It is time of the year (especially across Asia) when many families have been celebrating together. Celebrating the change of lunar year & saying goodbye to the Rooster and welcoming the Dog. Each year of the lunar calendar is characterised by the strengths, weaknesses and virtues of the associated animal. And each of these animals are said to have an associated gemstone. The year of Dog is associated with Ruby.
What’s the dog like you ask? Well… the dog is said to be of kind-hearted nature, always listening to others while ruby is associated with love and said to trigger the sensual pleasures in life, stir the blood and stimulate the heart. Guess this year will be full of weddings and miracles… and a lot of love driven event.
Ruby is one of the most desired (and priced!) gemstones globally. Why? Well, in addition to its beauty, it is exceptionally hard which makes it highly resistant to scratches and damage. This makes it ideal for lifelong jewellery, passed on to the next generations. Myanmar (Burmese) rubies are famous for their “pigeon blood” color. They are amongst the rarest & most valued in the world, making them ideal to pass on down the family heritage!
As all rubies are a highly sought after with a price tag to match, the market has plenty of imitations (stones which look like rubies e.g. natural red spinel or glass!) as well as synthetic stones (same composition as a natural ruby, but man-made in a lab). The first synthetic ruby was in fact made already in the late 1700’s! If this is not confusing enough, most commercial rubies have undergone multitude of enhancements, one of the most common is heat treatment.
Imitations, synthetic stones and enhancements provide more affordable & available stones to the mass market, but still look fabulous. However, if you are looking to purchase even a small natural ruby, it is important to educate yourself prior to the purchase decision. If you like gemstones, it is actually quite interesting & fun! Understand the value (color, clarity, origin and enhancements), know the questions to ask and if in doubt do check at a trustworthy gem lab. If you’re still curious, ask us. As you may already suspect, we are mad about gemstones and everything related, so we would be ecstatic to help!
To celebrate the year of Dog and associated Ruby, we will be posting stories on ruby (and other gemstones) throughout the year so keep a look out if you’re interested in this topic.
Wishing you a Happy Year of the Dog!