Ruby is the birthday stone in July and the commemorative stone for the 40th anniversary of marriage. It is said that wearing rubies can protect people from harm, make people healthy, live longer, get rich, be wise, and be happy in love.
Sapphire is the birthstone in September and the 45th anniversary of marriage. 長い間, sapphire has been regarded as a symbol of loyalty and loyalty. Wearing sapphire can protect people from harm and envy.
Ruby and sapphire are two different gem species of corundum minerals. Ruby is named after red, and sapphire is named after blue. 実際には, except for rubies and sapphires. There are many other colors of corundum, and other jade grade corundums of different colors are also collectively called sapphires, such as yellow sapphires, green sapphires, and colorless sapphires. Rubies and sapphires are second only to diamonds in prestige. Because they belong to the same family, they are called “姉妹の宝石”.
The basic characteristics of rubies and sapphires are:
The color is rich, there are colorless, various red tones (明るい赤, pure red, 血のように赤い, purple red) and various blue tones (青, スカイブルー, blue and green), as well as green, 黄色, ピンク, 茶色, 等.
Red Sapphire has a Mohs hardness of 9, which varies slightly depending on the place of origin. The relative density is large, and it appears heavier in gems of the same size. Red Sapphire has glass luster to sub-diamond luster, 透明から半透明. Its pleochroism is obvious: when you rotate ruby or sapphire, you can often feel the color change, and when you observe with a dichroic mirror, you can clearly see the two colors at the window.
On magnification, there are many inclusions in red and sapphire, mainly color bands, fingerprint-like gas-liquid inclusions, growth lines, double crystal lines, and some light to dark solid inclusions. Some milky white mercerizing can be seen on the surface of some rubies, which is formed by the action of fine needle-like inclusions on light.
Ruby has obvious red fluorescence under ultraviolet light. Under strong sunlight, the color of ruby stone will be brighter and more beautiful. Most sapphires are non-fluorescent. And both have special optical effects: both ruby and sapphire can show starlight effect, generally six starlight, twelve starlight is rare. Some sapphires have a discoloration effect. Well-developed stars can double the value of gems.