SUWA
THAI RUBY , Heated

The red color of ruby stirs the emotions,
and this stone is said to give the wearer extraordinary power.

Today, Bangkok, Thailand is famous as the polishing and trade center for ruby, but back in 1940 there were only about 200 to 300 cutters, most polishing zircons. Full-scale polishing of Thai ruby only did not begin until about 1960. Until that time, trade in Mogok ruby was flourishing, and material from Thailand was not considered important because most of it was dark and blackish. However, with the change of government and nationalization of gemstone mining in Myanmar, production declined drastically. This situation, combined with advances in heat treatment techniques to remove its blackish color, allowed Thai ruby to rapidly capture market share.

Light red corundum is sometimes sold as pink sapphire, but these are in fact light-colored rubies. These are sold under the name of pink sapphire because they are considered too light in color to be called ruby. However, it is essentially impossible to separate red corundum into ruby and sapphire using a given tone as a boundary. Borderline material might be called either ruby or pink sapphire, depending on the merchant. As a fundamental solution to such problems- and to enhance the credibility of the gemstone industry as a whole- all reddish hues of corundum, including lighter tones, should be included in the category of ruby.

In the second half of the 1970s, prices of gemstones in general were on the rise, and ruby was no exception. Particularly for small round and square rubies of 1.5 to 3.5 millimeters, which are indispensable in jewelry, greater demand from manufactures in Bangkok led to significantly higher prices. Gem-quality Thai rubies in sizes of 0.1 to 0.2 carats have increased tenfold in price over the last decade, bringing their prices close to comparably sized diamonds.

Ring, Gold
Thai Ruby1 pc
0.80 ct
Heated
Diamond 18 pc
0.56 ct
US $6,500
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