Rubies: faithless wives, passion and power
By Chloe Tomasik - 04/07/2007
This month Chloe explores the facts, myths and meanings associated with July's birthstone: the ruby.
"A ruby is basically a red sapphire, and both stones are from the same family - corundum. Corundum itself is a colourless mineral, but it is the impurities found in the corundum which give colour to the stone. When the corundum contains chromic oxide it has a red colour and thus it becomes a ruby, and all other colours are called sapphires.
Traditionally red has been associated with love, passion and power, and the myths surrounding rubies link in to all of these. Rubies have been favoured by Kings since ancient Egyptian times when rubies were placed in a Pharaoh’s sceptre as a symbol of the divine power of Royalty. The Hindus valued rubies more that any other stone calling them "ratnaraj" (king of precious stones), and believed that wearing rubies conferred perfect safety to the wearer - especially if worn on the left side.
The name ruby originally comes from the Latin "rubeus" meaning red. It is one of the stones mentioned in Aaron's breastplate and a ruby is the most mentioned precious stone in the bible - where the value of rubies was linked to the faithfulness of a wife . ("A virtuous wife is worth more than rubies. Proverbs 31.)
The Borgias in Renaissance Italy believed that wearing rubies would protect them from poison. Others believed that a ruby was supposed to change colour if there was danger to the wearer, so tradition has it that Catherine of Aragon’s ruby ring darkened before her divorce from Henry VIII. And one belief that many might agree with is that wearing rubies can be regarded as emblems of good fortune as they banish sorrow and ward off evil thoughts.
One of the few negative beliefs comes from Medieval England when it was thought that the single eye in a dragon’s forehead was actually a carbuncle ruby (a half round un-faceted stone) which glowed in the dark and terrified all those who saw it.
In the past, the ruby was defined by its colour rather than by the type of stone (i.e. corundum), which meant that some antique pieces of jewellery thought to be rubies might well be a mixture of ruby, garnet, spinel and even pink tourmaline gems set together in order to achieve a matching colour. Much less valuable for a seller, of course. Even well known historical jewels once thought to be rubies, such as the Black Prince’s ruby in the crown jewels or the 352 carat Timur ruby belonging to Her Majesty the Queen are, in fact, spinels.
For centuries the best rubies came from Burma (and still do), and are often called pigeons blood red, and have a slightly bluish hue. However, rubies from different areas show slightly different tinges depending on the trace minerals found in the surrounding soils which leach into the ruby crystals. Rubies from Siam (modern day Thailand) can have a brownish tinge as they have more iron in them, whilst those from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) are a lighter red, almost pink and could be considered a pink sapphire. Larger deposits of rubies are found today in Kenya and Tanzania. Since the 19th century, rubies have been made synthetically, and many modern rubies are heat treated to improve their colour.
Rubies are nine on the scale of hardness just below diamonds. Large, flawless rubies are extremely rare and would be more valuable than a similar size diamond.
And if a ruby is not your birthstone, don’t forget it is the gem associated with 15 and 40 years of marriage."
If you have any questions for Chloe about birthstones and precious gems, please write to jayne.warren@maturetimes.co.uk