Post subject: Ruby, Pink Sapphire or something else? Help
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 3:01 pm
New to the Forum or The Quiet Type
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:01 pm Posts: 6
I was looking to buy one of these sapphires. However the dealer tells me that these stones can be called rubies as well as pink sapphires. This is the first time I have ever heard that a ruby can also be a pink sapphire at the same time. I thought it has to be one or the other. Is that true? The picture was taken by my Samsung under a light that is 5000 kelvin. I passed on buying any of these stones, however I am still curious. Can anyone clarify this for me?
There is no universal defining line between the two, and it varies from person to person and from culture to culture. These look awfully purple to be either though.
Post subject: Re: Ruby, Pink Sapphire or something else? Help
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 7:16 am
Gold Member
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:29 pm Posts: 1047 Location: Paris
Rubies and sapphires are colored varieties of a chemically and physically same mineral whose more scientific name is corundum. Rubies are the red variety. Sometimes the fronteer between vivid pink and red is tenuous, so depending if you are buyer or seller you will call it pink sapphire (cheaper) or ruby (more expensive). As Stephen said, your stones don't look reddish pink at all , so IMO they can't be called otherwise than purple sapphires. But these distinctions are only commercial appreciations.
Post subject: Re: Ruby, Pink Sapphire or something else? Help
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 3:21 pm
Site Admin
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Hello and welcome. These stones look purple to me too, which I actually prefer over reds and pinks.
That being said, I am often asked for my opinion as to the cutoff point between ruby and pink sapphire.
I don't know about you, but if I had to go to Macy's to get a red tie for my son, I wouldn't come home with a pink one, would you? I think we all can fairly effectively make this determination.
And as Stephen correctly pointed out, this can be a cultural as well as personal interpretation. And Isi offered a great answer as well.
It doesn't help that a large portion of rubies are really magenta-red, more like what we'd call 'hot pink' than red or pink. That adds some extra complexity to the issue.
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