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Burmese ruby opinions

Sydneyphoenix said:
I am not completely obstinate about >1ct requirements, did consider 0.83ct from the Natural ruby company, basically knocked it back because of a surface-reaching fissure in the pavilion (maybe doesn’t matter so much as below the crown?) and likely MongHsu origin. But that’s a lovely stone as well. Also thought about getting 0.5-1ct from May’s in Australia (that way don’t have to pay 10% import tax), just then stumbled across this 1.07ct stone. I am hoping the colour and fluorescence of the stone will win me over, price is reasonable for a Mogok ruby of this colour (but obviously compromises on clarity and chips on the girdle/pavilion). If this doesn’t work out may settle for a 0.5-1ct stone of good quality, yes.
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May I ask the price of the 1.07?
 
VividRed said:
May I ask the price of the 1.07?
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It is $7,000 USD. That’s why I didn’t have high expectations (with advices from Inken to expect to spend $25K for a good stone) and surprised by colour and happy to overlook moderate inclusions and nicks below the crown. I am not after perfection, just a decent Burmese ruby with good colour.
 
Sydneyphoenix said:
It is $7,000 USD. That’s why I didn’t have high expectations (with advices from Inken to expect to spend $25K for a good stone) and surprised by colour and happy to overlook moderate inclusions and nicks below the crown. I am not after perfection, just a decent Burmese ruby with good colour.
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That’s quite low for what it ought to be, probably fair for what it is. If you can return it without hassle, go for it and see for yourself. That’s what I would do before venturing into more expensive territory :)
 
Sydneyphoenix said:
Hope my choice is not irrational. I am not making a compromise on colour or level of sparkle and fluorescence I will accept, just on clarity. I am just hoping the clarity is acceptable too.
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What is your ideal level of sparkle (scintillation?) that’s not compromiseable?

Sorry if I’ve missed it.
 
Rfisher said:
What is your ideal level of sparkle (scintillation?) that’s not compromiseable?

Sorry if I’ve missed it.
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This 1.07ct seem to have some sparkle, obscured by clouds a bit but seem to be good enough for me.
 
VividRed said:
It was cheap but I wouldn’t consider that a good deal to be honest…
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Yeah the colour isn’t as good as the 1.07ct I am having shipped right now…
 
Sydneyphoenix said:
Yeah the colour isn’t as good as the 1.07ct I am having shipped right now…
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Not only that, it seems to have a crazy extinction pattern. Not that much can be judged by a single image...

When are you expecting the 1,07 to arrive? Can't wait to hear what you think of it once you have it in hand.
 
It looked nicer in the video but obviously a $2400 stone won’t look like a $8k stone!
 
Dreamer_D said:
It looked nicer in the video but obviously a $2400 stone won’t look like a $8k stone!
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There was a video?

. . .

There was! Found it, it was just buried quite far back. It does look a lot nicer in the video. Definitely quite decent for the discounted price.
 
Avondale said:
There was a video?

. . .

There was! Found it, it was just buried quite far back. It does look a lot nicer in the video. Definitely quite decent for the discounted price.
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Ruby prices are so wild these days. I would like a larger Ruby myself some day, and it seems somewhere there is a compromise no matter what. Pony up 10k, heated, visible inclusions, lack of sparkle.
 
Avondale said:
Not only that, it seems to have a crazy extinction pattern. Not that much can be judged by a single image...

When are you expecting the 1,07 to arrive? Can't wait to hear what you think of it once you have it in hand.
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Hopefully will arrive Monday or Tuesday. I am not good with detecting extinction pattern from still image haha.
 
Dreamer_D said:
Ruby prices are so wild these days. I would like a larger Ruby myself some day, and it seems somewhere there is a compromise no matter what. Pony up 10k, heated, visible inclusions, lack of sparkle.
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100%

I’m also “in search of” but, after several years, I’ve concluded that “infinite patience” is a key factor in the search.

That is, I’ve come to terms with the probability that I will simply never find exactly what I want, much less at a price I am willing to pay.

That is, my “dream ruby” may remain some mythical beast that I admire from afar but never actually possess.

At this point, I think I’m OK with that.

For me, it’s better than dumping a ton of money on a stone that I’m ultimately less than thrilled with.

I’ve seen unheated Mogok rubies that were $25-50k/ct and still felt they were less than ideal, often due to poor cutting (big, ugly windows that I personally find intolerable). Even if they were perfect, I still wouldn’t have been able to afford them.

I currently have a couple of attractive heated rubies (that I got for decent prices) and repeatedly conclude that “maybe that’s good enough for me.”
 
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Hey ... count your blessings, and sell your kidneys, heart, lungs, eyes, and liver because even the best rubies (carat for carat & apples to apples) are way cheaper and more plentiful than GIA-graded natural red diamonds.
 
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kenny said:
Hey ... count your blessings, and sell your kidneys, heart, lungs, eyes, and liver because even the best rubies (carat for carat & apples to apples) are way cheaper and more plentiful than GIA-graded natural red diamonds.
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Other than scarcity, not really attracted to red diamonds, best rubies are way prettier than red diamonds in my opinion.
 
It’s overcast in Canberra so not the best pictures, just amped up the exposure of the phone camera a bit (not to the max). My phone is iPhone SE so not the best camera anyway. Will take more photos on a sunny day soon.

There are definitely two clouds under the crown and nicks along the girdle but doesn’t seem to impede on light return too much given the suboptimal weather and lighting.

IMG_8082.jpegIMG_8059.jpeg

And a photo with exposure, vibrancy and warmth settings all amped up to the max:
IMG_8110.jpeg
 
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I will be brutally honest.

I has no fire whatsoever, is windowed, and looks dull.

This is what you get for 7k in Burmese unheated territory, which I find very underwhelming. I am very picky, but would you have bought it seeing these pictures only?

Now, I know that the pictures are not great, and light is also not ideal. Still, think carefully if you want to spend 7k on this. I am pretty sure you will want to upgrade it rather sooner than later.
 
It’s hard to tell how you feel about it, what your eyes see vs what’s coming through on my monitor/what I see.
When you are setting your phone pictures to amp up to the max is that getting your monitor to duplicate what you see with your eyes?
 
Another option if you want more fire is to look at “pink” sapphires. They will be less expensive without the ruby label, but you might find something very pretty, saturated, and almost red enough. I think of rubies as being glowy rather than sparkly, but maybe I haven’t seen the best rubies.
 
I'll just say this - if your preference for this ruby survives @VividRed's scathing critique, chances are you'll love it 'till the end of times. :D

@Sydneyphoenix, I apologise for derailing your thread with this next bit.

VividRed said:
This is what you get for 7k in Burmese unheated territory, which I find very underwhelming.
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What on earth is happening with ruby prices? Do you remember that at the start of last year, when I was in the process of buying a ruby myself, you suggested one for me - a carat, untreated, honestly quite lovely? It was somewhere around 3k. Back then someone said they were being quoted only half that literally the previous year. And now we're talking 7k, and it still comes with a considerable clarity compromise. This is madness territory right now.
 
I hate to be negative, but I think honesty is important if you're spending 7k. It looks really dull and windowed and not worth anything close to the price. Is it really so important to you that the ruby is Burmese unheated that you're willing to settle for something tjay honestly just doesn't look good? If yes and you're going into keeping it with eyes wide open then that's totally fine. But it's an important question to ask yourself
 
Avondale said:
What on earth is happening with ruby prices?
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This.
I bought mine 2018, and looking at what’s similarly available now …..:confused:

I remind myself not to comment that much about prices.
Past threads where posters who’d comment about high prices and compare that to what going rates were 10-20 years ago when they themselves were collecting and advise to shop around better——was not helpful.
 
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Thank you all. I appreciate all your opinions, especially scathing ones. I am thinking this is as close as I will get to owning a fine untreated Burmese ruby, and I am kind of okay with that (haven’t seen ultra-fine rubies but this one looks good enough to me, maybe I am not strict enough), though will think about it in coming days. Might go for with a valuation with the local jeweller boutique in Canberra to see if I paid an okay price before the return period expires. I will give individualised replies to your feedbacks later today.

Just a photo I took this morning before work, still overcast in Canberra but maybe a bit better than yesterday…
IMG_8123.jpeg
 
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VividRed said:
I will be brutally honest.

I has no fire whatsoever, is windowed, and looks dull.

This is what you get for 7k in Burmese unheated territory, which I find very underwhelming. I am very picky, but would you have bought it seeing these pictures only?

Now, I know that the pictures are not great, and light is also not ideal. Still, think carefully if you want to spend 7k on this. I am pretty sure you will want to upgrade it rather sooner than later.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I don’t know about brutal, will call it candid. It is true this ruby’s not perfect but doubt I will ever want to spend USD$20-30K on a 1ct ruby, and like the colour and general vibe quite a bit, not the same as $20K ruby but not bad compared to my expectations for the price. It does look better in real life than photos I took, though perhaps not quite the level of the videos vendor took. I am not sure if I would’ve bought with the photos I took yesterday but today’s photo would have satisfied me, which is somewhat like real-life representation. Maybe I am not picky enough unlike you. But I really appreciate your feedback.
Rfisher said:
It’s hard to tell how you feel about it, what your eyes see vs what’s coming through on my monitor/what I see.
When you are setting your phone pictures to amp up to the max is that getting your monitor to duplicate what you see with your eyes?
Click to expand...
The last photo I put up today is probably close to what I saw with eyes this morning, accounting for overcast weather.

MissyBeaucoup said:
Another option if you want more fire is to look at “pink” sapphires. They will be less expensive without the ruby label, but you might find something very pretty, saturated, and almost red enough. I think of rubies as being glowy rather than sparkly, but maybe I haven’t seen the best rubies.
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Maybe not pink sapphire but I sometimes wonder if red spinels are better value than rubies.

Avondale said:
I'll just say this - if your preference for this ruby survives @VividRed's scathing critique, chances are you'll love it 'till the end of times. :D

@Sydneyphoenix, I apologise for derailing your thread with this next bit.



What on earth is happening with ruby prices? Do you remember that at the start of last year, when I was in the process of buying a ruby myself, you suggested one for me - a carat, untreated, honestly quite lovely? It was somewhere around 3k. Back then someone said they were being quoted only half that literally the previous year. And now we're talking 7k, and it still comes with a considerable clarity compromise. This is madness territory right now.
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Thank you. I think I might keep it, not a steal but not bad for the price I paid and I like overall colour a lot in real life. A bit of cloud inclusions but acceptable to me. Some of you talked about windowing, maybe less of an issue once set in a gold ring?

lovedogs said:
I hate to be negative, but I think honesty is important if you're spending 7k. It looks really dull and windowed and not worth anything close to the price. Is it really so important to you that the ruby is Burmese unheated that you're willing to settle for something tjay honestly just doesn't look good? If yes and you're going into keeping it with eyes wide open then that's totally fine. But it's an important question to ask yourself
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I appreciate your opinion it doesn’t look good. Out of curiosity how much would you have said was a fair price for this one, given it’s 1.07ct unheated Mogok?
I am asking the question you asked and at the moment I am thinking of keeping it, don’t know if I want to spend more energy and money for a 1-carat ruby given this one met much of expectations.

Rfisher said:
This.
I bought mine 2018, and looking at what’s similarly available now …..:confused:

I remind myself not to comment that much about prices.
Past threads where posters who’d comment about high prices and compare that to what going rates were 10-20 years ago when they themselves were collecting and advise to shop around better——was not helpful.
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I do wonder how much the valuation will come up as-obviously without telling the price to the valuer beforehand; thinking of doing it. But yes Inken told me what would’ve cost $15K 2 years ago now go for $25-30K.

Mrsz1ppy said:
Here is a vintage ones I found…
www.acsilver.co.uk

1.50ct Burmese Ruby and 0.66ct Diamond, Platinum Dress Ring - Antique Circa 1930

A stunning, fine and impressive antique 1.50 carat Burmese ruby and 0.66 carat diamond, platinum dress ring; part of our diverse Burmese ruby jewellery collections
www.acsilver.co.uk
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Very pretty. The design I am thinking is “Narya” with solitaire ruby without accent diamonds.
 
kenny said:
Hey ... count your blessings, and sell your kidneys, heart, lungs, eyes, and liver because even the best rubies (carat for carat & apples to apples) are way cheaper and more plentiful than GIA-graded natural red diamonds.
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Yes, us mere mortals can only dream of such a treasure.
I remember watching a TV show about this American guy who wanted a 1 carat diamond in every single colour, tone and hue. He was very wealthy. I remember him saying one of them was worth 10 times more than all the rest added together and figured ahhh, a red diamond.
 
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