Hindus composed the earliest written accounts of ruby or “ratnaraj” (“king of the gemstones” in ancient Sanskrit) and it has always been highly esteemed in Oriental countries. It is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, with a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. The Mogok Valley in Upper Myanmar (Burma) was for centuries the world’s main source for rubies. There are mines in Thailand, Madagascar, Tanzania and Mozambique, among others. Mozambican rubies are often rich pinkish-red, while others have the color of “pigeon’s blood,” “pomegranate”, “China Rose” or “traffic light red.”

Fabergé Devotion Ruby Ring

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