Blog
A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires. The word ruby comes from ruber, Latin for red. The color of a ruby is due to the element chromium. Rubies are the second harder gemstone on earth after diamond. They have a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness (out of 10.0).
The quality of a ruby is determined by its color, cut, and clarity, which, along with carat weight, affect its value. The brightest and most valuable shade of red called blood-red or pigeon blood, commands a large premium over other rubies of similar quality. After color follows clarity: similar to diamonds, a clear stone will command a premium, but a ruby without any needle-like rutile inclusions may indicate that the stone has been treated. Ruby is the traditional birthstone for July and is usually pinker than garnet, although some rhodolite garnets have a similar pinkish hue to most rubies. The world’s most valuable ruby is the Sunrise Ruby.
The Mogok Valley in Upper Myanmar (Burma) was for centuries the world’s main source for rubies. That region has produced some exceptional rubies, however in recent years few good rubies have been found. In central Myanmar, the area of Mong Hsu began producing rubies during the 1990s and rapidly became the world’s main ruby mining area. The most recently found ruby deposit in Myanmar is in Namya (Namyazeik) located in the northern state of Kachin. Rubies are also mined in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Pakistani Kashmir there are vast proven reserves of millions of rubies, worth up to half a billion dollars. However, as of 2017 there was only one mine (at Chitta Katha) due to lack of investment. In Afghanistan, rubies are mined at Jegdalek. In Sri Lanka, lighter shades of rubies (often “pink sapphires”) are more commonly found.
Ruby is the perfect gift for the 40th wedding anniversary as it symbolizes love, health and wisdom.
Spiritual properties of the ruby
- Encourages passion and appetite for life
- Protects love
- Helps to maintain wealth
- Overwhelms exhaustion and gives strength and vigor
Healing properties of ruby
- Detoxifies the body and blood
- It treats fevers and infectious diseases
- In antiquity it was used as an antidote for poison
- It brings fertility
The Hope Diamond is one of the most famous jewels in the world, with ownership records dating back almost four centuries. Its much-admired rare blue color is due to trace amounts of boron atoms. Weighing 45.52 carats, its exceptional size has revealed new findings about the formation of gemstones.
The jewel is believed to have originated in India, where the original (larger) stone was purchased in 1666 by French gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier as the Tavernier Blue. The Tavernier Blue was cut and yielded the French Blue (Le bleu de France), which Tavernier sold to King Louis XIV in 1668. Stolen in 1791, it was recut, with the largest section acquiring its “Hope” name when it appeared in the catalogue of a gem collection owned by a London banking family called Hope in 1839. After going through numerous owners, it was sold to Washington socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean, who was often seen wearing it. It was purchased in 1949 by New York gem merchant Harry Winston, who toured it for a number of years before giving it to the National Museum of Natural History in 1958, where it has since remained on permanent exhibition.
The Hope Diamond has long been rumored to carry a curse, possibly due to agents trying to arouse interest in the stone. It was last reported to be insured for $250 million.
Evil eye
The evil eye is a look that is superstitiously believed by many cultures to be able to cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike. The term also refers to the power attributed to certain persons of inflicting injury or bad luck by such an envious or ill-wishing look.
Mediterranean cultures and many others around the world believe in the concept of the “evil eye.” Symptoms may include diarrhea, constant crying, and, in some cases, even death. It usually affects infants and children, however, adults can also be affected.
The idea expressed by the term causes many cultures to pursue protective measures against it. The concept and its significance vary widely among different cultures. The idea appears several times in translations of the Old Testament. It was a widely extended belief between many Mediterranean tribes and cultures: Classical Greece probably learned this belief from ancient Egypt, and later passed it to ancient Rome.
Forms of belief
In some forms, it is the belief that some people can bestow a curse on victims by the malevolent gaze of their magical eye. The most common form, however, attributes the cause to envy, with the envious person casting the evil eye doing so unintentionally. Also the effects on victims vary. Some cultures report afflictions with bad luck; others believe the evil eye may cause disease, wasting, or even death. In most cultures, the primary victims are thought to be babies and young children, because they are so often praised and commented upon by strangers or by childless women.
In many beliefs, a person—otherwise not malefic in any way—can harm adults, children, livestock or possessions, simply by looking at them with envy. The word “evil” is somewhat misleading in this context, because it suggests an intentional “curse” on the victim. A better understanding of the term “evil eye” can be gained from the old English word for casting the evil eye, namely “overlooking”, implying that the gaze has remained focused on the coveted object, person, or animal for too long.
While some cultures hold that the evil eye is an involuntary jinx cast unintentionally by people unlucky enough to be cursed with the power to bestow it by their gaze, others hold that, while perhaps not strictly voluntary, the power is called forth by the sin of envy.
History
The amount of literary and archeological evidence attests to the belief in the evil eye in the eastern Mediterranean for millennia starting with Hesiod, Callimachus, Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Theocritus, Plutarch, Heliodorus, Pliny the Elder, and Aulus Gellius. Studying these written sources in order to write on the evil eye only gives a fragmented view of the subject whether it presents a folkloric, theological, classical, or anthropological approach to the evil eye. While these different approaches tend to reference similar sources each presents a different yet similar usage of the evil eye, that the fear of the evil eye is based on the belief that certain people have eyes whose glance has the power to injure or even kill and that it can be intentional or unintentional.
Protective talismans
The blue eye, known as μάτι (mati), “eye,” as an apotropaic visual device, is known to have been a fixture in Greece dating back to at least the 6th century BC, when it commonly appeared on drinking vessels. In Greece, the evil eye is cast away through the process of xematiasma (ξεμάτιασμα), whereby the “healer” silently recites a secret prayer passed over from an older relative of the opposite sex, usually a grandparent. Such prayers are revealed only under specific circumstances, for according to superstition those who reveal them indiscriminately lose their ability to cast off the evil eye. According to custom, if one is indeed afflicted with the evil eye, both victim and “healer” then start yawning profusely. The “healer” then performs the sign of the cross three times, and spits in the air three times.
The Heart of Eternity is a diamond measuring 27.64 carats (5.528 g), rated in color as “Fancy Vivid Blue” by the Gemological Institute of America. The Heart of Eternity was cut by the Steinmetz Group, who owned the diamond before selling it to the De Beers Group.
The Heart of Eternity is a member of an exceedingly rare class of coloured diamonds. It was found in the Premier Diamond Mine of South Africa. The Premier mine is the only mine in the world with an appreciable production of blue diamonds.
The Heart of Eternity was unveiled in January 2000 as part of the De Beers Millennium Jewels collection, which included the Millennium Star.
In 2012, there have been rumors that the boxer Floyd Mayweather bought the Heart of Eternity necklace for his fiancée, Shantel Jackson. De Beers refused to say whom they sold the Heart of Eternity Diamond to, and so its current owner was left unknown.
The Koh-i-Noor is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing 105.6 carats and part of the British Crown Jewels.
Probably mined in Golconda, India, there is no record of its original weight, but the earliest well-attested weight is 191 carats or 38.2 gr. Koh-i-Noor is Hindi and Persian for “Mountain of Light”. It has been known by this name since the 18th century. It changed hands between various factions in modern-day India, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, until being ceded to Queen Victoria after the British conquest of the Punjab in 1849.
Originally, the stone was of a similar cut to other Mughal era diamonds which are now in the Iranian Crown Jewels. In 1851, it went on display at the Great Exhibition in London, but the lacklustre cut failed to impress viewers. Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, ordered it to be re-cut as an oval brilliant. By modern standards, the culet is unusually broad, giving the impression of a black hole when the stone is viewed head-on; it is nevertheless regarded by gemologists as “full of life”.
Today, the diamond is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, where it is seen by millions of visitors each year. The governments of India and Pakistan have both claimed rightful ownership of the Koh-i-Noor and demanded its return ever since the two countries gained independence from the UK in 1947. The British government insists the gem was obtained legally under the terms of the Last Treaty of Lahore and has rejected the claims.
The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, formerly known as the Krupp Diamond, is a 33.19-carat (6.638 g) diamond that was bought by Richard Burton for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor in 1968.
The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond is an Asscher cut diamond with a fairly large culet facet. A report dated 9 May 2011 from the Gemological Institute of America states that the diamond is D colour, VS1 clarity; accompanied by a diagram indicating that the clarity may be potentially internally flawless.
The diamond was originally named after the Krupp family of German industrialists, and it was sold as part of the estate of Vera Krupp (1909–1967), second wife of Alfried Krupp. Burton bought the Krupp diamond on May 17, 1968, at an auction in New York for $307,000.
Taylor died in 2011 and the diamond was auctioned at Christie’s by her estate on 16 December 2011, having been renamed the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond. It was sold for $8,818,500.
The Golden Jubilee Diamond is the largest cut and faceted diamond in the world. It weighs 545.67 carats (109.13 g).
First known as the “Unnamed Brown”, the Golden Jubilee Diamond was cut from a large brown diamond of 755.5 carats (151 g), found in the prolific blue ground of the Premier Mine in South Africa in 1985.
Until 1990, the diamond remained largely unknown to the outside world, requiring two years work to bring it to its current state. In 1990, after two years of work, the stone was finished, reduced in total from 755.50 carats, to 545.65 carats. Gabi Tolkowsky (the man who cut the diamond) described the cut as a “Fire-Rose cushion shape.”
The Golden Jubilee was purchased from De Beers by a group of Thai business people led by Henry Ho in 1995.
It was arranged for the diamond to be given to King Bhumibol as a gift from the people to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the King’s ascent to the throne. The diamond was named the Golden Jubilee, and was received by the King’s daughter, Princess Matia Chari Sirindhom, on his behalf in 2000.
The diamond is now on display in the Royal Museum at Pimammek Golden Temple Throne Hall in Bangkok as part of the crown jewels
The first century Jewish historian Josephus believed there was a connection between the twelve stones in Aaron’s breastplate (signifying the tribes of Israel, as described in the Book of Exodus), the twelve months of the year, and the twelve signs of the zodiac.
Translations and interpretations of the passage in Exodus regarding the breastplate have varied widely, with Josephus himself giving two different lists for the twelve stones. St. Jerome, referencing Josephus, said the Foundation Stones of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19–20) would be appropriate for Christians to use.
In the eighth and ninth century, religious treatises associating a particular stone with an apostle were written, so that “their name would be inscribed on the Foundation Stones, and his virtue. Practice became to keep twelve stones and wear one a month. The custom of wearing a single birthstone is only a few centuries old, though modern authorities differ on dates.
In 1912, in an effort to standardize birthstones, the (American) National Association of Jewelers (now called Jewelers of America) met in Kansas and officially adopted a list.
The Jewelry Industry Council of America updated the list in 1952 by adding Alexandrite for June, citrine for November and pink tourmaline for October. They also replaced December’s lapis with zircon and switched the primary/alternative gems for March. The American Gem Trade Association added tanzanite as a December birthstone in 2002.