Corundum's presence in engagement rings hasn't been limited to royalty. Considering the high regard British royalty has had for corundum, it's not surprising that Princesses Anne and Diana each received a sapphire engagement ring, and Fergie the Duchess of York received one with a ruby. Sapphires were often worn by kings and queens around the neck for good luck. By extension the ruby also was thought to symbolize the sacrifice of sovereigns committed to serving their country and their people. Besides representing royal power rubies served as a remembrance of the suffering and blood of Christ and so illustrated His divine love for the world. In Europe, the ruby was used for coronation rings and in the crowns of Christian monarchs. In ancient India, the ruby was called the "king of precious stones." The glowing red hue suggested an inextinguishable flame burning within the stone, which was believed to give it special power. Photo: Purple star sapphire from Madagascarįor centuries, rubies and sapphires have been considered regal gems. This star is a reflection of the light off the tiny internal inclusions in the gem. When microscopic rutile crystals inside the sapphire or ruby are numerous enough and correctly distributed through the gem along its hexagonal crystal faces you can get a 6 ray "star" when you cut the gem in the right direction in a smooth "cabochon" style. For example, sapphires that are yellow are called "yellow sapphires." Blue sapphires, on the other hand, are in most cases simply called sapphires. However, to avoid confusion, sapphires that are not blue include their color in their name. Any corundum that is not red is called sapphire.
Some stones change color when viewed outdoors in the sun others display stars formations due to microscopic crystals arranged in a hexagonal pattern inside them. Occasionally, corundum is even bi-colored or multi-colored. (In ancient times almost any blue gem was called sapphire, only more recently has the advance of gemological science allowed us to more easily differentiate each kind of gem mineral from the others of the same color.)Ĭorundum comes in just about every color imaginable, orange, yellow, green, pink, purple, violet, brown, gray, and black. Traces of iron and vanadium can make corundum blue, and then it is named sapphire, which is derived from the Greek word sáppheiros denoting the blue stone lapis lazuli.
Pure corundum is colorless, but when traces of chromium are present, corundum can be red, and is then called "ruby," a term derived from the Latin ruber meaning red.
Rubies and sapphires may look very different, but they're the same mineral - corundum, which is just a combination of aluminum and oxygen (Al 20 3).
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