn''t good but the purity of the big ruby seems very high, you should consider this possibility.
Christies is where it will be the easiest for you to get a good price.

You need to know and so to trust a good lab, the Indian one isn''t trustworthy, but if you happen to go to Bangkok, there are three you can trust : AIGS, GIT ans GRS.
If you go in New York, Paris, Geneva or London there are also good labs there.

Others are of much lower end, though surely natural, but will surely not interrest biggest auction houses, though they should be able to give you good estimates of the price.


Hope that helps.
 
Wow! This topic certainly drew all the big boys since I last visited. [Storm had been here prior to my last visit. I didn''t mean he wasn''t one of the big boys ;-).] Rubies do generate a lot of passion. A ruby has always been my dream jewel, the one I would get "if". As rockdoc said, there is a difference between heat treated and not heat treated. I wanted a not heat treated with some silk :-).

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I suppose appraisal and a gemological report will be a pretty costly affair. Bangkok seems to be the best bet.

All these stones and rubies are around 40 years old. or older maybe, as the two people who owned this are no longer in this world, so I can''t get a confirmation on its age beyond 40 years. 40 years is definite, as there are customs receipts dating back to that era.

I doubt its heat treated, coz I have around 20 carats of loose rubies and some of them have impurities and seems very natural, though I am no expert in this. As a layman, they don''t seem to be.

The rubies in the bangle sparkle in light and I have usually never seen a ruby sparkle so much, (there are 20 stones x around 2 carats, I guess going by their size) and same is the case with the one in the ring which is extraordinary, when one holds it. Pictures do no justice

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Even now the rubies of the kind you are showing on the bangle are rarely heat treated in Burma, and the pictures are compatible with origin. Such rubies keep on beeing produced, you need to have these checked by a good lab and if everything turns right get a good money of the lot.

I would be more concerned with the ring, the craft isn''t typically burmese, unlike this of the bangle and other rings and the purity is very high, it may be a very very valuable ruby or the synthetic.
Age is of no help in this matter unfortunately.
 
Date: 11/13/2006 12:01:20 PM
Author: rubi
I suppose appraisal and a gemological report will be a pretty costly affair. Bangkok seems to be the best bet.
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I know that AIGS in Bangkok is highly regarded.

It seems to me there must be some one or some place in India who could at least give you an idea of what you''re dealing with, before you start shipping those things all over the world...

I wonder if you could contact AIGS and ask if they could recommend a lab or gemologist closer to home...

Just a thought...
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will work with the Bangkok labs, as its not too much of an issue.


colorchange, the big ruby was set in a made to order design, by my mother, so its really different from the rest, which had Burmese influence.

I am not too enamoured by the idea of going to an Indian lab, as their knowledge is scanty.

I am posting some more pix. Enjoy the rain of rubies


20 cts loose rubies different angle.JPG
 
WOW!!!! Oh My!!
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It looks to me like you have a real treasure trove there!

PLEASE keep us posted on what develops...what the lab/appraisers say... would love to follow this story!

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What gorgeous pieces, particularly that last ring...rubies look so luxurious in that beautiful high karat gold.
 
Date: 11/14/2006 5:39:34 PM
Author: FireGoddess
What gorgeous pieces, particularly that last ring...rubies look so luxurious in that beautiful high karat gold.
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I think most colored stones look better in yellow gold.... but gotta love the rich east gold!!
 
Thanks for the appreciation.
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The hardest part would be finding buyers who offer a good price
 
Date: 11/15/2006 2:16:26 PM
Author: rubi
The hardest part would be finding buyers who offer a good price
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HI:

Once you have them evaluated by a reputable lab and then appraised, would not you try to take them to auction...e.g. Christies''s, etc?

cheers--Sharon
 
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