Ruby

🔍How to identify Ruby

1. Very hard: scratches nearly everything but diamond
2. Heavy for its size
3. Often has fine rutile needles ('silk')

👯Often confused with

• Red garnet
• Red spinel
• Red tourmaline
• Red glass and synthetic corundum

🧪Real or fake?

• Lab-grown and glass-filled rubies are common; a lab report is the only reliable check

💰Is Ruby valuable?

Value varies hugely. Ask a gem lab for a report before buying or selling.

Typical retail prices

Fine untreated rubies above one carat can cost many thousands of dollars per carat.

Typical retail ranges in US dollars, compiled from public dealer and marketplace listings in October 2026. Real prices vary widely with quality, size and origin. This is general information, not an appraisal.

What changes the price

• Color: vivid red with a slight blue tint ('pigeon blood') is the top grade
• Clarity and size: eye-clean stones above 1 carat are rare and expensive
• Treatment: most rubies are heated, and that is accepted; glass-filled stones are far cheaper and fragile
• Origin: untreated Burmese, Mozambique and Thai stones with a lab report cost the most
• Synthetic rubies are common, and only a lab can be sure