Gemstone Jewelry

For anyone looking to purchase a ruby ring you will want to find out what exactly it is you are looking for in regard to the style you are going to choose. But you’ll also want to make sure what you are buying is genuine and that you know what you are getting for your money. There is nothing worse than getting ripped off when buying jewelry because you don’t know enough about the product you are buying. It pays dividends to discover more about how selecting different grades of ruby and finding the highest quality for the money you have to spend.

When looking for any type of ruby ring whether its an eternity, heart, or a mens ring there are more colors out there than just the red which we associate with Rubies. There is also pigeon blood red and pink or even a pink sapphire is really from the family of gemstones.

You should be aware that the finest ruby is defined by the color and not on the clarity the same as it is with diamonds and many other precious jewels. When looking for quality the important factors to take into account are not only the color though but also the placement of any natural imperfections that are visible in the stone. Given their name you would think that flaws in a ruby are a bad thing but this isn’t the case. Good flaws will create a star effect with the light sometimes refracted into 3 or more points. Rubies that have with these qualities are sought after and will naturally be more expensive.

A Treated Ruby Isn’t A Fake Ruby

Heat treating is a process that is carried out on rubies in order to bring out a deeper and richer color in the stone. What many people don’t know is that most rubies that you can find online these days are treated and its rare to find one that isn’t. Don’t worry about this if you find out that a stone you have bought previously is treated as it doesn’t mean its not genuine or that it is of inferior quality. You can definitely still find vintage ruby rings that are in a more natural state if you hunt for them specifically in your favorite jewelers either on the high street or online.

Spinel and Ruby Rings on a Budget

There is another slightly cheaper option available to you and that is to purchase a red spinel ring. Its a genuine and natural stone looks very much like a ruby and are called “rubies” of history and that’s the spinel. I actually didn’t know that spinels existed until recently when I was looking for imitation rubies for people who were looking for a cheap alternative to the ruby engagement ring. I thought I have found the answer with spinels but the reality was that you can actually get genuine medium quality rubies for a better price than spinal so you might as well go for them instead.

If you are interested in Spinal then you will want to ensure that you don’t confuse genuine Spinel for lab created spinel, which is obviously a man made imitation and very cheap to produce.

Second only to diamonds in hardness, the spectacular colors and durability of corundum have made sapphires and rubies important gemstones for centuries. The mixed cut is used for both varieties of stone as is the carbochon cut which shows up perfectly the optical effect known as asterism as seen most spectacularly in the star of India – The largest gem quality sapphire in the world at 563.35 carats, almost flawless and exhibiting a perfect star.

The finest rubies come form Burma and the finest sapphires from Sri Lanka, Burma and India but other countries such as Thailand, Australia, Russia and Nigeria all produce corundum.

Ruby and sapphire are both corundum gemstones, the difference between them being their color. Ruby is the red variety of corundum; the color being caused by the presence of chromic oxide, the amount of which determines a pale red or a deeper crimson red. Sapphires come in all colors except red. The blue shades which come form titanium, vary from the palest blue to almost black, the paler cornflower blue to mid-blues fetching the highest prices.

All corundum that is not red is called sapphire but comes in colors other than blue from colorless to yellow, pink and green. The color is determined by the presence of impurities, the colorless sapphires having none. Small amounts of chromium color the sapphire pink whereas yellow and green are the result of varying amounts of iron. Padparadscha is a specifically named corundum and is pinkish-orange in color.

Brilliant cut is the most popular cut for diamonds and many other gems especially colorless ones as it emphasises maximum brilliance and shows play of light. As well as the round brilliant cut, other popular brilliant cut shapes are the boat shaped marquise and the pear-shaped pendeloque.

Cabochan, a rounded top, usually with a flat base is used for translucent and opaque gemstones and gems which display optical characteristics such as chatoyancy, asterism and play of color. This cut has a highly polished finish and is often used for rubies and sapphires.

The stone of the mixed-cut is usually rounded in outline. The crown is brilliant cat and the pavilion step cut. This style is often used for sapphires, rubies and translucent colored stones.

The emerald cut, aslo known as the step cut or trap cut, is used to show th ecoloerd stones to the greater advantage. This cut has a rectangular or square table facet adn girdle with parallel rectangular facets. The corners of fragile stones such as emeralds are sometimes removed making octagonal stones.

The eight cut, a simplified version of the brilliant cut is used for small stones. It has eight facets on the table and eight facets on the crown.

Imitation gemstones are copies of gems often made of glass, plastic or synthetic spinel. They outwardly have the appearance of natural gemstones but glass, for example, is warmer to the touch and is softer wearing, showing signs of wear and tear. Pronounced inclusions of hernal swirls and bubbles and chipped facets are another sign of imitation. They are often referred to as paste.

Synthetic gemstones have the same chemical composition and crystal structure as natural gemstones but are grown in laboratories. Their optical and physical properties are similar but natural stones usually contain some inclusions that can aid their identification whereas synthetics show evidence of there synthesis with lines or bubbles. It can take sophisticated techniques to differentiate the nearly perfect natural gem and the synthetic.

Natural Gemstones are minerals which require the unusual geological conditions for their creation. They can form at various depths with in the earths crust and are also found in placer or alluvial deposits. The latter are often superior as only the strongest and most perfect survive the arduos journey. Natural gemstones have a fixed chemical composition nd regular internal structure; some are organic and come from plants and animals.