Some Ancient Peoples “replanted” sapphires in the belief that they needed more time to ripen into rubies. The people of Myanmar, formerly Burma- who call rubies ma naw ma ya, “desire-fulfilling stones”-consider all other stones mere attendants to the king of gems. Many believe that wearing rubies assures sexual appeal and guards against danger and ill health. As demand for colored stones surged in the 1980s, ruby prices soared faster than others. Although they are among the most prized of all gems, their high price does not fully reflect their rarity.
“Large gem-quality rubies are 30 to 50 times more rare than diamond,” says ruby special Jack Abraham . “A ten-carat top-quality ruby can sell for more than $200,000 a carat.” A flawless white diamond might bring a fourth that amount.
Early admirers and buyers commonly misidentified attractive stones because, unaware of chemistry, they grouped some gems by color. Many ancient references to blue gems, for instance, were to lapis lazuli, not sapphire. And when biblical authors wrote that wisdom “is more precious that rubies,” or that a virtuous woman’s “price is far above rubies,” they probably were referring to carbuncles, a term for any crystals the color of glowing embers. Eleventh-century Arabs used weight to differentiate rubies from less valuable red spinels. Yet medieval kings often believed their spinels were rubies.
Great sapphires once came from Kashmir, and they, along with fine rubies, were found for centuries in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Now Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, Tanzania, Kenya, and Nigeria are large suppliers, and new mines have opened in Vietnam and China. Unsung celebrities, virtually unknown outside the United States, are the small, vibrantly clear, steel blue sapphires that come from Yogo Gulch, Montana. To pursue corundum from mines to finished jewels took me literally around the world.
