Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Gubelin Crimson Red

G

garonc

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 13, 2025
Messages
10
I'm looking to purchase a ruby and have come across one that is certified crimson red by Gubelin. I've gone on to the Gubelin website to read about this and crimson red is the same as their pigeons blood but without strong fluorescence. Does anyone know if the ruby needs to meet certain clarity requirements as well? It states that there are no eye visible inclusions, no dark inclusions and high level of transparency. Can I assume that if a ruby has been given crimson red that it's not going to be an overly silky/cloudy stone?
 
I agree with LilAlex... definitely sounds like clarity is playing a part in the designation. I think basically what they're trying to say is that the stone's attributes, as a whole, must have a particular fineness to qualify. So the color, clarity, and cut must all combine to product a certain quality. The definition also states that the material must be untreated and have little to no fluorescence. Personally, I think it is safe to assume, because Gubelin's standards are so high, that you would receive a relatively clean crystal. Do you have a photo? That should tell the story. :)

Oh and welcome to the boards!!
 
Oh and welcome to the boards!!
garonc said:
The pictures I have aren’t very clear - I’ve requested more videos but I haven’t heard back from the vendor yet.
IMG_7925.jpegIMG_7924.jpeg
Click to expand...

This is a beautifully colored stone! I can see why they created a specific trade name for it... do you know the origin (the article said it must be outside Burma)? I'm thinking Mozambique. With regard to the clarity, there's definitely a decent amount of silk, but I doubt it would rise to the level of being cloudy (I just can't imagine Gubelin would create this designation specifically mentioning clarity and then certify a cloudy stone as such). Do you have a return policy? If so, I might get her home and take a look! :kiss2:
 
garonc said:
The pictures I have aren’t very clear - I’ve requested more videos but I haven’t heard back from the vendor yet.
IMG_7925.jpegIMG_7924.jpeg
Click to expand...

I really like it. May I ask the price you were quoted? My guess is 1.5ct, non Burmese but unheated so likely 8k US$. Assuming the pictures are representative, of course.
 
Autumn in New England said:
Oh and welcome to the boards!!


This is a beautifully colored stone! I can see why they created a specific trade name for it... do you know the origin (the article said it must be outside Burma)? I'm thinking Mozambique. With regard to the clarity, there's definitely a decent amount of silk, but I doubt it would rise to the level of being cloudy (I just can't imagine Gubelin would create this designation specifically mentioning clarity and then certify a cloudy stone as such). Do you have a return policy? If so, I might get her home and take a look! :kiss2:
Click to expand...

Totally agree with taking it home for a viewing!
 
VividRed said:
I really like it. May I ask the price you were quoted? My guess is 1.5ct, non Burmese but unheated so likely 8k US$. Assuming the pictures are representative, of course.
Click to expand...

It’s a 3.06ct Mozambique - asking price is $53k. This vendor also had another 3 ct Gubelin crimson red last month but that one had an asking price of $76k so I’m assuming the price difference is down to clarity.
 
garonc said:
It’s a 3.06ct Mozambique - asking price is $53k. This vendor also had another 3 ct Gubelin crimson red last month but that one had an asking price of $76k so I’m assuming the price difference is down to clarity.
Click to expand...

If the stone had moderate-to-strong fluorescence and less silk, I wouldn't flinch at that price. And that's because the color is fine and the clarity (aside from the rutile) is great. The cut is also above average, certainly for ruby, and it's untreated. But I do think that's high for a non-fluorescent (one of the things that makes ruby so special), highly silky stone.
 
My 5 cents.
I love the colour and the shape but not the price.
What are its dimensions?
It’s all well and good buying a 3 ct ruby but if it has a big “bottom” face up size makes it seem smaller to the eye.
Buying and loving rubies is a fraught experience. You really do have to decide what parameters matter most and purchase accordingly.
For some, unheated is King and nothing else matters, for others appearance matters most, other “best for budget” and others go lab because they can have the look and $52.75k still in the bank.
At the “pointy end of the market” people want unheated, pure red hue and tone and Burmese. They know they are unicorns and prices of $50k plus a carat for over 2 carats isn’t unexpected. Below that level is everything else and you have to decide which attributes are for you and search and pay accordingly.
For me, colour and fluorescence matter most. I want to be in awe of a red gem that looks like it is glowing from within, otherwise why not choose garnet?
So only you can feel that $53k for a 3 carat an unheated, non Burmese, non fluorescent but great colour is for you,
 
Bron357 said:
My 5 cents.
I love the colour and the shape but not the price.
What are its dimensions?
It’s all well and good buying a 3 ct ruby but if it has a big “bottom” face up size makes it seem smaller to the eye.
Buying and loving rubies is a fraught experience. You really do have to decide what parameters matter most and purchase accordingly.
For some, unheated is King and nothing else matters, for others appearance matters most, other “best for budget” and others go lab because they can have the look and $52.75k still in the bank.
At the “pointy end of the market” people want unheated, pure red hue and tone and Burmese. They know they are unicorns and prices of $50k plus a carat for over 2 carats isn’t unexpected. Below that level is everything else and you have to decide which attributes are for you and search and pay accordingly.
For me, colour and fluorescence matter most. I want to be in awe of a red gem that looks like it is glowing from within, otherwise why not choose garnet?
So only you can feel that $53k for a 3 carat an unheated, non Burmese, non fluorescent but great colour is for you,
Click to expand...

I think the only reason why it’s priced so high is due to the crimson rose designation. When I first asked about price the vendor told me she couldn’t give me a price until it was back from the lab as she wanted to wait and see if it would get crimson red. If the clarity was better I would seriously consider buying it but given how other rubies are being priced by this vendor I think it’s wishful thinking on my behalf to expect this to be a crystalline stone.
 
garonc said:
I think the only reason why it’s priced so high is due to the crimson rose designation. When I first asked about price the vendor told me she couldn’t give me a price until it was back from the lab as she wanted to wait and see if it would get crimson red. If the clarity was better I would seriously consider buying it but given how other rubies are being priced by this vendor I think it’s wishful thinking on my behalf to expect this to be a crystalline stone.
Click to expand...

A lab designation doesn’t mean anything.

It is priced high because it is of high quality, and high quality rubies are rare.

However, I tend to agree that the price is high, despite the size, for a non fluorescent ruby. Can you negotiate? Are you seriously looking to buy it?
 
VividRed said:
A lab designation doesn’t mean anything.

It is priced high because it is of high quality, and high quality rubies are rare.

However, I tend to agree that the price is high, despite the size, for a non fluorescent ruby. Can you negotiate? Are you seriously looking to buy it?
Click to expand...

If the clarity was better I would consider buying it. But i think it has too much silk to justify the price tag.
 
garonc said:
If the clarity was better I would consider buying it. But i think it has too much silk to justify the price tag.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. Do you have the chance to see it in person without having it shipped? Too much risk and insurance won’t cover that amount (or maybe it will, but it will cost an arm and a leg)
 
The vendor is in Asia (Bangkok/Beijing) and I’m in Europe so impossible for me to see in person.
IMG_8033.jpegIMG_8035.jpeg
She just sent over a video but I don’t think I can upload videos here so I’ve taken some screenshots - it really is a pure red.
 
garonc said:
I don’t think I can upload videos here
Click to expand...

imgur is your friend, slap it on there and paste the link here. At this point I'm very curious to see this stone in motion.
 
Have you got the dimensions? It seems somewhat small for the carat weight.
 
garonc said:
Here’s the video

https://imgur.com/a/CDtePgZ
Click to expand...

Very nice, but for that price is should be very nice :)

What is your plan? I could not have it sent per mail, it’s too much money, I would fly to see it in person. But then you might be biased due to the sunk cost of the flight…aaah, difficult.

Also, can the vendor send pictures and video in different lighting conditions? I do see some brown in the video, but that might be the poor resolution. Nothing beats an in-person viewing, but tons of pictures in different lighting conditions can certainly help
 
VividRed said:
Very nice, but for that price is should be very nice :)

What is your plan? I could not have it sent per mail, it’s too much money, I would fly to see it in person. But then you might be biased due to the sunk cost of the flight…aaah, difficult.

Also, can the vendor send pictures and video in different lighting conditions? I do see some brown in the video, but that might be the poor resolution. Nothing beats an in-person viewing, but tons of pictures in different lighting conditions can certainly help
Click to expand...


I really like the colour but $53k is more than what I was looking to spend. I have a budget of $45k and there are 2 other stones that are a little less pricey that I’m waiting to see more photos of. I have a feeling this one has the nicest colour, cut and shape out of the 3 but the other 2 might have a touch less silk.
 
Ahhh that is very helpful! The color and cut are fantastic, no doubt about that. I'm actually surprised it is non-fluorescent. She still looks quite glowy, which of course is being aided by the silk (and yes, the bright lighting). But yeah, I would say she's definitely straddling the line between glow and just too darn silky (for me). Not rising to the level of cloudy, per se, but highly silky. And some folks LOVE that. I like a touch, but not a heavy amount of rutile. I would say my ruby has a moderate amount (more than I wanted). Still, this is a fabulous stone. It may just not be right for you at that price.
 
I’m going to go against the crowd here and say this is actually a very fair price for a 3ct Mozambique ruby. For the really red top color, I was quoted $17k-$21k per carat for a 2ct stone 2 years ago after negotiations. And there’s a premium once it hits 3ct+.

You may want the seller to take pic under natural light or under a uv light. From what I understand, in application Gubelin reserves “crimson red” designation for all non-Burmese ruby (or non-marble host rubies… I think I may have seen a Vietnamese ruby get pigeon blood designation from Gubelin, but I may be misremembering…) regardless of if it actually fluoresces.
 
pomo_juice said:
I’m going to go against the crowd here and say this is actually a very fair price for a 3ct Mozambique ruby. For the really red top color, I was quoted $17k-$21k per carat for a 2ct stone 2 years ago after negotiations. And there’s a premium once it hits 3ct+.

You may want the seller to take pic under natural light or under a uv light. From what I understand, in application Gubelin reserves “crimson red” designation for all non-Burmese ruby (or non-marble host rubies… I think I may have seen a Vietnamese ruby get pigeon blood designation from Gubelin, but I may be misremembering…) regardless of if it actually fluoresces.
Click to expand...

This ruby also has a GRS certificate- it was given vivid red* so unfortunately it doesn’t have strong fluorescence.
 
garonc said:
This ruby also has a GRS certificate- it was given vivid red* so unfortunately it doesn’t have strong fluorescence.
Click to expand...

Actually, the way GRS does it is they have pigeon's blood Type I and Type II. The former indicates vivid red hues with medium-to-strong fluorescence. The latter indicates vivid red hues with little-to-no fluorescence. There will be an appendix which mentions the fine color but lack of fluorescence. Older reports may differ. But Gubelin has already noted that this particular stone has little-to-no fluorescence with the "crimson red" designation, as that is part of its definition.
 
There is one thing I very much struggle with though. Here on PS there is no issue in finding high resolution, high definition pictures of gems. Some people use iphones, some people have better cameras. But when a vendor shares a pictures of a 50k ruby, it feels like 1995. You want extra high resolution pics when buying expensive, small objects like gems.

I personally stopped dealing with Asian vendors (on IG) for this reason, it drove me nuts :(
 
VividRed said:
There is one thing I very much struggle with though. Here on PS there is no issue in finding high resolution, high definition pictures of gems. Some people use iphones, some people have better cameras. But when a vendor shares a pictures of a 50k ruby, it feels like 1995. You want extra high resolution pics when buying expensive, small objects like gems.

I personally stopped dealing with Asian vendors (on IG) for this reason, it drove me nuts :(
Click to expand...

Right? I mean my photos are terrible, but if this were my business, I'd own the best equipment I could afford. In this case, I think the stills OP posted were from a video he initially had trouble sharing. Honestly though, the video isn't that hot either. :think:
 
It’s a very pretty stone but I echo everyone else in saying that you need better videos under sunlight, natural light under shade, indoor normal lighting. Also ask them to confirm that no pen light or torch is being shone at the stone while they are filming it.

Have they confirmed that there are no inclusions etc? You would expect none at that price but I’d check just the same!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP

Featured Topics

Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top