Ruby Gemstone Value, Price & Jewelry Insights

What is Ruby? Understanding The Red Corundum

Ruby is gem-quality red corundum, deriving its characteristic color from chromium traces. All other color varieties of gem-quality corundum are classified as sapphire. Most gemological authorities expect a medium to medium-dark red color tone in a genuine ruby. Stones with lighter coloration are designated as pink sapphire. However, there is no general agreement on precisely where to draw the distinction between rubies and sapphires.

Depending on chromium and iron content, rubies display a color range including:

• Pinkish reds with subtle purple undertones
• Purplish reds with varying intensity
• Orangey reds with warm undertones
• Brownish reds with darker tones

The trace mineral content typically varies with the geological formation that produced the ruby. This explains why descriptive terms like "Burmese" (Myanmar) or "Thai" (Thailand) sometimes describe stones' colors from those locations. However, color doesn't always definitively indicate origin.

Ruby Carvings: Artistic Expressions

While lapidaries typically facet high-quality ruby for jewelry purposes, they also utilize substantial quantities of lower-quality ruby rough to create:

• Beads for stringing into necklaces and bracelets.
• Intricate carvings demonstrating artistic skill.
• Various ornamental objects for collectors.

Anyolite, also known as ruby-in-zoisite or ruby zoisite, represents a distinctive lapidary rock material containing chrome-rich green zoisite, black hornblende, and significant amounts of opaque ruby. Skilled gem carvers craft intricate objects from this visually striking material.

Ruby Lore: History and Significance

Few gemstones possess as much myth, lore, and romance surrounding them as rubies. Throughout centuries, numerous cultures have symbolically associated rubies with wealth and power. One primary attraction was the supposed protection from misfortune and illness they allegedly provided their fortunate owners.

As gemological science advanced, many historically significant rubies, including the famed Black Prince's Ruby in the British crown jewels, were discovered to be other red gems, most frequently red spinels. Nevertheless, many famous, genuine rubies have fascinating histories of their own.

Historically, cabochon-cut blood-red gemstones were collectively known as "carbuncles." Modern gemologists now distinguish these gems as separate species, including garnets, spinels, and authentic rubies.

How to Identify a Ruby: Key Characteristics

Overall color can often, though not always, provide clues to a ruby's origin. Stones from Myanmar typically display purplish red colors, while Thai stones generally appear more brownish red.

Ruby Fluorescence: The Inner Glow

Rubies fluoresce under both long and shortwave ultraviolet light. Gemologists frequently utilize this property to help identify a stone's geographic origin.

Myanmar rubies often fluoresce so intensely that this effect becomes noticeable even in natural sunlight. They literally appear to glow from within, a quality that ruby aficionados greatly admire.

Thai stones generally lack this distinctive fluorescent property.

Ruby Asterism: The Star Effect

Rubies, like sapphires, can display asterism—the distinctive "star effect"—due to rutile inclusions within their hexagonal crystal matrix. When rutile appears sufficiently abundant and precisely arranged, proper cabochon cutting can produce magnificent star rubies.

Modern enhancement techniques include heating and diffusion processes that can increase rutile content and improve the star effect in these gems.

Ruby Inclusions: Identifying Markers

Inclusions can help gemologists identify the source of a ruby gemstone. For more detailed information, see our comprehensive article on identifying the origins of rubies and sapphires.

Ruby Gemstone Value: What Determines Price?

Ruby gemstones rank among the most coveted and durable traditional jewelry stones. As the official July birthstone, ruby's exclusively red color can reach extraordinary levels of saturation. Premium-quality ruby gems stand among the world's most expensive gemstones, with record prices exceeding $1,000,000 per carat. However, rubies undergo more treatments than almost any other gemstone, significantly affecting their market value.

Large, gem-quality rubies can be more valuable than comparably sized diamonds and are certainly rarer. In fact, smaller blue sapphires (1-3 carats) appear relatively abundant compared to small, gem-quality rubies. Consequently, even modest-sized rubies command relatively high values. For example, a 1.52-carat ruby's price may begin at $5,500 per carat, depending on its clarity.

The overwhelming majority of rubies are "native cut" in their country of origin. High-value ruby rough remains tightly controlled and rarely reaches custom cutters. Occasionally, lapidaries recut these native stones to custom proportions, albeit with some loss of weight and diameter. Custom-cut and recut stones typically command higher per-carat values than native or commercial-cut specimens.

Ruby prices fluctuate dramatically from a few hundred dollars per carat to thousands of dollars per carat based on several factors:

• Size significantly impacts ruby value, with larger stones commanding exponentially higher prices.
• Color quality determines much of a ruby's worth, with vibrant "pigeon's blood red" commanding premium prices.
• Origin plays a crucial role in ruby valuation, with Myanmar (Burma) rubies typically fetching the highest prices.
• Treatment history affects value substantially, with untreated rubies worth significantly more than treated stones.

For comprehensive information on ruby quality factors, consult our buying guide and appraisal guide. For more details on ruby and many other gems, we also recommend our Gem Price Guide.

Synthetic Ruby: Lab-Created Alternatives

Laboratory-created ruby can be manufactured through several different methods, including flame fusion, the Czochralski process, flux, and hydrothermal techniques.

Corundum gemstones, encompassing both rubies and sapphires, were first synthesized in the late 19th century. In 1904, French chemist Auguste Verneuil published his groundbreaking work on the flame fusion process, still known today as the Verneuil (vair-NAY) process. This development dramatically increased the production of synthetic rubies and sapphires.

Many jewelers and gemologists have faced the uncomfortable task of informing proud inheritors of treasured heirloom ruby rings or brooches that their pieces contain flame fusion stones with more sentimental than commercial value.

In recent years, researchers have developed increasingly sophisticated creation processes that simulate natural formation conditions so convincingly that:

• Colors appear remarkably natural and indistinguishable from mined stones.
• Inclusions look extremely natural, mimicking those found in earth-mined rubies.
• Visual characteristics challenge even highly trained professionals.

For additional information, consult our detailed articles on identifying synthetic gemstones and identifying inclusions found in synthetic gems.

Ruby Enhancements: Common Treatments

Rubies have an extensive history of enhancement. Unless a seller explicitly states that a stone is unheated, you should assume some form of heat treatment has been applied. Typically, high-temperature heating followed by controlled cooling clarifies the stones. This process:

• Dissolves silk (rutile inclusions) that may cloud the stone.
• Improves color tone and saturation for more vibrant appearance.
• Creates a more marketable product overall.

Such treatments can only be detected in stones whose residual inclusions show signs of heat stress. Truly clean stones provide no definitive clues, making verification of their natural color impossible.

The current consensus seems to be that simple heat treatment, being stable and indistinguishable from nature's own heating processes, remains acceptable provided proper disclosure occurs. For this reason, heating doesn't drastically reduce ruby values. However, this acceptance doesn't extend to more recently developed treatments, such as diffusion coloring or filling with polymer and/or lead glass.

For additional information on ruby enhancements, see our comprehensive article on corundum treatments.

Ruby Gemstone Origin: Sources Around the World

Although Asia has historically been the predominant producer of ruby gems, numerous other sources exist, including the United States, Australia, and more recently, Africa. Origin definitively affects ruby values, with certain locations commanding significant premiums.

For more detailed information on rubies from these and other regions worldwide, see our article on identifying the origins of rubies and sapphires.

Myanmar: The Premium Source

Stones from Myanmar (formerly Burma) generally command the highest prices in the ruby market. They possess the coveted, nearly perfect coloration known as "pigeon's blood red"—a very slightly purplish red with vivid saturation and dark tone. They also exhibit extreme red fluorescence that enhances their visual appeal.

Mogok: The Legendary Source

A legendary deposit known for over 1,000 years, a mining tract in the Mogok region has served as the primary source of gem-quality rubies. The area has produced some of the finest rubies ever discovered. The color of Mogok rubies often appears in rich patches and swirls. (Color zoning occurs occasionally). Mogok rubies maintain their color in virtually any lighting condition, contributing significantly to the demand for these gem-quality stones. The characteristic shape of Mogok ruby rough generally yields well-proportioned finished gems. In addition to faceted stones, Mogok also produces the world's finest star rubies.

Möng Hsu: Modern Production

In the late 1990s, gem-quality rubies began appearing in much greater abundance from the Möng Hsu region of Myanmar.

The rubies from Möng Hsu display a rich, fluorescent red color and are easily distinguished by their characteristic dark core. These gems frequently undergo treatment at very high temperatures to enhance their color.

While conventional heat treatment represents an accepted practice in the trade, the extreme level of heat applied to Möng Hsu rubies to enhance their color generated some controversy within the industry. Concerns arose not only regarding heat treatment generally but also whether Möng Hsu rubies should be distinguished from other Myanmar rubies. No industry consensus has yet emerged on this matter.

Nanyazeik: Emerging Source

Rubies have recently emerged from Nanyazeik in Myanmar's Kachin State. It remains premature to determine whether Nanyazeik will develop into a significant ruby source.

Sri Lanka: Brilliant and Light

Some of the world's finest rubies have come from Sri Lanka's gem gravels. Top-grade Sri Lankan reds appear virtually indistinguishable from their Mogok counterparts, though most tend toward purple or pink hues. As with Sri Lankan sapphires, color intensifies in larger stones. Specimens of five carats or more can be truly magnificent. Due to the bi-pyramidal shape of the rough material, many stones are cut with overly deep pavilions. Sri Lankan ruby exhibits strong fluorescence, and asterism appears common.

Thailand and Cambodia: High Clarity

The primary attraction of ruby from Thailand and Cambodia is its exceptional clarity, but the flat crystal shapes generally yield overly shallow finished stones. Due to high iron content, which suppresses fluorescence, most of these rubies tend to have a garnet-like red color. These stones completely lack light-scattering silk inclusions, so star stones aren't found in these regions. Although heat treatment improves their appearance, the enhancement proves insufficient for premium status.

In Thai/Cambodian rubies, only facets where light undergoes total internal reflection appear richly red. Others look blackish, similar to red garnets. Thai stones actually show less purple than most Myanmar rubies. However, Myanmar-type rubies appear red throughout the stone. (Rich red coloration is visible not only in areas where total internal reflection occurs but also in other facets, thanks to the red fluorescence and light-scattering silk characteristic of Myanmar rubies).

With Myanmar production declining during 1962-1990, the market became accustomed to Thai/Cambodian rubies. Some collectors actually preferred them. Nevertheless, Thai/Cambodian rubies remain acceptable only when quality material from Myanmar-type sources is unavailable. Today, production from Thailand and Cambodia has become negligible.

Occasionally, claims circulate about Cambodian stones being superior to those from neighboring Thailand. However, remember that these deposits essentially represent a single formation that crosses the international border.

Madagascar: The Island Source

Known historically as the "Beryl Island," Madagascar has long been recognized as a mineralogical paradise. The island nation remains renowned for its gem wealth and produces far more than just beryl gemstones. Madagascar primarily yields fine blue and pink sapphires. However, two important ruby deposits have also been discovered:

• The first lies approximately 1030 km inland from the coastal town of Vatomandry.
• The second is roughly 45-70 km from the town of Andilamena.

Vatomandry reportedly produces higher-quality material—lighter and brighter (more reminiscent of Myanmar)—while the Andilamena material appears somewhat darker and less clean. Rutile silk observed in some specimens suggests that star stones may eventually emerge. Most stones from both deposits undergo heat treatment.

Kenya and Tanzania: East African Quality

Stones from Kenya and Tanzania appear magnificent when clean, but facet-grade material remains rare. Like Myanmar specimens, much of this material shows strong fluorescence. These deposits have not produced star stones.

Beginning in the mid-1990s, mines near Songea began producing material with a dark, garnet-like color trending toward orange. While technically ruby, this material remains marginal due to its high iron content.

Tanzania represents the principal source of anyolite (ruby-in-zoisite).

Mozambique: Important New Source

In 2009, ruby deposits were discovered in Montepuez, Mozambique. This location is rapidly developing into an important ruby source. The Montepuez rubies display colors ranging from those resembling Myanmar stones to those similar to Thailand/Cambodia material. They're also available in diverse sizes, both treated and untreated.

Afghanistan: Rare Quality

The Jegdalek deposit in Afghanistan has produced rubies rivaling fine Mogok stones, but facetable material remains scarce. Many of these stones contain small areas of blue coloration. They also exhibit strong fluorescence. (Should this deposit ever yield clean material in quantity, the market will certainly take notice). This location has not produced star stones.

Nepal: Mountain Discovery

Nepal represents a relatively recent ruby source. A goat herder discovered ruby in the mountains during the 1980s. The clarity of Nepalese ruby typically ranges from low to mid-commercial grade, although gemmy crystals occasionally emerge. Typically, Nepalese crystals weigh 5 carats or less and display pronounced color zoning, ranging from pure red to pinkish-purplish red.

Vietnam: Asian Discovery

Vietnam experienced significant ruby discoveries north of Hanoi in 1983 and in Luc Yen in 1987. Between November 1989 and March 1990, one Vietnamese deposit yielded more than 3 million carats of ruby and pink sapphire. Industry reports quickly confirmed that the color of the finest material compared favorably with that from Myanmar. However, unlike Mogok material, Vietnamese ruby clarity is generally lower, with few eye-clean gems. Like Afghanistan rubies, some Vietnamese specimens contain small areas of blue coloration. The best Vietnamese ruby approaches fine Mogok quality, but since the early 1990s, most have trended toward pink rather than true red.

Famous Ruby Stones: Remarkable Specimens

Historical and museum-quality ruby gemstones span the globe. Notable examples include:

Other historical rubies include: a 400-carat Myanmar rough that yielded 70 and 45 carat gems, a rough of 304 carats found around 1890, the Chhatrapati Manik ruby, and the 43-carat Peace Ruby.

Ruby Trade Names: Color Classifications

Please note, these represent descriptive terms. Ruby identification requires more than color assessment alone.

• African: typically orangish red.
• Beef Blood: slightly darker than pigeon blood.
• Burma or Oriental: red to slightly purplish red in medium dark tone with vivid saturation. (Also called "pigeon's blood red").
• Ceylon or Sri Lanka: lighter in tone, often more brilliant than Myanmar or Thai rubies.
• French or Cherry: slightly lighter than pigeon blood.
• Thai or Siamese: dark red to brownish or purplish red.

The term "star ruby," beyond referring to rubies displaying asterism, may also describe transparent red corundum too light or too purple to properly classify as ruby.

During the 1950s, synthetic star corundums marketed under the trade name "Linde Stars" enjoyed considerable popularity.

Gems marketed as "Serengeti Rubies," "River Rubies," and "Cape Rubies" may not be genuine rubies. Learn more about these misleading names and consult our List of False or Misleading Gemstone Names.

How to Care for Your Ruby Ring

Corundum possesses a hardness second only to diamond among natural gems. Additionally, it lacks cleavage planes. These exceptional physical properties make ruby an outstanding jewelry stone, particularly suitable for everyday-wear items like ruby rings and ruby engagement rings.

For rubies reasonably free of inclusions or fractures, no special wear or care precautions are necessary. You can safely clean such stones using a mechanical system, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Conversely, heavily included or fractured rubies demonstrate reduced durability. Clean these specimens by hand using only:

• Warm, soapy water as the cleaning solution.
• A soft brush to gently remove dirt and residue.
• Careful handling to prevent damage to compromised areas.

Men's ruby rings have become increasingly popular, offering a distinctive alternative to traditional diamond rings with their rich red color and exceptional durability.

For additional recommendations on maintaining your ruby jewelry, consult our comprehensive gemstone care guide.

Frequently Asked Questions About Rubies

How much does a ruby cost per carat?

Ruby prices vary dramatically from a few hundred dollars to over $1,000,000 per carat. Factors affecting price include size, color quality, origin (with Myanmar rubies commanding the highest prices), and treatment history. Even small rubies have relatively high values due to their rarity compared to sapphires.

What makes rubies so valuable?

Rubies are valuable due to their exceptional durability, vibrant red color, and rarity. Large, gem-quality rubies are more valuable than comparably sized diamonds and are significantly rarer. Fine-quality rubies with the coveted "pigeon's blood red" color from premium sources like Myanmar represent some of the world's most expensive gemstones.

How can I tell if a ruby is real?

Genuine rubies can be identified through several characteristics: hardness (second only to diamond), fluorescence under UV light (especially strong in Myanmar rubies), and specific inclusions. Professional gemological testing is recommended, as modern synthetic rubies can be extremely convincing and difficult to distinguish from natural stones.

Are all rubies treated?

Unless specifically stated as unheated, you should assume most commercial rubies have undergone some form of heat treatment. This widely accepted practice improves clarity and color. Other treatments like diffusion coloring or filling with polymer/lead glass are less accepted and significantly reduce a ruby's value.

Which country produces the best rubies?

Myanmar (formerly Burma) produces the most highly valued rubies, particularly from the Mogok region. These stones exhibit the desirable "pigeon's blood red" color and strong fluorescence. Other important sources include Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Madagascar, each with characteristic qualities that affect value.

What's the difference between ruby and pink sapphire?

Both ruby and pink sapphire are varieties of the mineral corundum. The difference is color intensity—ruby must have a medium to medium-dark red tone. Lighter red stones are classified as pink sapphire. However, there's no universal agreement among gemologists on exactly where to draw this line.

Are synthetic rubies valuable?

Synthetic rubies have significantly lower market value than natural rubies, regardless of their visual appeal. While they may look identical to natural stones (especially newer synthetics), their laboratory origin substantially reduces their value. However, they can still have sentimental value in heirloom jewelry.

Can rubies be worn everyday?

Yes, rubies make excellent everyday jewelry stones due to their exceptional hardness (9 on the Mohs scale) and lack of cleavage planes. This durability makes ruby rings, including ruby engagement rings, suitable for daily wear. However, heavily included or fractured stones require more careful handling.

What is a star ruby?

A star ruby displays asterism—a star-like pattern of light that appears to float on the surface when viewed under proper lighting. This effect is caused by rutile inclusions arranged in a specific pattern within the ruby's crystal structure. Star rubies are typically cut as cabochons to showcase this phenomenon.

How should I clean my ruby jewelry?

For rubies free of significant inclusions or fractures, you can safely use mechanical cleaning systems according to manufacturer instructions. For heavily included or fractured rubies, clean by hand using only warm, soapy water and a soft brush to prevent damage.