Ruby Jewellery

Rubies are stones in the corundum family, which are basic aluminium oxides, coloured by other minerals. Rubies, sapphires and emeralds are all essentially the same stone, with different coloration, but rubies, especially the very precious and rare ‘pigeon-blood’ ones are the most sought after of all. The only precious stones harder than the corundum ones are diamonds and this is another reason why rubies are so popular in jewellery; unlike some stones, such as opal, rubies are very strong and won’t get damaged in normal wear, so they can be made into ruby rings, earrings and pendants and won’t have to be treated with any particular care.

The value of a ruby is calculated in much the same way as the value of a diamond; colour, cut, clarity and carat weight. Colour is more complicated to assess than it sounds. In some gemstones, there are a lot more colours than at first seems obvious – in emeralds and sapphires for example there can be a large range of shades which are all acceptable – but for rubies there can be no deviation. The colour must be clear and only show on the red spectrum. Deviation into pink at one end or purple on the other is not really acceptable although a touch of purple can give the stone an added depth which can be very attractive.

Depending on how the stone is going to be used, the cut can be any style. Ruby earrings frequently have a ‘drop’ so that the light can shine through and this really brings out a ruby to its best advantage. The same thing applies to a ruby pendant and a pear or teardrop stone is often used. Sometimes they can be quite large and are surrounded by diamonds; ruby pendants do tend to be at the upper end of the price bracket in most collections. Ruby rings also look good surrounded by smaller diamonds, the stones all seeming to lend light to one another. Whatever piece of jewellery the ruby is set in, the best metal to team it with is platinum or white gold, so that there are no yellow tones to mar the colour.

You are lucky if you were born in July, because your birthstone is the ruby. Rubies are said to confer good health, wealth, wisdom and success in love, which is not a bad package to be blessed with. Elizabeth Taylor was very fond of rubies and when her legendary jewellery collection was sold in 2011 there were some lovely ruby pieces in the catalogue. A ruby ring in the collection was set with an 8.24 carat stone and fetched a new record price per carat – $512,925, giving a total price of over $4 million. The stone doesn’t have to be that huge to make an impact in a ruby ring; very everyday size rubies will always attract attention, because the colour red is a scene stealer in any piece of jewellery. A ruby pendant nestling against any skin tone or a lovely little pair of ruby earrings glimpsed at the turn of a head will always give pleasure to the owner and anyone seeing them.

With over 30 years experience in the jewellery trade, John S Stewart recommends a visit to