All about Rubies

Ruby is the red stone of the corundum family. Apart from ruby, all stones in the corundum family are sapphires. So you're probably wondering why it's not called red sapphire like all the other sapphire varieties? It's simply because it's the only stone in the corundum family to have chromium in its composition (pink sapphire also has a small amount of chromium in its composition, the only exception in the sapphire family). Depending on its chromium content, its hues can vary from red, pink and violet to orange.

Like emerald, it has inclusions that can be seen with the naked eye, and this is what gives these stones their natural charm. These inclusions shouldn't make them lose their brilliance. But what we love about it is that it has a hard body that allows it to be cut into any shape with extreme precision. Ruby scores 9 on the Mohs scale.

A rough ruby is generally pink and opaque. To give it the color and transparency it's known for, it's heated to a temperature of 1,300°c, which also removes some of the inclusions. Heating is considered a necessary embellishment technique for this stone, and is also used for sapphires. Rubies that emerge naturally from the earth with a red, transparent color and no inclusions are very rare, and their price is very high.

Because of their price, they are the most heavily treated gemstones. A treated ruby is a stone on which cavities have been filled in, so that it doesn't have to be recut and loses weight. But this technique makes rubies lose a lot of value... At façonnier, you won't find treated rubies.