Rubies and Sapphires

After the diamond, the gem is the most important and appreciated Corundum, in the two known varieties: the sapphire and ruby.

Ruby, when you want the best quality, is considered quite rare, especially if it's many carats.

The red color is due to impurities of Chromium, and any impurities of Iron, Vanadium, Titanium which give the various shades of red.

Inquire about the area of ​​extraction of a nice ruby, or anyway of a beautiful color stone, is practically irrelevant

This is because ultimately, the "most famous origin" can not in itself raise aesthetic properties and commercial of the Ruby or Sapphire.

In fact possono exist ugly rubies "Burmese", or gems of rare brilliance, transparency, color saturation, for which know the area of ​​origin is completely irrelevant ..!

For Ruby, in order of importance are preferred: the oval cut, the octagonal at stepped (or emerald cut), the cushion cut, and, when the stone is opaque or translucent, the cutting cabochon.

In ancient times, to have rubies was a sign of domination, of victory, of love and faith.

After the ruby, the variety of corundum most appreciated and known is the sapphire, and owes its blue color to the impurities of iron and titanium.

Its name derives from the greek sappheiros, which means "blue", or Saffir Hebrew, which means "the most beautiful thing."

The quantity extracted from the mines of this variety of corundum is much higher than that of the ruby, and this is the reason why the sapphire has the lowest prices on the market. However, this rule can be denied if they are found specimens of particular quality ..!

In antiquity, the sapphire was considered a symbol of kindness, generosity, and loyalty, as well as command.

For Christians the sapphire symbolically represented the sky, and was considered the emblem of the Madonna.

The shades of sapphire are varied, from light blue to darker blue, but the shade certainly appreciated is the periwinkle blue.

Whether in the ruby that in the sapphire, concentrations of needle-shaped crystals of rutile, generate a silky shine, or also the classic chatoyancy, or star with six spokes.