Rough ruby? What's this uncut stone?

[Boo247]

My FI and I have been given this stone by his dad. He traded it with military issue cigarettes about 60 years ago while he was in Burma. He was told it was a ruby and later he says a gemologist tested it with a file (?) and told him it was a ruby with a star.
We are getting all this info years later so not really sure what to do! I suppose if it is a ruby it would be nice to get it cut and have it set so I can wear it.
It's about the size of a marble. Maybe about 2cm across I would say.
Who knows about gems 'in the rough'?

Any ideas or info very welcome

 

[denverappraiser]

There's no real way to ID a stone from a photograph but from the story and the shape, corundum seems very possible (that's the name of the mineral that rubies are made of). Most appraisers offer this service and can do it while you wait. Check under the 'resources' tab at the top of the page to see if there's someone in your area.

 

[Boo247]

Thank you. I'm in the UK so can't see who might be in my area from the resources list. Should I be looking for a gemologist of some sort or would a jeweller be able to tell us? Are there special cutters for gems?

 

[denverappraiser]

Cutting is a rather different sort of question but the first step is to decide what you have and whether you want to proceed at all. That shouldn't be all that difficult to help you with. I'm a bit far away and I can't give you a specific recommendation but I would start out with the Gemmological Association of Great Britain. (www.gem-a.com). They can probably direct you to someone nearby who can help.

 

[Boo247]

That's very helpful thank you. You're quite right too. We need to know if it's something worth cutting. We love it because of his dad's adventures but no point thinking we can make it into something wearable until we know what it is. I'm off to check out that link. Thanks again.

 

[alamana]

Do come back and post when you've figured this out. It is a fascinating story and I'm dying to know if you do in fact have a ruby (and I'm betting that you do).

 

[Coralfish]

As Neil said, you cannot go wrong with an FGA

http://www.gem-a.com/about-us/fga--dga-register.aspx

Anyone on that list who is a FGA (just FGA is fine, but don't choose someone who's only a DGA and not an FGA as well) will be able to determine whether it is natural corundum. The next step - determining whether it is worth cutting into a star ruby cabochon or suchlike - contact someone such as Holts lapidaries in London, but if it was me I'd probably contact

http://www.gemartservices.com/about.htm

or

http://www.whitesgems.com/customcutting.html

Or post in the coloured stones subforum looking for a recommendation.

 

[Boo247]

Thank you! Lots in the UK on that list. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Michael_E]

One cutters trick that may be helpful is to put a drop of thick oil, (like STP), or honey on the smoothest end of the crystal and shine a bright single source light onto that end. The oil or honey has a refractive index of just under 1.5 and if the drop is deep enough it will act like the surface of a cab and show the star quite well. We use this technique for orienting star stones before cutting them, but it should work for your purposes too.

 

[Boo247]

Thank you!

I've sent off a few emails. I'll tell you what they say.