These stampings often resemble coins, and some are difficult to identify. They may possess the identical gram weight, the same millimeter diameter and thickness and an identical looking picture of an authentic government coin. In fact, the only way to identify these superb copies is by taking a saw, cutting into the metal and examining the internal metallic content. Professional jewelers who are expert in this field will require this as a condition of making an offer to a customer, for the jeweler’s safety and for the customer’s security. The same standard of care is taken by jewelers and coin merchants when they identify and sell gold coins and gold bullion to the public. Just because a 24k yellow gold-looking bar appears to be properly stamped with a well-known name does not mean that the bar is legitimate. The seller must know with 100% certainty how the bar is minted, by whom, its metal content, its weight, and even its external dimensions, along with the precision of its surface markings, and customers should never be shy about asking their sellers about such details.

In most gold-buying businesses, the merchant tests the jewelry and then provides the customer with its weight, its karat content and its cash value as expressed in dollars/gram or dollars/dwt (pennyweight). The merchant usually does not then state his commission, although it may be assumed that his commission is the difference between what he has paid the customer and what he will receive from the refinery, once they receive the metals. How much is this commission? Is it fair? Is it competitive? Is there an alternate method for the customer to use, where s/he will have more certainty of the outcome of the transaction? What would happen if the merchant were to promise to give the customer 100% of the dollars he received from his refinery, less his cost of preparing the jewelry to be refined and less the mailing and insurance expense, and after those dollars are given to the customer, the merchant then gives the customer an invoice for a certain amount? Using this method, the customer learns up front and agrees to the merchant’s commission; however s/he must wait for payment until the refining process is completed and the merchant has the money. This may take some time, so that the merchant collects enough metal to be refined, thus spreading the refining expense among more gram weight of metal.

Of course, many customers are excited when they can walk out with a check or cash, and are not willing to wait, even if their return would be greater. For some clients, seeking a cash value appraisal on their old gold jewelry from an expert not in the refining business can provide good information which will allow the owner the ability to shop for the best deal. The relatively small cost of the appraisal is more than compensated by the owner’s ability to negotiate a “best return price” from the gold refiner, as the owner already knows pretty much what the merchant will receive from the refinery when the transaction is complete.

Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz, and grows throughout the earth in many saturations of purple, from faint mauve to strong reddish violet. Most amethyst is darkened by heat after it is taken from the earth. When you buy it, assume it is heat-treated unless the jeweler tells you otherwise. As an aside, much beautiful yellowish orange citrine quartz starts its life as purple amethyst, and is heat-treated to its final color. The ancients knew this, and there are many references in old texts referring to heating of the family of quartzes.

Amethyst is generally inexpensive, from $1/carat to $35/carat, and often is found with very few inclusions to mar its beauty. However, as with many colored gemstones, there are much rarer and pricier stones. The rarest amethysts on the planet are from the Ural Mountains, aptly named Siberian amethysts. It takes a great deal of knowledge and experience to identify this stone. It is best qualities, it is a medium-deep purple color with substantial rose fire exploding from the top to the eye. It is much brighter and livelier than even the deep rose-violet amethysts from Zambia or from Guerrero, Mexico. The latter stones commanded prices beginning at $60/carat and ending at $125/carat. The best Siberian stones are $500 to $800/carat and worth every dollar. They are seldom available, because jewelers who study and love the best qualities of colored gemstones cultivate clients for Siberian amethysts, and the demand is unceasing.

A final comment to those of you who love mineral crystals, rather than gemstones as jewelry. Amethyst often grows with six-sided pyramids on each end. Some years ago I positioned 5 of these crystals at different angles to one another, and over lapping, and positioned two lights, one to shine through the sides of the crystals and the other to come through the back. The result was breath-taking art on display in the client’s living room. This is just another way to create beauty with gemstones, and the reds and violets which pour from these stones are impossible to duplicate with any other art form, making any home or office into a royal cottage.

- Tom Tivol

The most common garnet in the earth is almandine (or almandite), the orangey-brown or reddish-orangey brown stone. It was named after the city of Cine, Aydin, south-west Turkey, where it was cut in the days of Theophrastus (315 BC) and Pliny, 400 years later. We believe that almandine is the stone named carbuncle, in the Breast Plate of Aaron, Exodus, Chapter 23. It is always inexpensive, and usually fairly deeply colored.

The most expensive garnet has a long name: demantoid andradite garnet. In its magnificent quality, it is a deep yellow-green with yellow and red fire bounding out of the top of the stone. The great stones have always been from Russia, a century ago, and now re-sold in fine vintage and antique jewelry. Large stones are exceptionally rare. It is not uncommon to price a 4 carats demantoid at $6000 per carat, making it hardly a “semi-precious” garnet.

The next most expensive is also green, but a different green from demantoid, and another long name: tsavorite grossular garnet, or just tsavorite. In its best qualities this garnet’s color is a deep almost pure green, with similar fire to the demantoid but not with the same colors exploding from the top. In larger sizes, tsavorite can be $3000 to $5000 per carat, the great stones all coming from Kenya. When I am teach my students the impossibility of identifying a gemstone by its color, I often place a demantoid, a tsavorite, and an African emerald next to one another, to show their similar colors. Buying, selling and just handling these gemstones for many years allows the seasoned buyer to make a reasonable guess; however, as in all gemstone identification, each stone must be tested for complete accuracy, so it can be represented honorably to the public.

The most beautiful pinkish or purplish red garnet is called rhodolite, more commonly found that demantoid and tsavorite, but not nearly as common as almandine. This is a gorgeous gemstone, to rival any of the purplish red stones anywhere in the world. In sizes above 5 carats, it is expensive, beginning at $500 per carat and ending about $1500 per carat.

There is one orange garnet that is so demanded world-wide that it is sometimes difficult to find a stone for a client. This is the “Malia” garnet, a subdivision of the famous spessartine garnet. This garnet may be absolutely pure orange, and when it is cut to hold and explode its light, it is truly like a piece of the sun. There are no gemstones like it … none, in any variety or species ever recorded. The orange is so vivid and bright, you gasp when you see the stone. Naturally, it is also pricey, beginning at $800 per carat and ending at $3500 per carat.

There are half a dozen other types of garnets, not famous as gemstones. And, here is one that even most jewelers are unfamiliar with. It is extremely rare. Ready? It is a blue garnet, blue like Montana Yogo Gulch sapphire. There are very few records of individual stones. Blue garnet appears as an included crystal in diamond. I have sold such diamonds, and the client has purchased the stone because of this fascinating “flaw.” Since we are discussing garnet, another diamond I have sold is one with a red garnet inside, and inside the red garnet was another diamond. Again, the customer loved the idea of a diamond within a garnet within the heart of a diamond, and purchased the stone because of that bright red color in the center.

Finally, nature produces garnet with visual phenonema. There are cat’s-eye garnets, star garnets and garnets which change color, like an alexandrite, when exposed to incandescent and ultra violet light. And in the garnets which change color, one of the colors it becomes is blue, like the blue garnet inside the diamond.

Clearly, garnet has outlived its century-old designation as a semi-precious gemstone. The beauty of many garnets is so astounding as to place them into the precious stone category, even without considering the lofty prices necessary to pay to own one of the extraordinary colors.

Two “blues” define the official birthstones for December, despite the fact that this is one of the most joyous months of the year. Topaz derives its name from the Sanskrit word “tapas,” meaning fire, and its three lovely blue colors remind one of cool lakes in the summertime … thus “fire from the lakes,” in the lore of gemology. Topaz in its pure form is colorless, and for centuries, was used as a substitute for diamond. Its blue color is caused by heat, either from the earth itself or when enhanced by man. The artificial process creates three distinct colors of blue: sky blue, Swiss blue and London blue. The latter is so dark that it is sometimes used as a substitute for some sapphires from S’ri Lanka.

Blue topaz has a powerful market presence, as it has been extensively used the past 40 years by designers of silver and silver and gold jewelry. Brazil, the United States, Pakistan, China and several countries in Africa have large quantities of this gemstone. So prevalent is blue topaz in the 21rst century, that many jewelers and most members of the public have either never seen or have forgotten about the magnificent natural blue birthstone for March, the aquamarine, which exhibits entirely different hues of blue, and which is substantially more expensive. Blue topaz is very inexpensive, comparatively. It has been faceted into beautiful briolettes for pendant necklaces and dangling earrings as well as all the classic shapes of gems for all types of jewelry.

Turquoise, a much older gemstone, is named after the country which paved the way for its introduction into Europe centuries ago … Turkey. In its pure form, turquoise is a luscious “robin’s egg blue color.” Almost all turquoise of that color is mined in Iran, historically and today. If pieces from this region are not enhanced in any way, they can be quite expensive, even as single pieces, and suites of jewelry with matched natural pure blue turquoise are both comparatively rare and pricey. As most Americans know, our southwestern states also produce substantial quantities of turquoise, much of it veined rather than pure blue. Turquoise colors include greens and blues and browns,  based on the amount of copper and other minerals in the gemstone. Pieces of American turquoise often provide the primary gemstone for very fine fabricated pieces of jewelry and jewelry art, designed and made by American Indians over the decades, and some of these pieces are exceptionally beautiful and quite expensive. Turquoise was an important gemstone in ancient times and has been found extensively in tombs throughout the globe.

It is important when purchasing any gemstone jewelry, and especially with turquoise, to discuss with the seller the presence of treatment to the stone, which helps sustain its structure, hide veining and to present a more desirable blue color. Methods of enhancement include dyeing and treatment with paraffin and other waxes. Such treatments may not be permanent and strongly affect the cost and ultimately the value of the gemstone.

Tom Tivol

What is more interesting, and definitely more exciting are the rarer colors of both citrine and topaz, which make them great gems of the world. Pure vibrant rich orange citrine, when beautifully faceted, glows with liquid light. It is radically different from the common citrine and a bit more expensive, from $55 to $110/carat. Topaz also has its “gem” varieties. The rarest is orangey-red, called “imperial,” a term badly over-used to describe inexpensive topaz with a slight reddish hue on the ends of the stone. True orange and red imperial topaz looks like the most beautiful sunset in Arizona; it looks like liquid fire, and prices begin at $250/carat and rise to $850/carat. The other truly exciting color of topaz is violet, or in some stones, pinkish violet. In topaz, the violet color is not as deep as in rare amethyst; however it is clearly violet, like deep sky blue violet that is highlighted with pink streaks of light. Sets of these stones dangling from diamonds or surrounded by diamonds make fabulous one-of-a kind jewels, with prices commensurate with their size, rarity of color and brilliance and fire.

The most important visual feature of jewelry-quality opal is called its “play of color.” These rainbow colors are the result of light hitting sub-microscopic silicon balls and diffracting back out of the top of the stone. The colors which are produced, and what happens to them as the opal is moved, is believed to be related to the size and arrangement of the silicon balls. Gemologists look at the hues themselves, red, orange and yellow being rarer than blue, green and violet. We look at the number of colors, the intensity of the colors, their brightness or dullness, the shape of the colors, whether the colors appear to be on the surface of the opal or appear to be deeper in the stone. We also look at whether and how the colors “move” as we move our heads, move a light over the opal or move the opal in a lighted room. To be considered a multicolor stone, the opal must have at least 3 strong colors, with one predominate. The shapes of the colors are also important. Opal is placed into shape categories. These categories include pinfire, flashfire, broad flashfire, rolling flashfire and harlequin, among others. There are opals where its play of color appears to paint a picture, and there are certain very rare patterns which do not fit any of the standard patterns.

Opal is also classified by type. There are natural opals, natural opals which are enhanced in a laboratory, synthetic opals (entirely produced in a laboratory), opal doublets and triplets (ultra thin pieces of natural opal backed with cement and a piece of a black gemstone on the bottom, and a colorless gemstone on the top), and imitation opals (like glass manufactured to have similar colors). Type is the single most important feature in the determination of opal value.

Base color: When studying the value of opal, once the type is identified, gemologists identify the base color. Base colors include black, black crystal, semi-black, boulder-black, crystal, semi-crystal, gray, white, light,orange, orange crystal, brown crystal, jelly and blue. To identify an opal as “black opal,” the gemstone must have a very dark base color, and there is always debate on what to call the opals with a medium to dark gray base color, rather than a true black base color. It is important to note here that when we talk about base color, we are NOT referring to a dark rock or matrix material that makes up the bottom of the stone. We are talking about an internal color that permeates all the play of color, and deepens and enriches it throughout the stone.

Most opal seen in the jewelry business in the 21rst century continues to arrive from various parts of Australia. Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, California and Utah each produce a bit of opal, and there are opal mines in a few countries in Central and South America, among other geographies. Japanese men and women adore opal, and often prefer it to diamond as the engagement ring gemstone.

Over years of wear on the hand, opal does have a tendency to scratch. When this happens, the top of the stone and its play of color dulls. These scratches are usually easily removed by an experienced opal lapidary, and the opal can almost always be easily reset into the same ring.

Most opal in most jewelry stores has a white or light gray base color, with some bits of bright hues poking through the general cloudiness of the stone. These are common opals. They can be lovely and are always very inexpensive. On the other end of the spectrum are the Lightning Ridge Australia black opals, with super intense play of color, especially those with 5 or 6 colors eye visible, with an emphasis on red. When those colors “flash” across the surface, you are holding a gemstone worth tens of thousands of dollars/carat. Such authentic black opals appear infrequently in the world market, although there are a substantial number of less expensive black opals usually available for selection. Looking at the play of color in any opal where the brightness and depth of color are extraordinary is like taking the jewel colors of paint and placing them on a stainless steel surface with bright luster and high reflection. Nothing else in the gem kingdom approaches this level of beauty … Nothing.

- Tom Tivol

To be able to synthesize diamond, the same heat and pressure that we theorize exists in the earth must be created in a laboratory, with machines built to produce that environment. This was first accomplished by the General Electric Company in the early 1950′s. Since then, the race has been on to develop synthetic diamonds that might be used as gemstones for jewelry.

The first synthetic diamonds for jewelry appeared in the last 10 years. These were primarily rich fancy yellow colors. During this same period, tiny colorless synthetic diamonds were also manufactured. By 2009, larger colorless synthetic diamonds became available, generally under one carat in weight. The race is now on to produce synthetic colorless diamonds from 1 carat and up, to see if the public will purchase them for engagement rings and other purposes, instead of the natural stone.

A synthetic diamond has the same optics, chemistry and structure as a natural diamond … it is essentially the same thing. There are features of these stones however that permit gemologists to safely and accurately identify them. The 2 or 3 companies now manufacturing them in larger sizes are having each polished stone sent to a laboratory for an identification report, which will be given with the stone upon its sale.

So far, synthetic colorless diamonds are fairly expensive, approximately 25% to 35% less expensive than their natural counterparts. It is far too early to know whether a laboratory created diamond at this price will be preferred over a natural stone. The laboratory created diamonds will be very colorless and probably close to flawless. Those features may excite certain buyers, even though once the process is perfected, there will be no limit to the number of stones that can be manufactured. The question whether a synthetic can be returned, traded in, upgraded … all those issues that are part of the marketplace for natural diamonds and other gemstones will need to be worked out over time. Clearly, they will never be good investments.

Historically, throughout the 20th century, the introduction of synthetic colored gemstones had no lasting affect on the desire of the world’s public to purchase, wear and own beautiful natural colored gemstones. Of course, laboratory-created colored gemstones cost a tiny fraction of the price of their natural counterparts, while a synthetic diamond is going to be expensive, at least for the time being.

- Tom Tivol

Blue sapphire grows in an amazing assortment of colors. In fact, as the most popular variety of the mineral corundum, sapphires grows in all colors of the rainbow, with the exception of red, which of course is ruby, the birthstone for July. Even when we limit our discussion to blue sapphire, natures provides us with an astonishing set of hues, from very pale grayish blue to extremely dark bluish black, all part of the blue sapphire group. Somewhere in between, lies the deep pure blues from Myanmar, S’ri-Lanka, and the rarest very slightly violet blues from Kashmir. A moderately good example of these colors can be seen by rubbing a blue magic marker across a highly polished stainless steel surface. The hue that is produced along with the brightness caused by light reflection off the stainless steel approaches rare blue sapphire. If you can retain this color in your mind’s eye, you will have captured it forever.

Sapphires grow in many parts of the globe including multiple countries in Africa, S’ri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Australia, Kashmir, China, Brazil, as well as the Yogo Gulch area of Montana. Like all colored gemstones, most hues are relatively inexpensive with only certain colors being comparatively rare and very very few colors of blue being authentically rare. Authentically rare gemstones would be very difficult to find even when attempted by an expert in that stone. A 5 carat very light blue sapphire from S’ri Lanka may cost $50/carat … a very dark blackish blue or bluish black sapphire from Australia, Cambodia or Thailand may cost $10/carat, while a comparatively rare 5 carats deep pure blue from S’ri Lanka may cost $8,000/carat or more. The top grade of blue from Myanmar in this size about $20,000 per carat, and from Kashmir, about $50,000 per carat.

The geographic origin of sapphire does not affect its value. The exceptions are the top grades of blue sapphire from Myanmar and or Kashmir — but only the rarest stones from those locations.

As the hue becomes pure blue, losing is gray, green and black tones, the cost increases. When the additional modifying colors are added, the cost drops. Like all colored gemstones, the way the stone is cut, meaning its angles and proportions, can create or detract from beauty. Even a gorgeous and comparatively rare blue is not particularly pretty unless it is faceted to explode lots of light to the eye. The same can be said of the many interesting inclusions that grown inside sapphires. When they are too numerous and heavy, the stone becomes lifeless and of minimal value.

Learning how sapphires are artificially treated (enhanced) both before they are cut and sometimes after is extremely important to the purchase decision. Most sapphires are enhanced by heat after they are faceted, as part of their preparation to be sold. Heating a sapphire finishes nature’s task, had the crystal been left in the earth for a few million more years. Heating the stone sometimes rids it of its modifying colors as well as destroys many or most of certain types of inclusions. Heat-treating gemstones is considered almost a normal part of preparing them for sale. However, there is a price difference between natural gemstones and natural gemstones which have been heated. Today’s best jewelers use laboratory reports to identify both heat treated sapphires and those which have no treatment at all. All enhancements to colored gemstones, diamonds and pearls must be disclosed to the consumer at the time of sale, so the buyer may make an informed decision about owning such a gemstone.

There are additional ways of treating sapphires which are far more invasive, and which significantly affect the cost. These methods include injecting material into the stone, to cause light to divert around flaws, thus making them more invisible. There are also diffused sapphires. These are relatively colorless sapphires that have been given almost all their blue color in the laboratory. The entire sapphire appears blue, even though the actual color is centered in a small area at the top of the stone. When this sapphire is scratched during normal wear, and a lapidary polishes that area, the sapphire can suddenly return to its colorless state. This can happen also when the sapphire is cleaned. In-filled and diffused sapphires are both extremely inexpensive … a few dollars a carat or a tiny bit more. Examining these very commonly-available blue sapphires, gemologists debate whether such invasive treatment makes the sapphire similar to synthetic sapphires, which are grown entirely in laboratories.

Typical substitutes for beautiful natural blue sapphires would be those which are severely enhanced, those which are grown in a laboratory, and the faceted glass imitations which have been available for centuries. All of these are commonly available throughout the jewelry industry, in the United States, and world-wide.

As noted above, sapphire is not just blue. It grows in other majestic colors, most all of which are the result of different chemical elements which enter the stone during its growth phases. Of particular interest to the best jewelers are the rare pure pinks and purplish pinks, the large deep golden yellow sapphires, the incredibly intense pure orange sapphires and the comparatively rare sapphires called padparadscha, which are salmon-orange. Each of these color groups includes totally natural sapphires as well as enhanced sapphires using a variety of methods. “Gem” quality pink sapphires of 10 carats can easily reach $15,000 per carat. Colorless sapphires, called white sapphires over the centuries, have been used as diamond substitutes. I find these somewhat frequently in estate and antique jewelry, often identified as diamonds by misinformed jewelers of years ago. Intense golden sapphires are fabulous gemstones, as long as their color is not the result of nuclear irradiation, which causes the color to fade when exposed to sunlight, over time.

While sapphire is one of the hardest colored gemstones, it is substantially softer and less durable than diamond. If worn frequently, it will scratch and chip, making it a more difficult choice for an engagement ring. Regarding its care, natural sapphire or heat treated natural sapphire with normal inclusions may be cleaned with hot water and soap. Natural sapphires with heavier inclusions, which may open onto the surface should be given to a jeweler to be cleaned. Natural sapphires which are enhanced using one of the other methods must be given to a jeweler to clean. No sapphires should be cleaned in an ultra-sonic, ever.

- Tom Tivol
President, Tom Tivol Jewels

Quite a bit of peridot exhibits an “oily” brilliance, which reduces the attractiveness of this lovely gem. Those peridots which produce clear sparkling yellow-green light, however, are gorgeous, especially if the color is deep and rich, and the perfect blend of yellow and green. Peridots with the addition of light brown color are less expensive and less desirable. Most peridot crystal grows with relatively few inclusions. Therefore a faceted and polished peridot which is heavily flawed is substantially less expensive. Like all colored gemstones, the color of peridot should appear evenly distributed across the top of the stone, with as small a center “window” as possible.

Peridots are cut in a variety of shapes. The step cut style meaning rectangular or square stones of various faceting patterns may produce the more beautiful gems; however peridot is frequently cut into round, oval, tear drop and cushion shapes, often preferred by the public. Sometimes the center facet of the stone, called the table, is curved slightly, which helps intensify the color in the center of the gem.

Close up of a "lilypad inclusion"

An interesting gemological feature of some peridot, is its most famous inclusion, called a “lily pad” inclusion. When a gemologist is able spot one of these inside a yellow green gemstone, then no further testing is required. The presence of the lilypad is proof positive that the gemstone is peridot. Peridot is imitated by other gemstones, most notably grossularite garnet and yellow green quartz, and especially by glass. It is also laboratory enhanced in various ways, and like all enhancements, these should be disclosed to the buyer.

The top jewelers historically have found and used large peridots, setting them with diamonds and making important rings, pendant necklaces and earrings, sometimes in matched suites. Large stones with great sparkle are “refreshing,” and provide the impression of nature opening into springtime. In ancient times, peridot was thought to destroy enchantments and evil spirits, as long as it was set into gold.

As with all colored gemstones, cost varies significantly with size and especially quality. Ten (10) carat peridots vary from $10/carat to $800 per carat, and this size of peridot is becoming more difficult to find, especially if the client wishes to compare varieties of colors and qualities in similar carat weights. Five (5) carat peridots are still available from many sources, in ranges of quality and cost. The maximum beauty of this gem is hard to see in smaller stones; there is just not enough surface area to allow all the gorgeous color and light to be easily viewed.

Peridot is a glorious gem, not the most costly in the gem kingdom, but one of the most beautiful of both the ancient world and of modern history.

Ruby is the red variety of the mineral corundum; sapphire is the multi-color variety of corundum. How can a red gemstone and a blue (and other colors) gemstone be part of the same mineral species? The answer can be found in chemistry: Chromium provides the coloring agent for ruby while iron and other chemicals provides the coloring agent for sapphire.

The 23.1-carat Carmen Lúcia Burmese Ruby at the Smithsonian Museum

Like all colored gemstones, the quality of ruby is based first and foremost on its color: Color includes the analysis of its hue (the precise colors in the stone), its level of saturation (how bright or dull is the color) and is tone (how light to dark is the color), as well as whether the color is uniformly or irregularly distributed across the top of the stone. Once color is analyzed, the remaining features of cut, clarity, polish, shape and carat weight come into play. Finally, whether and to what extent the ruby is laboratory-enhanced to improve its color and or clarity may significantly affect its cost. The geographic origin of ruby is irrelevant to cost, with the exception of the top grades of pure red ruby from Burma.

Laboratory-enhanced rubies are prevalent throughout the jewelry industry, and are found in both old and new jewelry. Heating a ruby crystal has been done for centuries, in order to complete the work performed by nature, had the crystal been left in the earth for a few more million years. Heating a ruby is fairly standard practice, although there is a small cost different between natural rubies and heat treated rubies. Still, enhancement by heat is the least invasive of the many forms of treatment. Much more invasive forms of treatment include filling ruby fractures with glass and other materials, which tends to hide the fracture and improve the color. Such rubies are extremely inexpensive, are should be viewed in an entirely separate category from both heat treated and natural rubies.

Ruby is one of the first gemstones to be reproduced in a laboratory. Millions of carats of synthetic ruby were manufactured and available for purchase during the first 10 years of the 20th century. Many families owning rings with large red stones may assume that because of the age of the ring, the center red stone must be ruby, and it must be natural. Unfortunately, in my experience, most of these turn out to be synthetic … defined as a man-made ruby with the same chemistry, structure and optics as the natural stone.

Experienced gemologists can identify these red stones for the public, and there are advanced laboratories today which offer reports on both the laboratory enhancement of ruby color and clarity as well as the geographic origin of this special gemstone.

In the United States, most ruby buyers prefer their center rubies to be set with flanking or surrounding diamonds, to provide added sparkle to the ring. It should be noted however that a ruby which is cut to proper angles and proportions is by itself very sparkly, and when combined with a crimson red color, breathes bright fire to the eye. Almost all consumers can see the difference between pure red rubies and their most common counterparts with purple, pink and brown as modifying colors. In the same fashion, it is easy to distinguish between a beautifully cut ruby, which explodes with light, and a commercially cut ruby, even with a fine color, which resembles “flat paint” on a dining room wall … pretty color but no life.

The rules applied to the purchase of a center ruby also apply to the purchase of small rubies, for example, those used in straight line bracelets or channel set eternity rings. The client always has the choice of ruby color and quality and should confidently talk with their jewelers about the availability of rubies in the color and quality they wish to wear.

Finally, as with all colored gemstones, the cost of ruby varies dramatically with the quality. One carat rubies for example vary from $50, for the most common stones, usually of average color and very heavily flawed, to $10,000, for natural rubies from Burma, with the highest grade of pure crimson red, with a near flawless internal purity and which are beautifully cut to boot. Three carat rubies of this degree of rarity would be rare, and would cost about $80,000. Five carat rubies about $350,000. These top grade and top priced rubies are never seen by most jewelers or by the public. They are just too rare and expensive to be enjoyed as jewelry. By the way, there are many beautiful rubies to purchase from Burma, for substantially fewer dollars, that still exhibit the fiery red so famous from that country. In addition, there are rubies from other geographies, certain purplish red, cherry ruby and pinkish red rubies, relatively clear internally and beautifully cut, which can be used to make truly gorgeous jewelry, at a fraction of the cost of the collector type stones above. The idea is always to look at various colors and qualities of ruby within your budget, choosing a jeweler who is knowledgeable on the subject and has access to this kind of selection. You will then purchase a ruby of great beauty, and it will become one of your family treasures to give to children and grandchildren in the years ahead.

Please note: As of this writing, United States federal law prohibits the importation and sale of rubies from Myanmar, due to alleged human rights violations in that nation. Burma rubies found in older estate and antique jewelry are excepted, as are rubies imported from Myanmar before the law took effect.