Ten Important Facts You Need to Know Before Buying a Ruby
Ravi Lunia, the owner of the Faidee Jewellery House, the only company in the world dealing exclusively with the Burmese rubies for over 100 years, is revealing the secrets we need to know before buying rubies.
When you are buying jewellery, you need to know the facts and follow specific rules that will help you not only to buy the beautiful jewellery piece but also to add an aspect of investment by choosing the right gem.
The actual gems used for the jewellery make the pieces extra unique and considered to be everlasting investments; this is especially true for the “Pigeon Blood” Burmese Ruby, the rarest and most expensive coloured gemstone in the world.
- In ancient Indian manuscripts, the word used to describe the ruby was ‘ratnaraj,’ which translates to ‘the King of Gemstones’. Throughout history, monarchs of every culture and country have regraded the ruby as a regal symbol of everlasting beauty, wealth, and power. In the Orient, the ruby was held to be a good luck talisman, possessing special powers. The gift of rubies was also an expression of love and lasting devotion.
- When you buy a ruby, you should find out the origin first, then inquire about the colour, and only then consider the clarity.
- Of all the ruby producing origins, one country, and one country only eclipses all other and continues to capture the imagination of travelers, explorers, and entrepreneurs: Burma (present-day Myanmar), Mogok.
- Once you have determined the origin, color is the second most important factor in determining a ruby’s value. Typically, a Burmese origin is considered the most quintessential for rubies as they have such intense colours (often described as ‘pigeon-blood’) coupled with resplendent luster and fluorescence (fire).
- Fluorescence is a phenomenon that occurs when a ruby is exposed to UV light, such as sunlight. Fine-quality rubies from Burma have the strongest fluorescence, making them appear as if they are glowing from within and heightens their value.
- As for clarity, Burmese rubies are rarely clean, and even very expensive stones can be slightly included. Last but not least, mineral inclusions present inside a ruby are tale-telling features enabling lab gemologists to separate natural from synthetics, to determine if the ruby was heated or not, and to identify its probable origin.
- Ruby measures nine on the Mohs Scale of Hardness, second only to diamond and matched with sapphire. It means that the gem is powerful and will not break easily. Ruby is one of the most durable materials on Earth: It melts at 2040˚C. It is second in hardness only to diamond (that will burn at 850˚C).
- Fine-quality rubies over 5 carats are very rare, and rubies over 10 carats are vanishingly rare and command record prices at the world-famous auctions.
- The increase in the index price of rubies has been outpacing that of the Dow Jones for the better part of the last decade. They also have a greater rate of increase in their price index than all other gemstones aggregately, and it continues to increase due to the scarcity and run out of gems in of the mines.
- Faidee is currently the only Jewellery House specializing in creating jewellery with Burmese rubies, so rare and sought after, that they have created such fervency in auction salesrooms, headlining Christie’s and Sotheby’s sales. Founded in the early 1900s by Roop Chand Lunia, a gemstone dealer, who was known as “King of the Burmese rubies” for his astonishing collection of rare and exceptional gems, the company is lead now by his great grandsons, who continue the tradition with even more passion and perfection in bringing out the very best in Burmese rubies.
