Ruby
A variety of Corundum
What is Ruby?
Prized for its brilliance and wonderful red color, ruby is a highly valuable precious stone that has been adored for ages. This popular gemstone is used almost exclusively for jewelry. The Sunrise Ruby, the most expensive colored gemstone ever, was sold for $30.3 million in 2015. Ruby is a birthstone of July, and it's symbolically associated with passion.
Uses & Applications
Ruby is one of the world's best-known and most valuable gemstones. It has all the qualities required of top-class gems; hardness, durability, clearness, and good color. For this reason, they have been collected for millennia and used for all forms of high-end jewelry. Ruby is also used in the manufacture of lasers; the world's first laser was made in 1960 using a ruby rod.
Healing Properties
Popular belief suggests that ruby can enhance the positive parts of your natural energy while diminishing the negative aspects. Ruby is supposedly a stone of love and nurture, but is also associated with knowledge, wealth, and honor, connecting primarily with the root and heart chakras. It acts to stimulate the Kundalini energy, providing a full-body energizing and cleansing experience.
Optical Properties
- Refractive Index
- 1.762-1.778
- Birefringence
- 0.008
- Pleochroism
- Strong: purplish-red, orangy-red
- Optical Character
- Uniaxial negative
- Dispersion
- 0.018
Discover Values
This stone excels in rarity, popularity, beauty, collection value.
Ruby Market Value Calculator
Estimate the market value of Ruby using size, quality, and finish. This preview calculator is for quick context and is not a formal appraisal.
Ruby Localities Map
See where Ruby is found with a localities map, collecting zones, and geology context. Generate a sample map preview below.
Associated Chakras
More Images
Quick Facts
Physical Properties
- Color
- Red
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 9
- Density
- 3.97 - 4.05 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Pearly, Vitreous, Adamantine
- Crystal System
- Trigonal
Chemical Properties
- Chemical Formula
- Al2O3
- Elements
- Al, O
Also Known As
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