AY CORUNDUM!
Pear shaped ruby dominates an Art Deco 18K gold & white diamond Sethi Couture ring |
Certain colored gems are perennial must-haves. Sapphire, ruby and emerald are referred to as The Trinity of precious colored stones, and for good reason. Their beauty and rarity place them high on the list of most-coveted-stone status. And they've been around for eons. Kings and moguls flaunt their wealth by showing off these colorful baubles.
OH IT'S RED ALRIGHT . . . BUT IT'S ALSO . . . .
Take ruby. Really. You should totally get this. The scarlet jewel is a member of the corundum species of precious minerals. But so is sapphire. What? Yes, corundum, the hardest stone next to diamond is naturally discovered from completely transparent (referred to as white sapphire) to black no less. The straight blue variety is called sapphire . . . and any of the myriad rainbow of colors that turn up in corundum deposits are referred to as fancy color sapphire.
SPARKLES TO SPARE
What a stone. The hardness lends itself to a very high polish, with exquisite facet junctions and ultimately the potential for a superb polish, rendering it to be one sparkly stone. The hardness quotient --rating 9 on the Mohs scale, also means that it should look fabulous years and years from now--just like it does today. Only a diamond would likely scratch it, so it's in good jewel box company.
Jordana Brewster wears Sethi Couture ruby ring |
As old of a stone as it is, ruby still charms the daylights out of jewelry fans today. It's definitely not your granny's gemstone. Modern designers with a way-cool vibe use this lushly colored stone in their collections to make a bold statement around their imaginative designs--like Sethi Couture. The exciting thing we're seeing is that designers wielding excellent craftsmanship skills pay homage to earlier styles--like Art Deco for instance. They make it interesting by interpreting these eras with modern proportions. Result? Chic meets fun with staying power.
Sethi Couture Ruby ring Courtesy: D'Orazio & Associates
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