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Ruby in
the marketplace
Rubies are more valuable and rare than top quality colorless
diamonds. The record price for a ruby sold at auction is a 16 carat ruby which
sold for US$227,301 per carat at Sotheby's in 1988. A 27.37 carat Burmese ruby
ring sold for US$4 million at Sotheby's in Geneva in May 1995, $146,145 per
carat. A 32 carat ruby sold for US$144,000 per carat at Sotheby's in 1989. In
contrast, eight D-color internally flawless diamonds over 50 carats have been
sold in the past six years and the largest, a pear-shape of 102 carats, fetched
a mere US$125,000 per carat. Top rubies are so rare that the world's top gem
dealers must comb estate sales and auctions to find them. Sizes above five
carats are very rare.
Ruby or
Sapphire
Ruby is the red variety of the of the mineral corundum, one
of the most durable minerals which exists, a crystalline form of aluminum oxide. Other colors of the same mineral are known as Sapphire. Corundum has a
hardness of 9 on the Mohs hardness scale and is also extremely tough. In its common form,
it is used as an abrasive.
Choosing
a Ruby
The most important
factor in the value of a ruby is color. The top qualities are as red as you can
imagine: a saturated pure spectral hue without any overtones of brown or blue.
The word red is derived from the Latin for ruby, ruber, which is derived from
similar words in Persian, Hebrew, and Sanskrit. The intensity of color of a fine
ruby is like a glowing coal, probably the most intensely colored substance our
ancestors ever saw.
After color, the other factors
which influence the value of a ruby are clarity, cut, and size. Rubies that are
perfectly transparent, with no flaws, are more valuable than those with
inclusions which are visible to the eye. Cut can make a difference in how
attractive a ruby appears to the eye.
Ruby is considered a Type 2
gemstone
Type 2 Description: Usually eye
clean with some inclusions under magnification
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