Ruby, a kind of corundum, is mainly composed of alumina (Al2O3), and the red color comes from chromium (Cr). The gem without chromium is naturally sapphire.
Most natural rubies come from Asia (Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka), Africa and Australia, and there are some in Montana and South Carolina. Natural rubies are very rare and precious, but artificial rubies are not difficult, so industrial rubies are all artificial.
Character [edit]
Color: deep red.
Gloss:
Crystal morphology:
Stripe mark:
Hardness: 9, extremely hard, second only to diamonds.
Specific gravity: 3.97 g/cm3 -4.05 g/cm3.
Fracture:
Ruby's English name is Ruby, which comes from Latin Ruber, meaning red. The mineral name of ruby is corundum.
The chemical composition of ruby is alumina (Al2O3), which is red to pink due to the trace element chromium (Cr3+). It belongs to the tripartite crystal system. The crystal shape is often barrel, short column, plate and so on. Aggregates are mostly granular or dense blocks. Transparent to translucent, glass luster. The refractive index is 1.76- 1.77, and the birefringence is 0.008-0.0 10. Dichroism is obvious, and it is not isotropic. Sometimes it also has a special optical effect-starlight effect, which will reflect charming six-shot starlight under the irradiation of light, commonly known as "six lines". The hardness is 9, and the density is 3.95-4. 10g/cm3. No cleavage, cleavage development. Ruby emits red and dark red fluorescence under long-wave and short-wave ultraviolet irradiation.
The Symbolic Meaning and Legend of Ruby
I. Symbolic significance
Ruby is called ruby in English. Ruby is the most precious of all the gems in the Bible. Ruby's fiery red makes people always associate it with passion and love. It is known as the "stone of love" and symbolizes the passion, beauty, eternity and firmness of love. Ruby is the birthstone of July. Ruby with different colors comes from different countries, but it also represents auspiciousness. Red is always the messenger of beauty, and ruby is the best guide to send blessings to others. Among rubies, the most valuable one is the one with the strongest color, which is called "pigeon blood red". This bright and intense color can almost be called crimson, which shows the true face of ruby in a glance. It's a pity that most rubies are reddish in color and have a pink feeling, so the rubies with pigeon blood tones are more valuable. Because ruby is full of strong vitality and rich colors, people in the past thought it was the embodiment of the immortal bird and had a warm fantasy about it. Legend has it that wearing a red gem ring on the left hand or a ruby brooch on the left chest can turn an enemy into a friend.
The English name of Sapphire is sapphire. The ancient Persians believed that the light reflected by sapphire turned the sky blue. It is regarded as a symbol of loyalty and respect. Sapphire is the birthstone of September, and its calm and elegant tone has been endowed with kindness, honesty, tolerance and nobility by modern people. Sapphire, crystal clear and beautiful in color, was covered with mysterious and supernatural colors by the ancients and regarded as an auspicious thing. Sapphire is also called the gem of human soul in the west. Its color is very pure and beautiful, giving people a noble and elegant feeling. It is the king of blue gems. The infinite charm of sapphire makes it one of mankind's favorite gems.
Second, the legendary ancient rhyme
Job in the Bible said, "Wisdom is more valuable than rubies." It can be seen that rubies were very valuable at that time. The fourth jewel on Aaron's holy garments, Moses' brother, is a ruby. The names of Jewish ancestors are engraved on this gem. This precious gem has been the most precious treasure in the crown since the ancient Jews announced the establishment of the State of Israel.
According to the Bible, rubies symbolize Jewish tribes. In the Old Testament Exodus, it is recorded in detail that following the advice of the Lord, making holy robes and breastplates. The square breastpiece * * * is divided into three rows, representing the 12 gems of the 12 tribe. The first is ruby, which shows its importance. In China, the crown system of Qing officials stipulated that all the officials, from princes to first-class officials, used rubies as their crowns.
Kill the vulture and take out the ruby.
There is an old legend in Myanmar that there is a "sparkling red gem" in a "bottomless valley". The local people throw pieces of raw meat into the valley, hoping that the gems can stick to the meat, and the vultures will pick up the meat, kill the vultures and get these gems. The Adventures of Sinbad in the famous Arabian Nights tells a similar story.
Ruby is invulnerable.
Burmese people cherish rubies because they believe that if you cut a small hole in a person and put a ruby in it, the samurai who voluntarily perform this operation will be invulnerable.
Sapphire supports the earth.
According to legend, sapphire is the sacred stone of Apollo, the sun god, and it is called "the stone of heaven" because of its transparent dark blue. As early as ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and Rome, it was used to decorate mosques, churches and monasteries and as a tribute to religious ceremonies. Persians, on the other hand, believe that the earth is supported by a huge sapphire, whose reflection makes the sky blue. Ancient kings wore sapphires around their necks as a powerful weapon against harm. It is said that sapphire can protect the wearer from jealousy and be loved by the gods.
The Duke of Windsor loves the beauty of precious stones.
The British royal family has a past of "not loving Jiangshan and loving beauty". 1936 65438+In February, King Edward VIII of England, who had been on the throne for less than a year, decided to abdicate in order to marry Mrs. Simpson, an American citizen who had been divorced twice. After Edward VIII's younger brother George VI succeeded to the throne, he was awarded the title of Duke of Windsor. In order to show his love, the Duke of Windsor instructed the French Cartier Jewelry and Watch Company to design four kinds of jewelry for the Duchess of Windsor, namely cheetah brooch, bib necklace, tiger long-handled glasses and duck head brooch. Among them, the "Cheetah" brooch is the first animal-shaped jewelry. "Cheetah" is made of platinum, inlaid with faceted diamonds and round-cut sapphires, and its eyes are a pair of pear-shaped yellow diamonds. The "rock" where the "cheetah" crouches is a 152.35-carat Kashmir round-cut sapphire.
Mining environment and genetic characteristics of ruby and sapphire
First of all, ruby's hard mining environment.
Ruby is rare in origin, mainly distributed in Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam, India, Tanzania, China and other places. And there is usually a saying that "ten treasures and nine cracks", which means that most rubies have cracks, flaws, cracks and so on. Especially pure and perfect rubies are very rare. Sapphire is mainly distributed in Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Belinda, Indian Kashmir, Australia, Montana, China and other places.
So, knowing the origin of rubies, how should we mine them?
Igneous rocks and metamorphic rocks are the key factors for the formation of corundum gems. The secondary deposits come from the places where these main rocks are most likely to be mineralized. If so, we can look for gems in such a vast place and in more specific places.
The tried and tested elutriation technology is one of the most common and useful exploration methods. Basically, it includes exploring river gravel. Because of its highly determined specific gravity, corundum is usually concentrated in rivers and streams. Exploration includes sampling the gravel layer of the river from the downstream of the river. When very fine corundum is found, people regularly work from downstream to upstream and take samples along the way. Ended up with nothing. Then the next step is to go back and locate the exact location of the original trace of the gem. From here, further samples will be taken on the banks of suitable rivers and streams that produce corundum.
Working upstream will hopefully bring a piece of corundum to the original rock. However, theory is often simpler than practice, and this method has been used to find mineral deposits in history.
Most rubies in the world are found in small alluvial deposits. The more precious things are, the worse their growing environment is. Similarly, the mining conditions of rubies and sapphires are also very difficult. Ruby from Myanmar, for example, usually needs to be stripped off to a thickness of 15 feet to reach the gravel layer containing gems. Then, mining can really proceed.
How is the mining operation completed? First, remove the huge boulders, then concentrate the pebbles containing precious stones in a certain place and screen them with a set of wire mesh screens. The main steps are divided into three steps: the first step is to remove the largest stone in the top screen; Secondly, the medium gravel on the secondary screen is removed; Step three, leave the smallest gravel on the third sieve. The gravel has been selected, how to choose the gem? The general operation method is: one hand holds the tool to remove the gravel, and the other hand picks the gem. Put the selected gems into the bamboo basket and push the selected gravel off the table. Because there may be pebbles in the abandoned gravel, you can continue to pick them by hand.
With the increasing demand for rubies and sapphires, heavy equipment and complex exploration methods have been applied. Australia is a world leader in corundum mining and exploration. In this series of processes, we not only need patient and meticulous screening, but also test our perseverance and perseverance. It is not difficult to imagine that the delicate and beautiful gems are gradually screened out from a large number of gravel, just like the accumulation of waves and sand. This meticulous work consumes a lot of manpower, material resources and time. When we finally get a jewel that shines brightly, we will see the most beautiful music in the long river of memory-the jewel is therefore rare and more precious.
Different producing areas have different conditions for mining rubies and sapphires. There are many small discontinuous pegmatite veins in some places, which are steep and steep. At the intersection of marble and pegmatite, we can find corundum. Many sapphires are produced in alluvial deposits.
Moreover, some gem producing areas are located on remote desert islands, which are sultry in summer and cold in winter, and some mines are located on cliffs, which seriously affects the mining of gem deposits and brings many difficulties to miners.
Such bad weather conditions make us know how to cherish precious stones more.
The difference between ruby and other similar gems;
The difference between (1) and red garnet
Garnet is isotropic and has no polychromatic color, while ruby has obvious polychromatic color.
Under ultraviolet light, ruby has red fluorescence, while garnet is inert.
Magnified observation shows that the interior of garnet is clean, and the gas-liquid inclusions and solid inclusions in ruby are abundant.
(2) Difference from red spinel
Spinel is isotropic and colorless.
The refractive index is lower than that of ruby.
Spinel has bead octahedral negative crystals after amplification.
(3) The difference with red tourmaline
Tourmaline has more obvious polychromatic properties.
Faceted gems can be seen in the right direction with the back edge ghosting.
(4) the difference with andalusite
Andalusite has a strong polychromatic color visible to the naked eye, and the colors are brown, yellow, green, brown orange, brown red and so on.
Andalusite has no moderate green and yellow-green fluorescence under short-wave ultraviolet light, while ruby has no moderate red fluorescence.
Ruby has obvious Cr absorption line in the red zone.
(5) The difference with red glass
Red glass is isotropic and has no polychromatic properties.
Zoom in and check that bubbles and vortex lines can be seen in the red glass.
It has a typical shell-like fracture with obvious ridgeline.
Glass has a low density, so it feels light.