Rubies are one of the most strikingly beautiful, rare, and expensive gemstones ever discovered. Rubies are usually bright red, although the lower quality gemstones display shades of purple, pink, or orange. Rubies are known for their hardness, durability, luster, and rarity, with each characteristic influencing its trading price. However, are rubies as rare as other famed gemstones?
A ruby gemstone is one of the rarest substances known to man. The highest quality and rarest rubies are usually found in Burma, Afghanistan, or Australia. Large untreated rubies are far rarer than diamonds or sapphires, which is indicated by their extraordinarily high market value.
Due to the extreme rarity of ruby gemstones, they are often more valuable than sapphires or diamonds. Jewelers note that sapphires or diamonds are relatively abundant compared to high-quality rubies meaning that tiny rubies have significant price tags. To understand why ruby is so rare and if its rarity maintains its significant market value, continue reading this article.
How Rare Are Rubies?
It is universally accepted that rubies are one of the rarest substances known to man, with them being globally revered for their versatility, durability, hardness, and aesthetic beauty.
For centuries many people have incorrectly assumed that diamonds are the most expensive and rare gemstone currently available throughout global markets. However, gem-quality rubies are considered substantially rarer than diamonds have ever been, with their extreme rarity directly responsible for their extraordinary trading price.
Furthermore, diamonds are readily available in most global financial markets and jewelry stores. Conversely, locating and purchasing a high-quality ruby gemstone is significantly more challenging, directly indicating the rarity of the famed red gemstone. Low-quality rubies can cost as little as $1 or as much as $100.000, depending on their associated clarity, color, and saturation.
While millions of low-quality and inexpensive ruby gemstones are currently in global circulation, red rubies demonstrating high clarity, an evenly distributed color, and rich saturation are in such demand that they are currently the most sought-after gemstone.
Coveted rubies with flawless characteristics are incredibly rare, with only a handful of unknown substances currently being ranked ahead of the red gemstone. Global consumers are known to accept lesser quality rubies, compromised in one or two critical areas when attempting to purchase one of the stones.
The willingness of consumers to sacrifice some quality in one or two critical characteristics associated with high-quality rubies is a direct indication of the gemstone’s rarity. Currently, the overwhelming majority of rubies in global trade circulation or private ownership have undergone various detrimental treatment processes, meaning that untreated rubies are even rarer.
How Does The Rarity Of Ruby Influence Its Value?
All ruby gemstones are derived from the process of mining corundum. However, high-quality ruby gemstones are found in less than one percent of the world’s corundum supply.
In the corundum mining process, it is common to find various, especially blue, sapphires. Sapphire is considered a rare substance, although the most valuable sapphires do not even come close to the intrinsic value of red ruby gemstones. The rarity of gem-quality rubies remains unmatched in the mining and jewelry worlds.
Industry experts agree that a ruby gemstone’s color decides its market price per carat. However, the process involved in determining a ruby’s unique color is still difficult as it leaves room for personal interpretation.
The most desirable ruby gemstone is a medium red or vivid dark with distinctive hints of purple. The color of a ruby gemstone is the most important factor regarding its market price, with the highest quality rubies prevalent in Burma.
While sapphire and ruby are both directly obtained from harvesting corundum, sapphire gemstones are known to easily bond with the numerous impurities found within the substance, which is responsible for the stone’s assorted colors. Conversely, ruby gemstones do not react with any impurities found within corundum, indicating the stone’s enormous global rarity.
A high-quality red ruby gemstone can exclusively be obtained from corundum. The red color that has long been associated with gem-quality rubies is significantly rarer than blue gemstones. Most people know that high-quality and desirable blue gemstones, especially sapphire, are already an enormously rare substance extensively traded throughout major worldwide markets.
Moreover, when the associated rarity of high-quality red rubies is combined with the ever-increasing global demand for the substance, it is clear that the price per carat will continue to skyrocket. While tiny red ruby gemstones, often weighing less than one carat, widely utilized in cluster rings and other small jewelry pieces are readily available, larger gem-quality rubies are significantly rarer.
Industry experts agree that high-quality ruby gemstones weighing more than one carat remain rare. The rarity of these ruby gemstones is mainly due to the enormous difficulty in mining. While it is relatively easy to mine a ruby gemstone, obtaining a large high-quality stone is exceptionally challenging, increasing its price exponentially yearly.
The law of demand and supply is visible within global ruby trading markets, especially as the known rarity of gem-quality rubies remains undisputed. In contrast, global consumer demand continues to increase rapidly. Furthermore, high-quality ruby is among the most expensive substances consumers can currently purchase, which is a direct result of its extraordinary beauty and rarity.
What Are The Rarest Types Of Rubies?
While ruby gemstones are rare compared to most other substances known to man, there is an enormous discrepancy between the rarity of red rubies.
The rubies seen in advertisements or television are usually the rarest and most desirable form of gemstone. The rarest types of rubies are usually depicted as having a large red stone, a transparent core, and a perfect cut. The best quality, rarest, and most expensive rubies rank highly within the accepted color, clarity, carat weight, and cut chart categories.
The rarest rubies currently available on global trading markets are known to sport a dark pure red color. The shade of red is critical regarding the price and rarity of the gemstone since the substance is derived from chromium’s presence in the specific ruby. It can therefore be accepted that the more chromium present within a ruby, the rarer and pricier it will be for consumers.
Furthermore, the presence of chromium in high-quality rubies can easily influence the color of the gemstone. For a ruby to be high-quality and sport a dark red color, the amount of chromium in the gemstone must be perfect. There is no room for error, as if slightly too much chromium is found in a ruby gemstone, its color will likely be altered to a less desirable hue.
Moreover, the chemical makeup of ruby gemstones is known to be enormously fragile, further enhancing the substance’s appeal and value. Occasionally, lower-quality ruby gemstones have too much titanium or iron mixed with chromium. This mixture is undesirable and should be avoided since it may quickly and permanently alter the ruby’s general red color.
Chromium is a significantly rarer element compared to titanium and iron, meaning that pure red rubies are substantially more difficult to mine due to the dominance of impure substances. In addition, the associated clarity of a ruby gemstone is enormously influential in its value and rarity.
Most high-quality rubies look clean or transparent to the naked eye. However, when the red stone is inspected with a magnification device, it will likely exemplify several different inclusions. The inclusions commonly found in high-quality ruby gemstones are needle-like crystals, partially healed fingertips, and tiny dotted pinpoints.
In contrast to other rare gemstones, such as diamonds, high-quality rubies are not required to be completely transparent or clear. The inclusions within most rubies result from superheated chemical reactions with other elements in the surrounding area. Rubies with distinct inclusions are rarer and more expensive than clear rubies, often proven fake.
The final determining factor regarding the quality and rarity of ruby gemstones is their cut. How rubies are cut is largely influenced by the structures within the stone, as each gemstone possesses a unique crystalline formation. In addition, the professional responsible for cutting the ruby gemstone must account for the direction the material is most pleasing to the naked eye.
Cutting a high-quality rare ruby gemstone is a massive undertaking, even for long-time industry professionals. However, ruby’s cutting process and the result are not as critical as other rare substances such as diamonds. It is known that a brilliantly cut diamond significantly increases its value and desirability, although this is not the case with ruby gemstones due to their rarity.
Conclusion
Ruby gemstones are universally accepted as being rare. High-quality red rubies are among the rarest and most expensive substances ever discovered. Many factors influence the rarity and value of ruby gemstones, such as their carat weight, cut, and clarity. However, the ruby’s color is the most influential factor regarding the stone’s quality, rarity, and market value.
High-quality rubies are significantly rarer than diamonds, and it is unlikely that the stone will be mined if it weighs more than one carat. However, high-quality rubies weighing more than one carat is extraordinarily rare and should be globally admired for their striking beauty, durability, hardness, and luster.
