Read a rather alarming article on the net which led me to dig out all the pieces of ruby jewelry that I have accumulated. I chose to feature this particular piece because of a special memory that I have for this ring.
This ring comes from an era gone by, back in the days (thankfully not during my time) when people, jewelers and merchants, in this case, took their time. Everything took time and everyone had all the time in the world... in the days where ladies only wore cheongsum with complimenting jewelry and handbag and rode on trishaws or quaint cars... (depending on weather and distance)
Everything was bespoke back then. My mum gave me this ring... I remember she would pick out gemstones that she liked from a reliable supplier she knows and they would sit over tea and dim sum or pastries for several afternoons talking about designs and complimentary stones and all of that.
I still remember the old man from whom my mum bought this, along with jade and other precious stones. It was a painstaking process that took time, many afternoons of chatting and brainstorming. Countless rounds of tea, pastries and dim sum later, the decided design is then passed to a jeweler, again, a family friend or someone who did some beautiful pieces for a friend or a fellow tai tai. From there, the jeweler casts the entire ring from scratch, by hand. Truly bespoked!
She likes this particular ring quite a bit. I remember mum telling me that rubies have to be pigeon blood red in colour and must be clear. This I am sure she heard from that old man. Those are the best and you always have to have diamonds to accompany the stone so that it will look more elegant, she'd say. She seems to like pear shaped stones, now that I recollect her pieces...
I know from the time that this ring was made that it is likely to be an unheated ruby from Burma. This is a pigeon blood red ruby, though so very tiny and my photos do terrible justice to the poor ruby! I assure you that it is more red in real life and has much more brilliance.
** Notice the marks and unevenness of the ring, claws and basket... signs of handwork from the olden days.
Now for the alarming article: Ruby Alert! Flux healing of rubies! Tragedy!!
In Burma, there is a place called Mogok, it is the source of the famous coveted Burmese rubies. The Queen of Burmese rubies! But this queen called Mogok, has an ugly sister called Mong Shu. Rubies mined from Mong Shu are the ugly sisters of the Mogok rubies because they are purplish in colour and densely filled with silk clouds.
NO thanks to modern technology, they have found a way to transform the ugly duckling into a swan, just like its sister, the Mogok Ruby! Pristine, beautiful and glittering! Like plastic surgey, laser, IPL, botox, facelifts and so on... though beautiful, it is unnatural! And it is becoming a problem.
There are transnational lawsuits going on right now over this issue on the treatment of Mong Shu rubies because sellers have failed to disclose the treatment on these rubies.
So here's the treatment in lay terms.
Gemstones are commonly heated to enhance their colour, especially Sapphires. Heat treatment is accepted internationally, though I'd have to add that certified natural gems are highly sought after by collectors and usually fetch a much higher price.
Just like how women born with natural beauty and natural mammary endowments are more sought after by men! Or like how non-invasive cosmetic enhancements are more widely accepted than the hardcore plastic surgery, breasts implants and the like!
The treatment that Mong Shu rubies have been put through is a little different from just merely heating. Mong Shu rubies are purplish in colour because they have blue cores in them, besides dense silk clouds.
The "before and after" effects of heat treatments on Mong Shu rubies.
(Photo credit: www.ruby-sapphire.com)
Heat treatment will remove the dense silk clouds and the bluish colour, making the Mong Shu rubies clear and brighter red in colour. But the Mong Shu rubies are also brittle because it is often heavily fractured. This is where flux treatment comes in.
In lay terms, Flux treatment entails healing the rubies in flux like borax. Some call it glass treatment. This treatment will cause the surfaces on the stone and in the fractures of the stone to melt and the cracks in the stone to be filled with flux glass. So the Mong Shu rubies' cracks are "healed" with glass or synthetic ruby.
The Mong Shu ruby was first mined in the middle of 1992, hence, chances of older rubies being either totally natural, just heated or totally synthetic are very high.
(Photo credit: www.ruby-sapphire.com)
Lesson to learn when buying rubies is to have the rubies certified by reputable labs. Have the labs ascertain that the rubies are natural and ask the labs to specifically look for indications of heat treatment and flux treatment or glass treatment if you are looking to part with your cash for rubies.
Be safe and know that your rubies are natural beauties or beauties that merely have their looks enhanced unless you are perfectly happy with a ruby with unnatural beauty. But if that were the case, you should just ask for synthetic rubies and pay a fraction of the price!
