Rubies are one of the most popular gemstones in the world.
People love their bright red color and how they can add a touch of luxury to any outfit.
But with how sophisticated technology has become, how do you know if your ruby is even real?
It was only a hundred years ago that a ruby was a ruby.
Now, this is not the case.
The jewelry and mining trades have come up with many ways to market gemstones which have a huge impact on the true value of all gemstones, whether you realize it or not.
If you want the most bang for your buck, then it may be better to not purchase a ruby at all until after you understand and learn more about them.
You can walk into any jewelry store and ask to see a ruby that has not been treated or filled and you would be hard pressed to see any while you watch the jeweler hem and haw.
In this blog post, we will discuss three ways to determine if a ruby is authentic, that is, mined from the earth rather than grown in a lab.
We will also provide some tips on how to purchase a genuine ruby.
So, whether you are in the market for your first ruby or you are an experienced gemstone buyer, read on for all the information you need!
Table of Contents
Where Natural Rubies Come From
Natural rubies are mined all over the world, even in the United States.
The most popular rubies due to the color hue, are mined in Myanmar aka Burma.
Other popular countries include Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Madagascar and Thailand. These are only a few of the countries that mine rubies, but each of them have a distinct color due to the chemicals found in the earth of those particular regions.
How Much is a Real Ruby Worth?
In order to determine the value of a natural mined ruby, we need to know the origin and whether or not it has been treated.
The origin is going to automatically tell us the color hues of the ruby, which can be different shades of pinks to reds and each origin can also have orange hues or purple hues too.
If you do not like an orange tone or a purple tone, then this is probably why the Burmese ruby has been set as the most desirable standard in the Trade for having the highest value due to color.
Rubies have been heat treated in mass for the last 60 years, meaning, they have been heated to artificially enhance and deepen their color.
They have also been glass filled to hide inclusions that would have otherwise ruined their appearance.
However, because of these treatments, those rubies which have had no treatments at all have become the most expensive due to their rarity.
Untreated rubies, while perhaps having inclusions more readily seen, are rare because the Trade has been accepting heat treatment as being normalized. If you manage to find a ruby which has had no treatment, and this fact has been verified by a Graduate Certified Gemologist, then your ruby is worth 10X’s what any other will be worth all things considered.
If you are after an untreated ruby, you may find them set in antique or vintage jewelry.
Other than that, you will pay more for an untreated ruby carat per carat than you would for a diamond.
Rubies are graded much the same as diamonds are.
So if a ruby is treated, it will be noted on the grading report. You can also send your ruby to GIA to nail down the origin, because the value of the ruby may be more depending on getting that information.
How Synthetic Rubies Imitate The Real Thing
There is not a huge difference between synthetic/lab grown rubies and earth mined gemstones, because both are the real thing.
A synthetic ruby is grown for about a year in a lab, yet they have the exact same chemical composition and characteristics as the earth mined ones do.
These rubies also have inclusions, although there are fewer of them, and jewelers often cannot tell the difference between the ones that were mined from the ones that were grown in a lab.
The reason for this is because the lab grown rubies are actually “real” rubies, but their growth was simply sped up by using gasses and chambers, proving that you don’t need millions of years to create a beautiful ruby.
Sophistication of Synthetic Rubies
Because the synthetic or lab grown rubies all start off from a piece of an earth mined ruby and are then grown further in a lab to bypass the time and pressure from the earth, they are indeed sophisticated in that it takes a gemologist to find the subtle differences under a microscope.
Since this is the case, it is best to ask for a Certified Gemologist Report for a ruby that you may be considering to buy so that you can be certain that the ruby is either earth mined or lab grown.
3 Ways To Tell If A Ruby Is Real
Even if lab grown rubies are “real”, how can you tell if a ruby is truly real?
Many people like the stigma behind owning a gemstone created from the earth, so here are a few ways that you can tell if it is real.
Independent Gemologist Report
We are not talking about a jewelry store “report” here, we are talking about a bonafide report coming from a Graduate Gemologist who is not associated with the jewelry store.
A jewelry store writing their own reports is a conflict of interest, and they have no business trying to authenticate gemstones unless they have a Graduate Gemologist in house.
Even then, because they have “skin in the game” due to their desire to make sales, ask for a report that is done by a third party Gemologist.
Types of Inclusions
Look to see if the ruby has any flaws inside of it whatsoever.
If the ruby does not appear to have flaws, it is likely not real and possibly even not lab grown either.
Even so, flaws in a ruby are simply not enough to determine if the gem has been grown naturally over years in the earth or grown quicker inside a lab.
Price Point
Naturally, if you are shopping for an earth mined ruby instead of a lab grown one, there should be a stark difference in pricing.
An earth mined ruby that has some nice characteristics will cost you 4 times as much, if not more, than a lab grown ruby will.
If you add to that, an earth mined ruby that has not had any heat or filling treatments will cost you even 10 times as much as an earth mined one that did have treatments because of how rare they are.
A synthetic ruby has been grown over the course of a year, and will be very good looking.
Nevertheless, because it has a stigma of not being grown to maturity in the ground and being started from a seed inside a sterile lab, the price point will reflect this stigma.
Tips For Shopping For Real Rubies
So now it’s time to go shopping and you want to buy a real ruby, but how can you be certain?
We’ve put together some tips for you based on our experience with dealing with gemstone dealers in the industry:
Certified Gemologist Report
Make sure that the ruby has the proper documented paper work and not just a receipt.
The ruby should have a Certified Gemologist Report (not appraisal). A Gemologist Report will NOT give a value to the ruby, but will simply authenticate that it is mined or is synthetic and will give all the information that is pertinent to the gemstone.
You can even specify information on origin if you want so that you can determine if the claims of being “Burmese” is true.
Rubies from certain parts of the country will command higher price points if they are authentic.
Avoid Heat/Filling Treatments
After finding an earth mined ruby that you may want to buy, look to see on the report if it has had heat or filling treatments.
If it has had heat treatment, which is the case for 95% of earth mined rubies since the 1960’s, then make sure that the price point is commensurate with that fact.
If it has had glass filling, do not buy it under any circumstances, but go for a lab grown ruby instead if price was otherwise the issue.
It is better to get a ruby that is lab grown than to buy one that has been glass filled, because the filling will weaken and degrade the gem – and it technically is no longer a ruby at this point.
Get Documentation
Ask the jewelry store for a receipt that specifically states whether or not the ruby you are buying is lab grown or earth mined.
This way, if there is any doubt due to the store purchasing inventory from vendors who may be shady, you can recover your money if you find that the ruby is not what was on the receipt.
This will help keep the jewelry store accountable for what they are selling you and will also help to protect your interests as a consumer.
In short, don’t let the flashy store fronts and big name brands deceive you into thinking that their rubies are real when they may not be.
Make sure that you do your research so that you can be a informed consumer and get the best value
Final Thoughts
There are rubies that are mined from the earth, there are rubies that are grown from a specimen of a ruby that was mined from the earth called synthetic or lab grown, and there are fake or simulated rubies that are not to be confused with either.
Become well acquainted with all of these before you purchase so that you know what you are buying and get everything in writing.
We hope that you enjoyed this article and please feel free to share it with anyone who may be in the market for a ruby! Until next time, stay sparkly!