Star Ruby (pre-embargo)

Item Description

Corundum comes in virtually every color of the rainbow and there are more to Rubies and Sapphires than simply faceted stones. The most commonly known variety of "Star" gems are Star Corundum. This phenomenon known as "asterism" occurs when these stones are polished into cabochons and oriented perpendicular to the "C" axis in a manner that reflects tiny silk-like inclusions that are inside the gem. The inclusions bend light entering the stone and create the six-legged star-like pattern. A 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 Star Ruby gem was rather difficult to photograph. The color is a good purple-red hue, and the stone is somewhat translucent for all intents and purposes. The stone has fairly sharp, complete "legs" and show up well with a strong flashlight. PLEASE NOTE: The embargo implemented by the United States government states that there will NOT be ANY of these Rubies imported to U.S. soil after September 30, 2008. Now that the embargo has gone into effect, one can only purchase gems that were imported prior to the embargo. From now on, these Burmese Rubies will be very difficult to obtain. Buy this gem now because they will be disappearing from the market rapidly.