April 5, 2012. Samuel Valero
Many people, even those interested in jewelry, aren’t really sure what pigeon blood rubies are. These rubies come only from Burma, are the richest red gemstones available and are very rare.
Rubies with a blue undertone are pricier than most. These rubies, when looked at closely, may appear to be purple in color. Mining these rubies in Burma is difficult due to politics and the rarity of them which means supply is a lot lower than the market’s demand. Because of the money spend on these genuine gems there many rubies from other parts of the world with a blue- violet red which call themselves pigeon blood rubies. Most of the time the name on a piece of jewelry serves as a label to entice people to buy, rather than a real indication of the gems true origin.
Most of the ruby rings you see in the market are not mined from Burma. The biggest supplier worldwide is Thailand. The country has a rich ruby deposit but their quality is not as good as the Burmese ones. More often, rubies have brownish undertones. This variety is very common and people don’t really want to buy them. What jewelers did was to treat these brown rubies to make them look richer and redder. The treatment also eliminates inclusions and fissures. While the treatment makes the gems look more sought after and beautiful, this doesn’t change the price tag. Basically, you can call the treatment as a permanent make-up for the ruby. Treatments are done using intense heat. Rubies also have cracks. It’s very rare to find a perfect ruby with the right size, shade and quality. To fix the crack, it’s often filled with molten glass or resin.
If you are interested in one, you should know your own budget first. There are lab created rubies that go for a fraction of what mined gems are worth. They look the same, feel the same but vary only in the price tag. The synthetic ones can save you several hundreds of dollars without compromising on the visual value, and this is probably the most important thing for you.
Updated April 5, 2012. Published June 15, 2011. Samuel Valero
