Burmese or Myanmar Ruby

A Myanmar ruby or Burmese rubies are some of the most famous item from the country.

This is a red gemstones with two applications, one is for jewelry, the other is for industrial purposes, it's somehow similar to diamonds. They are known since several hundred of years and come from two sources, one is Mogok, north of Mandalay, the other is Mong Hsu, east of Mandalay. This gem is one of the best foreign currency earner and the authorities are highly secretive about it to curb smuggling them to Thailand where the actual trading centers for ruby gemstones are, one in Bangkok, the other is Chanthaburi.

Myanmar Ruby

Ruby and sapphire cabochons have some different applications in jewelry. They also come in a version where the gem shows a 6 pointed star, from time to time a very special one if discovered which show a 12 pointed.

Ruby Cabochon

Red spinels

When people want to buy jewelry with precious stones they request natural rubies, this is often not so easy to accomplish since all kind of manipulations and treatments are performed with the gems. Sellers usually dont tell the customer about "enhancements" and the effect that many ruby buyer have some bad days after two to three years when the pretty ruby gemstones deteriorates. Especially when it has been treated with resins to fill cracks. A similar technique is used with jade jewelry having the same effect. 

Natural ruby from Mogok

The distinctive physical characteristics and reflective value of Myanmar's rubies are unique. At Mogok garnet and red spinels can be found in the same earth formation. But the distinct features can be distinguished by checking the stone in bright sunlight when the red color changes from light red to dark which is a double refraction that cannot be found in garnet and red spinels.

Rough rubies from a Mong Hsu Mine

Rough ruby gemstones have a hexagonal structure

distinct from other red colored gemstones. The hardness level stands at 9. The specific gravity is 3.99 which is heavier than garnet or red spinel. The reflective value is a bit lower than the diamond. The refractive index is measured at 1.765 it has dichroism.

The gems from Mogok emit different shades of fluorescence in ultra violet light. This cannot be seen in gems from other countries.

They are also known as the king of gems and valued accordingly by trader and jewelry buyer.  This precious stones  have distinct inclusions of hair like which is locally called "Shu Taings" and is somehow a physical trademark.

Over the centuries certain particular stones have been mined famous by size and beauty.
In 1984, a 5.56 carat stone named" the Crown of Mogok" was discovered of great blood red color and flawless. On 2nd April 1990, a large one named " the Crown-of Nawarat" was found in the Pyinlon tract. The 9.25 carat stone is kept in the museum as the " National Treasure", another one called the "Nawata Ruby" was also discovered in early 1990, with a hexagonal shape the uncut stone weighs 504.5 carats  with dimensions of a bit larger than 3 x 4 cm. But in recent years less bigger ones have been dug up, means over about 10 mm length.

Here are some facts about Burmese Rubies

Red is the color of love, so what is better as a ruby diamond ring where the diamond delivers the fire, should there be love without fire? No! Otherwise it gets boring. People also defines this as the July birthstone and it should be given at the 15th and 40th marriage anniversaries, but I rather think this last two ideas are a marketing gag. It’s beautiful color, defined in Burma where most quality stones come from as “Pigeons blood red”. This gems have a very long history record since ancient times.

The gemstone is within the corundum family which includes sapphires and there is a wide color spectrum from orange a hue to light blue shine, actually most have a slight cyan shade down to deep purple.

Mong Hsu Rubies are one version

They come from an area east of Mandalay near the Thanlwin or Salween River. They also are mined in Madagascar, Sri Lanka and  some other places on earth but nothing can match Mogok gems in terms of quality. That’s one of the reasons why they try all kind of tricks in ugly stones to enhance them, by heat treatment and virtually boiling them together with beryllium to enhance color and clarity.

Ruby, jade and other

gemstones paintings

Large rubies over around 10 mm are hard to find, which means they are very rare even more valuable that diamonds of the same size. Even excellent quality rubies always have inclusions, if there is a flawless it’s almost certain they are synthetic stone.

Today ruby gemstones paintings are popular souvenirs you can buy in the Bogyoke Market Yangon.

Ruby gemstones paintings

Ruby gemstones paintings of Bagan

Color, size and clarity are the most dominant factors in terms of the price of a ruby. 

Secondary parameters are tone, hue, and saturation, tone means the deepness of the red color means dark, medium, or light. Hue describes the presence of other colors. There are various hues most is a light blue color. Saturation means how deep is the red color and is the gem free of other shades.

There are no real grading parameters as it is with diamonds, evaluating jade is somehow similar, no hard parameters, jadeite jade is coming from Burma’s Kachin State which is further north west of the area where the red ones are found.

Ruby gemstones were already well known to the old Romans, Greeks, Indians and other. The Romans gave them the Name Ruber. As with jade people of ancient time thought that the mineral grounded powder and swallowed have healing properties for blood, heart and plenty of other myths but top is jewelry.

Ruby Sapphire and Diamond Jewelry

The mineral type is corundum, that’s the same as sapphires, means both are physically the same only the shade differs because of different gases which were included during forming the mineral hundreds of million years ago, next to diamonds it’s one of the hardest substances on Earth.

Jewelry is the widest use of the gemstone.

That means jewelry in form of rings, bracelets, bangles, pendants, earrings and in combination with diamonds, actually the last is probably the most relevant and this has a reason. The red gemstone dont sparkle, the diamond do, so but them together and the fire burns, thats the same with sapphires which are technically the same they come from the same mineral family which is corundum.