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Can somebody help me find my perfect ruby please

Are you flexible on shape? Oval or cushion would be lots easier.
 
I would really like a round one because I have a setting in mind that will look good with only round.
I really like both the colors of the first and second rubies. I think a ruby right in between those two will be perfect!
But I would be happy with any of those two if they were round.
And the price range for the rubies are perfect!
Do you know if jewelers charge more for gems than online?
I might want to go window shopping like another PS member suggested to get a feel for how rubies look in person too.

Thank you so much!
 
Brick and mortor stores will charge several times what an online vendor will sell. And the biggest down side is that the stone will most likely be a piece of crap! It may look nice, but it will be treated to death! They will tell you that all rubies are treated and lead glass filled. I don't even know if a B&M knows what beryllium is! However, if you want a half carat, round, very red ruby in your price range, you'll probably get it. Just don't ask here what people think of it.
 
Can you post a picture of the setting you want?
 
Upgradable|1350164018|3284703 said:
Brick and mortor stores will charge several times what an online vendor will sell. And the biggest down side is that the stone will most likely be a piece of crap! It may look nice, but it will be treated to death! They will tell you that all rubies are treated and lead glass filled. I don't even know if a B&M knows what beryllium is! However, if you want a half carat, round, very red ruby in your price range, you'll probably get it. Just don't ask here what people think of it.
Click to expand...

so they don't sell good quality rubies? even if i ask for certification?
i guess I'll have to buy it online haha
 
Hi Kay,

I'm still new at this too. But I just went through some preliminary steps so maybe my newbie advice will help. Definitely do some shopping in person. Bare in mind that cut-corner cushion can fit into a setting for a round (although if it doesn't work aesthetically, that's another issue.)

I think you will find some reasonably priced items in stores. Just bear in mind that most of what you will see has been treated (filled in etc) to the point where its debatable whether you can call it a "natural" ruby. Ask if they have any "loose" rubies that you can see. Ask the sales people about the treatments. Often they will not be terribly knowledgable about treatments. Most jewelry merchants have fair knowledge about diamonds, but know little about gemstones. They might even tell you that you can't really get an untreated Ruby. They just say that because they aren't really familiar with them or don't carry them. Obviously there are such rubies, they are just not abundantly available and you pay a premium for them.

Look also for "windows" (clear areas in the middle of the stone that you can see through--a little window through the middle of the stone). This is the result of shallow cutting, and results in a loss of color and light return. Stones are often cut shallow so that their "face" is bigger, but you just end up with a dead spot in the middle of the stone. Get a sense of what this looks like so that when you go back to online shopping, you can recognize windows in the pictures you are looking at, and seek ones without the center dead spot. Also get a sense of how much coverage on your hand you will get from about .5 carat, .75 carat and 1 carat stone without windows so you will know what size is too small for you. Look also for other problems as mentioned in the new buyer's post-it on top of this forum.

I think you could find a heavily treated stone in a store for the same price you will find online, but for a lightly or untreated stone, you will get a much better deal online.

Overall, take your time and have fun!
 
kay_thunderbird|1350164556|3284709 said:
Upgradable|1350164018|3284703 said:
Brick and mortor stores will charge several times what an online vendor will sell. And the biggest down side is that the stone will most likely be a piece of crap! It may look nice, but it will be treated to death! They will tell you that all rubies are treated and lead glass filled. I don't even know if a B&M knows what beryllium is! However, if you want a half carat, round, very red ruby in your price range, you'll probably get it. Just don't ask here what people think of it.
Click to expand...

so they don't sell good quality rubies? even if i ask for certification?
i guess I'll have to buy it online haha
Click to expand...
My ex-local store would sell large blue topaz for $400. Online, precision cut blue topaz? $100. And she was the most reasonably priced store in town.

I would be very wary of BUYING in person. Seeing what they have - go for it. But ruby buying is risky business.
 
Uppy those are great finds! I like all of them :bigsmile:

Kaye...the advice about what is available in a store is correct - you will do much better online. However - you need to see some in real life because they are rarely clear, most have inclusions and you have to find your tolerance for them, Though having said that, you will probably only see gems that are treated to within an inch of their lives so will look clearer than most online.

Posting a picture of your setting will help. And AIGS is preferred in Europe - AGL in the US.
 
A specialty jeweler or even a very good jeweler could probably order an untreated or lightly treated Ruby for you. But you'll pay the premium of all premiums for it, and it still might lack the best cut and color possible. But certainly see what's out there and ask lots and lots of questions, but I think you will be impressed by their lack of good answers :? .
 
Oh i don't expect the ruby to be crystal clear like synthetic ones haha
I know the ruby i get will have some imperfections, i just want it to be as minimal as possible and even add to the stone's beauty :)
i don't have a picture of the setting, I'm getting a setting custom made to look just like my grandma's (she was my most favorite person in the whole :) , she had a round diamond in her's
it had 6 prongs evenly spaced in a circle, so i don't think a square or oval would work out well.
with some filigree detail and the diamond was risen a little high, not really close to the band
the only difference with mine will probably be that mine will be white gold instead of yellow, and the filigree will be kind of different since I don't remember it perfectly.

Thanks for all the help!!
 
It's good that you are realistic in your expectations of what the ruby could look like then and it's lovely that you remember your grandmother's ring with such fondness that you want to replicate elements of it for your own.

With that kind of setting the roval (first one Uppy posted-not quite round, not quite oval) wouldn't have a problem with the 6 prongs, or even an oval come to that but a cushion in 6 prongs might not look it's best.

Here's 27 pages of semi mounts for you to look through :bigsmile: http://stores.ebay.com/American-Set. You might not need the expense of custom made (more $ for the ruby) but buy the ruby first - it's too hard to find a stone to fit a particular setting while the setting can always be made to fit the stone.

A semi mount comes with any engraving, accent, halo or shank diamonds/gems, but always without the centre stone even if it is depicted with one.
 
Starzin|1350168512|3284747 said:
It's good that you are realistic in your expectations of what the ruby could look like then and it's lovely that you remember your grandmother's ring with such fondness that you want to replicate elements of it for your own.

With that kind of setting the roval (first one Uppy posted-not quite round, not quite oval) wouldn't have a problem with the 6 prongs, or even an oval come to that but a cushion in 6 prongs might not look it's best.

Here's 27 pages of semi mounts for you to look through :bigsmile: http://stores.ebay.com/American-Set. You might not need the expense of custom made (more $ for the ruby) but buy the ruby first - it's too hard to find a stone to fit a particular setting while the setting can always be made to fit the stone.

A semi mount comes with any engraving, accent, halo or shank diamonds/gems, but always without the centre stone even if it is depicted with one.
Click to expand...

Yes i think im going to focus on the ruby first because its the most important part of the ring
and with whatever money we have left over try to replicate my grandma's ring as best we can.
i was thinking of trying to buy a semi-mount that looks the most similar if I don't have enough money left over haha
but I would really want a round if I can find one.
Ok so i guess the most important thing to me is round shape and the red color.
clarity i know i wont get flawless like synthetics. and carat weight I don't really care too much about as long as its half a carat at least.

Thanks!
 
Ok so i guess the most important thing to me is round shape and the red color.
Click to expand...

Well done! So we'll keep looking :))
 
corundum_conundrum|1350164847|3284710 said:
Hi Kay,

I'm still new at this too. But I just went through some preliminary steps so maybe my newbie advice will help. Definitely do some shopping in person. Bare in mind that cut-corner cushion can fit into a setting for a round (although if it doesn't work aesthetically, that's another issue.)

I think you will find some reasonably priced items in stores. Just bear in mind that most of what you will see has been treated (filled in etc) to the point where its debatable whether you can call it a "natural" ruby. Ask if they have any "loose" rubies that you can see. Ask the sales people about the treatments. Often they will not be terribly knowledgable about treatments. Most jewelry merchants have fair knowledge about diamonds, but know little about gemstones. They might even tell you that you can't really get an untreated Ruby. They just say that because they aren't really familiar with them or don't carry them. Obviously there are such rubies, they are just not abundantly available and you pay a premium for them.

Look also for "windows" (clear areas in the middle of the stone that you can see through--a little window through the middle of the stone). This is the result of shallow cutting, and results in a loss of color and light return. Stones are often cut shallow so that their "face" is bigger, but you just end up with a dead spot in the middle of the stone. Get a sense of what this looks like so that when you go back to online shopping, you can recognize windows in the pictures you are looking at, and seek ones without the center dead spot. Also get a sense of how much coverage on your hand you will get from about .5 carat, .75 carat and 1 carat stone without windows so you will know what size is too small for you. Look also for other problems as mentioned in the new buyer's post-it on top of this forum.

I think you could find a heavily treated stone in a store for the same price you will find online, but for a lightly or untreated stone, you will get a much better deal online.

Overall, take your time and have fun!
Click to expand...

Thanks! i never knew about the window thing. I have a size 5.75-6 ring finger so I just assumed a 0.5 or bigger would be ok. but ill try to see the carat sizes in real life. I don't really want a huge stone, just enough to make a statement haha
 
I'm thinking of visiting this place http://www.hannonjewelers.com/ here in baton rouge la, to see rubies in person and get a feel for the carat weight, colors, and imperfections (such as windows, and inclusions) as corundum_corundum suggested to get more familiar with rubies.

what do yall think of this place based on their website?
 
Upgradable|1350177455|3284821 said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-77ct-GIA-CERTIFIED-Natural-Red-Ruby-/221138505628?pt=US_Fine_Rings&hash=item337ce1cf9c
Click to expand...

This one seems pretty clear and its lovely, but i don't think the color is what i'm looking for, too pink and light
I don't think i want to go bigger than 1.25 carats because i want the ring to be comfortable for daily wear.
Thanks for helping :)
 
Keep in mind that corundum is more dense than a lot of other minerals, including diamond. So a perfectly cut sapphire is going to *face up* smaller than a diamond of the same weight. You should probably be looking for a sapphire using their dimensions and not the carat weight. I was looking at an 8 carat sapphire on a certain, not well thought of website, and it faced up the size of a well cut 4 carat stone. So, instead of using carat weight as the measure, I'd say you should be looking for a 5-7mm stone.

I can't remember why you wanted a ruby, but was there a certain reason? Would a red spinel do anything for you? The Black Prince's Ruby is actually a spinel. They are very similar in chemical structure, but red spinels can be cleaner, and at least that would broaden the search a little bit. I have some hot red (maraschino cherry red) spinels that are kind of amazing as far as color goes.

Also, because you haven't, can you post a picture of something that's not a stone that's the color you're looking for? Are we looking for more Burgundy? Fire engine red? Maraschino cherry red? Crimson? I think that could be really helpful.
 
Red spinels (they don't necessarily fit your specs, and at least one is sold):

http://www.forevergemstones.com/proddetail.php?ProdID=2814
http://www.forevergemstones.com/proddetail.php?ProdID=2790
http://www.forevergemstones.com/proddetail.php?ProdID=2791
http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-2.40-carats.html
http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-0.61-carats.html
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?112431410
http://www.acstones.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=80&idproduct=4232


Ruby:
http://www.ajsgem.com/ruby/burma-ruby/burma-ruby-1.10-carats.html

This is rough going. Not going to lie.

Is there anything on this page that tickles your pickle as far as color goes? Hardly any are rounds, and almost all are out of your budget.
http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Rubies/
 
Keep in mind that corundum is more dense than a lot of other minerals, including diamond. So a perfectly cut sapphire is going to *face up* smaller than a diamond of the same weight. You should probably be looking for a sapphire using their dimensions and not the carat weight. I was looking at an 8 carat sapphire on a certain, not well thought of website, and it faced up the size of a well cut 4 carat stone. So, instead of using carat weight as the measure, I'd say you should be looking for a 5-7mm stone.
Click to expand...

Good point F.C. If you are looking at round rubies, there will generally be correlation between carats and face-up size--but its not a perfect correlation. So knowing what mm size will be more precise than carat size (althout if you're only looking for round rubies,the carat will generally correlate with size ). Still, you can only figure out what's acceptable by looking at some stones in person. I would think you would want to narrow it down further in terms of face-up size (say 5-6mm or about 2/3 carat to about 1 carat). But after looking, you may decide that 5mm is just too small, and you really need at least about 5.5 mm. There's going to be noticeable size difference between a 5mm and 7mm stone, and a MASSIVE price difference. So its important to figure out whether 5 mm is too small or ok. It oculd save you a bunch of money if the smaller size suits you!

Since most people know diamond sizes, here is a little comparison chart (keep in mind ruby weight-to-face will vary a bit). It will give you a rough estimate of diamond size to ruby size.

http://www.jansjewells.com/content.php?content_id=1004
 
kay_thunderbird|1350180144|3284840 said:
I'm thinking of visiting this place http://www.hannonjewelers.com/ here in baton rouge la, to see rubies in person and get a feel for the carat weight, colors, and imperfections (such as windows, and inclusions) as corundum_corundum suggested to get more familiar with rubies.

what do yall think of this place based on their website?
Click to expand...

I'm not encouraged by the coloured stones he has on the website so it might be worth a phonecall first and ask if they have any loose rubies you could view if you came in.

I'd also ring these people since I was very encouraged by their custom page :cheeky: http://www.maderejewelers.com/fine_jewelry.htm but whether they have any loose rubies on hand is another matter.

Save yourself some running around - I'm not sure how big Baton Rouge is - and ring a few.

I think we're more constrained by the round, red, preferably ruby and under $2,000[/b] (if we leave $1k for the setting) first and foremost, it's only been a couple of days and it seemed you would really like a ruby so that's why I didn't pick up on the spinel earlier on when it was mentioned. To answer your question though, they are about an 8 on the Mohs scale and quite a hardy stone for an everyday ring.

The Natural Sapphire Co only has one very wonky round ruby for $3,300
AJS has no round rubies under $2k but they have a couple of rovals.

The one Uppy posted might bear further inspection I think, I can't read the comments section of the GIA report, can anyone else? I tried to send the seller a question to ask what it said and also the diameter etc but I can't seem to find a way of emailing/contacting them. Ebay's own search thing keeps wanting to answer my question and it can't and it won't let me go through to contact the seller.

Does anyone else have superhero ebay skills they would bend to this end please? :))
 
Upgradable|1350177455|3284821 said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-77ct-GIA-CERTIFIED-Natural-Red-Ruby-/221138505628?pt=US_Fine_Rings&hash=item337ce1cf9c
Click to expand...

Wow, I think that one posted by Upgradable looks to be a fantastic color and good deal.
 
i don't really want a spinel for my engagement ring. If not ruby i'll go for a violet or purple sapphire instead.
I contacted the jeweler and this is what he said:
Thank you for contacting me. Yes, I can help you. I specialize in gemstones like fine ruby and custom design. I do have some in stock already and I would like show them to you. In addition, we have the largest supplier of rubies and we can get almost anything you want.

so at least i know they have loose rubies in store I can look at. They are AGS members if that means anything.
 
FrekeChild|1350189779|3284890 said:
Red spinels (they don't necessarily fit your specs, and at least one is sold):

http://www.forevergemstones.com/proddetail.php?ProdID=2814
http://www.forevergemstones.com/proddetail.php?ProdID=2790
http://www.forevergemstones.com/proddetail.php?ProdID=2791
http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-2.40-carats.html
http://www.ajsgem.com/gemstones/spinel/spinel-0.61-carats.html
http://www.multicolour.com/detail/?112431410
http://www.acstones.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=80&idproduct=4232


Ruby:
http://www.ajsgem.com/ruby/burma-ruby/burma-ruby-1.10-carats.html

This is rough going. Not going to lie.

Is there anything on this page that tickles your pickle as far as color goes? Hardly any are rounds, and almost all are out of your budget.
http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Rubies/
Click to expand...

Ruby ID: U3941
Ruby ID: U3757
Ruby ID: U3751
Ruby ID: U3752
Ruby ID: U3786
Ruby ID: U3787
Ruby ID: U3756
like these I guess........so a burgandy but redder. i guess i like darker rubies rather than light. so i guess i'd rather have hints of blue than pink also.
 
corundum_conundrum|1350190488|3284892 said:
Keep in mind that corundum is more dense than a lot of other minerals, including diamond. So a perfectly cut sapphire is going to *face up* smaller than a diamond of the same weight. You should probably be looking for a sapphire using their dimensions and not the carat weight. I was looking at an 8 carat sapphire on a certain, not well thought of website, and it faced up the size of a well cut 4 carat stone. So, instead of using carat weight as the measure, I'd say you should be looking for a 5-7mm stone.
Click to expand...

Good point F.C. If you are looking at round rubies, there will generally be correlation between carats and face-up size--but its not a perfect correlation. So knowing what mm size will be more precise than carat size (althout if you're only looking for round rubies,the carat will generally correlate with size ). Still, you can only figure out what's acceptable by looking at some stones in person. I would think you would want to narrow it down further in terms of face-up size (say 5-6mm or about 2/3 carat to about 1 carat). But after looking, you may decide that 5mm is just too small, and you really need at least about 5.5 mm. There's going to be noticeable size difference between a 5mm and 7mm stone, and a MASSIVE price difference. So its important to figure out whether 5 mm is too small or ok. It oculd save you a bunch of money if the smaller size suits you!

Since most people know diamond sizes, here is a little comparison chart (keep in mind ruby weight-to-face will vary a bit). It will give you a rough estimate of diamond size to ruby size.

http://www.jansjewells.com/content.php?content_id=1004
Click to expand...

yea i think i'm going to go to some local jewelers to test out sizes. thanks for the chart!
 
Looking at lots of rubies in person is a good idea, but PLEASE don't buy anything that doesn't come with a proper lab certificate. Like other's have suggested, AGL is probably your best bet in the US.

If you find something you like, ask the jeweler if they will guarantee (in writing) that they will let you return the stone for a full refund (plus the cost of the lab report) if it turns out to be different that what they say it is. If they refuse to do that, RUN!

If it turns out to be as sold, then you are out the cost of the lab report, but a lab report is important anyway, if you want to get a proper appraisal and insure the ring.

I bought a star sapphire a couple of years ago that turned out to be diffused and the store refunded me and paid the cost of all expenses associated with me getting the report. I had a good working relationship with the store and I didn't have anything writing about returning the stone, so I got lucky that they would do this, but the stone came with an appraisal signed by a GIA GG saying it wasn't heated or treated, so I know it can happen. I would never buy another expensive gemstone from a jewelry store again without this guarantee in writing, no matter who they were.
 
Upgradable|1350177455|3284821 said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-77ct-GIA-CERTIFIED-Natural-Red-Ruby-/221138505628?pt=US_Fine_Rings&hash=item337ce1cf9c
Click to expand...
I believe I was able to read the fine print on the GIA cert.
It describes the stone as type CMT1, and TE3.

CMT scale assesses the chemical fingerprint of the stone to identify possible origins.
http://www.giathai.net/pdf/GIA_Corundum_7499_050307.pdf

The other identifier is treatment. TE means thermal enhancement. Type 3 describes the levels.
http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles/2000/dec00/1200gg.html

I've attached links that describe the particulars. In my opinion, all things considered, I think this would be a very good buy!
 
Kay, I've also found a chart that would be VERY helpful to print out and take with you when looking at rubies in person. This will allow show the gemologist what types of treatment procedures you would like to know about.

I love that they end it with the phrase Caveat Emptor!!! Buyer beware. :naughty:

http://www.gemologyonline.com/treatment.html
 
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