Star Ruby (big stone!)

Item Description

Corundum (the actual species for Ruby and Sapphire) comes in virtually every color of the rainbow, but there is more to Rubies and Sapphires than simply faceted stones. I think most people have at least heard of "Star" gems, and the most commonly known examples are either Star Rubes or Star Sapphires. The phenomenon that creates the "stars" in these gems is called asterism, and it occurs when these stones are polished into cabochons and oriented perpendicular to the "C" axis in a manner that reflects tiny silk-like inclusions inside. These inclusions bend light entering the stone and create the six-legged star-like pattern (in some gems you'll see four-legged star, but Rubies and Sapphires always have six legs). This six-rayed white star appears in bright lighting and the quality is judged by sharpness of star, symmetry of the rays, and the body color. This is a fantastic, LARGE, Star Ruby gem with a rich purple-red hue, and when it's exposed to a focused light source (light a small torch or a camera light), the stone shows very sharp and complete "legs". The consistency is important in this material as you don't want any breaks in the legs of the star. The stone is approaching 200 carats in weight (we actually had to weigh it on a gram scale and covert it to carats), and would make a stellar addition to a gem collection or as a fantastic attention-grabbing center stone in a big pendant. For the size, the quality is really good on this one, and it came to us in an inventory purchase from another dealer priced at $8,950 retail ($50 / carat).