When you think of ruby, automatically a deep, vibrant red comes to mind. Color is the most significant factor determining a ruby’s value. The finest ruby has a pure, vibrant red to slightly purplish red color. In most markets, pure red colors command the highest prices and ruby with overtones of orange and purple are less valued. The ruby, gorgeous for its color and lavish history, was known to be the favorite gem of Burma, where only the finest entities are found. The color red is associated with some of the most intense emotions such as love, anger, passion, and fury. Ruby is the July birthstone and are used to celebrate the 15th & 40th wedding anniversary.

The name ruby comes from the Latin word “ruber”, which means red. The glowing red of ruby suggested an inextinguishable flame burning in the stone. Aside from its beauty, the ruby reputedly confers invulnerability. To attain this, rather than wearing the ruby in a piece of jewelry, the only sufficient way to acquire the benefits was to insert the stone into the flesh, to “become one with the body”. Early cultures treasured rubies for their similarity to the redness of the blood that flowed through their veins and believed that rubies held the power of life. The birth of the western world allowed rubies to hold their precious significance and became one of the main desired gems of European royalty and the upper classes. Many medieval Europeans wore rubies to guarantee health, wealth, wisdom, and success in love.