Is this a Ruby?

[Olly]

[ATTAC H]640864[/ATTACH] Hi, I am a lay person who would like your knowledge and experience of my ruby. I have had the stone since 1991, inherited from my mother in law. I was hoping to have it made into a ring, but after looking in to rubies, I am worried that it may not be real, and could be glass filled. There are no inclusions to the eye, but having looked under a child's microscope! It has lines inside made up off red dots! (Sorry, only way to describe them!) It is very big, so I'm guessing, synthetic, but it is so beautiful, it literally looks like I'm holding a fire in my hand when in sunlight! The only other thing, is that it looks red in some lights and purple in others. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

[voce]

Please contact AGL and send in the gem for a brief report. It costs like $75. Your stone is seriously beautiful, and the pictures make me think that it's a rare, untreated Burmese ruby. Get the $75 lab report to be certain it is not synthetic/treated, and if it tests as untreated ruby then spend some more money and get a prestige report. If your ruby is authentic and natural, it's worth some serious money.

I don't think it looks like a glass filled ruby, but it could have been lab-grown, I suppose. Please go find out if it's a natural stone at AGL!

 

[Olly]

Please contact AGL and send in the gem for a brief report. It costs like $75. Your stone is seriously beautiful, and the pictures make me think that it's a rare, untreated Burmese ruby. Get the $75 lab report to be certain it is not synthetic/treated, and if it tests as untreated ruby then spend some more money and get a prestige report. If your ruby is authentic and natural, it's worth some serious money.

I don't think it looks like a glass filled ruby, but it could have been lab-grown, I suppose. Please go find out if it's a natural stone at AGL!

 

[Olly]

Thank you Voce for the advice, I am having it appraised by a gemologist next month. I was just a little worried it wasn't real, and I would look silly! The photos don't show the beauty of the stone, it lights up like the sun when held in your palm. Thank you so much for your reply

 

[peacechick]

Don’t worry, you will not look silly, especially where rubies are concerned. The appraisal can give you an idea as to what it is but I think you really need a lab report. The color is gorgeous but depending on the results, I think a recut would make it more brilliant and glowy in the centre. If it turns out to be untreated and valuable though, you may want to preserve its carat weight,

 

[Olly]

Thank you for the reply, I will have it appraised and see what they say, thank you!

 

[chrono]

Per the paper in one of the pictures, the stone is estimated to be greater than 5 carats. AGL Gem Brief only covers ruby up to 2.99 ct. It’ll have to be either the Prestige ID or send it to GIA. It is suspiciously too clean for such a large stone so I would definitely get it checked out.

 

[Olly]

Thank you for the reply

 

[Barrett]

I am not as cordial, nor as courteous as some of the other members on here, so it doesn't bother me to come out and say that your stone is not real.
I am 96% sure it's not. Well.....let me take that back......unless your Mom was fabulously wealthy and had the means and wants to spend her money on gemstones and other luxury goods, regardless of their intristic value. If thats the case, then your probability of it NOT being real, goes down.
I wouldn't have anything done at a lab, except for a gem brief at AGL. It's cheap enough to give you what you need to know about stone, yet not break the bank on something that is almost certainly not a natural ruby. It's to give you that peace of mind, so your not always going to wonder if that stone on your hand isn't actually something that could pay for a house if one ever sold it, ya know.

It's refreshing to see your skepticism about the stone. You seem to have used basic common sense to question the stones natural veracity. Just some simple sleuthing on your part, easily showed that it lacked any eye visible inclusions. This is probably the biggest "red flag" you could find, and it goes on to tell you that it's most likely not a natural stone, or on the other hand, that you may in fact have a 1 in a milion type gemstone.

 

[voce]

Per the paper in one of the pictures, the stone is estimated to be greater than 5 carats. AGL Gem Brief only covers ruby up to 2.99 ct. It’ll have to be either the Prestige ID or send it to GIA. It is suspiciously too clean for such a large stone so I would definitely get it checked out.

I think Chrono makes a good point that the AGL Gem Brief only covers up to 2.99 ct. I've never owned ruby or sapphire larger than 3 ct. In that case, GIA is the more cost-efficient route to go, at $150, less than an AGL prestige report. If it turns out to be real, then go get the prestige report from AGL. I don't think you can have peace of mind until you get the lab results back.

 

[Olly]

I think Chrono makes a good point that the AGL Gem Brief only covers up to 2.99 ct. I've never owned ruby or sapphire larger than 3 ct. In that case, GIA is the more cost-efficient route to go, at $150, less than an AGL prestige report. If it turns out to be real, then go get the prestige report from AGL. I don't think you can have peace of mind until you get the lab results back.

Thank you

 

[voce]

Hi Barrett, thank you for your honesty I have a very basic knowledge of gemstones. To answer one of your questions, yes my mother in law was an extremely wealthy lady, who aquired the stone in the Soviet Union in the early to mid eighties. That is all the history I know I'm afraid. It is flawless to the eye and it is big, which is making me think synthetic, thank you for your reply

The Soviet Union, in my mind, raises a red flag that won't get dispelled unless a lab verifies your gemstone is real. Soviet scientists made a lot of man made gemstones...I can't remember which book, but a nonfiction book about diamonds told the story of how some bored Soviet scientists during the cold war starting making diamonds from carbon. I think Russians/Soviets make some of the best lab gems in the world. These days they can even cook inclusions into lab emeralds so they look more real. Some precision cutters have bought the lab gem material to try, and the resulting cut gems are simply sublime!

 

[Olly]

Thats probably what it is, thank you so much

The Soviet Union, in my mind, raises a red flag that won't get dispelled unless a lab verifies your gemstone is real. Soviet scientists made a lot of man made gemstones...I can't remember which book, but a nonfiction book about diamonds told the story of how some bored Soviet scientists during the cold war starting making diamonds from carbon. I think Russians/Soviets make some of the best lab gems in the world. These days they can even cook inclusions into lab emeralds so they look more real. Some precision cutters have bought the lab gem material to try, and the resulting cut gems are simply sublime!

Thank you so much

 

[the_mother_thing]

Is it possible the stone is actually a spinel, and OP’s MIL was mistaken or perhaps misled as to what it was?

 

[voce]

Is it possible the stone is actually a spinel, and OP’s MIL was mistaken or perhaps misled as to what it was?

Having looked at pictures of probably a hundred or more red spinel, and perhaps more rubies, I doubt that it's a spinel. Spinel are single refractive, not double refractive and just look different. OP's stone looks like a silky ruby, especially due to the detail of looking purple in certain lighting, and the bright pattern reflections on the facets surrounding the table, which I have never seen in any spinel.

 

[Bron357]

It can be very difficult to distinguish a good lab created ruby from a natural ruby. Add in heat treatment with flux or even Beryllium and you start needing specialized lab equipment that only the biggest and best labs have. Your local jeweller might be able to detect a lower grade synthetic (curved striae and gas bubbles) or a glass filled ruby (tell tale fines lines / cracks - you might need a Loupe and light falling on the facets the right way to see them) but there are some fabulous top grade lab grown rubies out there (been around for decades) which require a full and detailed examination.
That said, it’s a beautiful gem.
Certainly worth sending off for a report. Yes, they cost a few hundred dollars (your ruby is over 5 carats) but if it’s a natural, untreated (even heat in ok) well you have one heck of a special (and valuable) gem there.
Fingers crossed.

 

[Olly]

Thank you so much everyone for your replies, I have emailed a local lab and will be sending it off later today I think it is worth the money just to be sure! Just have to wait 3 weeks for the result

 

[ringo865]

What "local lab" ? AGS or GIA or something else? It is an amazing stone!

 

[chrono]

Please clarify which “local” lab as many aren’t well versed or have the right equipment to analyze ruby thoroughly.