Artificial ruby: what is it and how to distinguish it from natural stone?

Ruby is the king of gems and the lord of magic, a stone of well-being and power. The symbol of love, beauty, strength and royalty, health and vitality is a mineral of mystics and wizards, possessing powerful strength and not tolerating a lie.

Rubin - the leader in the nomenclature of especially valuable stones. This mineral is of exceptional quality:

• transparent;
• smooth;
• bright;
• lasting;
• heavy.

In a possible range of characteristic colors for him - the fiery color of raspberry, red with brownish, yellowish or pinkish hues. The most valuable gem with blue or purple hues, which is called the color of "pigeon blood."

Known and the so-called "star" rubies (sapphires), which can be almost any color. An impressive six-pointed star, usually located in the central part of the treated gem, looks unusual and mesmerizing.

Rubies are classified according to shades of red:

• intense, bright;
• typical;
• average;
• saturated;
• light coloured.

Due to its natural properties, a ruby ​​is an expensive gem, its individual specimens reach prices of several tens of thousands of dollars. The most valuable ruby ​​weighing 8.62 carats is in the ring from Bulgari, acquired for £ 3.6 million by the London jeweler L. Graff. Truly legendary called the ruby ​​"Black Prince" weighing 170 carats. It was first mentioned in the XIV century as an ornament of the British royal court.

The mineral is a type of corundum with the chemical formula AI2O3. The difference in color is determined solely by the impurities of chromium compounds. By their hardness, corundum is second only to diamonds (9 on the Moos scale). When illuminated emit an amazing shine and wonderfully shimmer. In jewelry items more often pure, transparent minerals are used.

Gemology distinguishes between minerals:

• natural;
• synthetic;
• artificial.

At the same time, the latter, being complete analogues of natural stones, are grown in special devices. An artificial mineral is, as a rule, an imitation of a natural mineral with a different chemical composition and physical properties, a kind of similarity that looks like a stone, granted by nature.

The color of natural and synthetic gems is determined by the amount of chromium ions. Without it, the stone would be colorless corundum. Ferrous supplements give the mineral brightness.

Their physical properties are identical. A synthetic ruby, as well as his natural brother, leaves scratches on topaz, quartz, which is characteristic only of diamond.

The mineral is grown both in crystals and in "beads" (cylinders with a pointed end). A synthetic product is of high quality, but it can often contain bubbles and inclusions. Gemologists experts distinguish synthetics from natural minerals with the help of a special device, observing curved growth lines. Natural stone has growth lines straight. In nature, ruby ​​has a different origin, but is more common in placers.

In fact, a synthetic (hydrothermal) mineral is the same ruby ​​that is formed in laboratories at high temperatures. Cultivation technologies are developed so that it is quite difficult to distinguish analogs from natural stones, but they are much cheaper. The main feature of synthetic minerals is precisely their impeccability. "Baking" of minerals in laboratory installations at elevated temperatures, produced from a mixture of chromium, iron and corundum, contributes to their defect-free formation.

Natural stones, growing far from ideal conditions, as a rule, have certain flaws.

For the first time, M. Guden managed to get the rubies back in 1837. Around the same time, the trade received the reconstruction of rubies (Siamese) in the form of fused pieces of natural crystals up to 10 carats in size. And although such products, strictly speaking, were not synthetics, interest in them on the market declined slightly.

The first synthetic minerals were grown by Frenchman O. Verneil in 1982 by synthesizing crystalline corundum from alumina. The method was immediately put on an industrial basis and soon the production covered all of Europe and other continents. There was a real prospect of similarly synthesizing other minerals.

Of the modern methods of obtaining high-quality synthetic stones, several are known.

• Verneuil Method. Powdered aluminum trioxide is mixed with chromium. Then the mixture is melted in small portions on the burner. Next, cylindrical single crystals (boules) with a diameter of 2 and a length of up to 30 cm are formed on a ceramic lining.

• Czochralski method - production of high quality mineral. Single crystals are produced by a method of smoothly pulling the crystals up from the surface of a significant amount of the initial melt.

• Zonal melting. One of the types of crystallization in which the source material is drawn along the heating element in a molybdenum tank. Due to this, the crystals are formed in parts during the slow cooling of the melt. The grown crystal is formed in a lamellar form.

• Skull melting method. The material melts and crystallizes within its cold zones. Heating occurs with a high-frequency power source. When cooled, columnar crystals form.

• Hydrothermal synthesis method. The process of crystallization of the mineral is carried out in solutions of low-melting compounds (lead, boron and other elements).

One of the oldest Indian legends says that the ruby ​​was washed with the demonic blood of the Shafts, the glass with which the solar god Surya accidentally dropped Bhakarta into the waters. So on the coasts of these mysterious waters ruby ​​stars emitting their unique light appeared.

Minerals of different colors are found in Burma, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tibet. Individual rubies are clearly similar in color to blood, others to pomegranate seeds. Qualitatively the best minerals have a uniform color and emit a mysterious glow from the center of the stone.

Ruby - a symbol of power. Strengthening the socio-political rating of the host, the mineral contributes to its credibility. Ruby is a symbol of love that helps and stimulates the ability of people to empathy, sacrifice, altruism, bringing harmony and prosperity to society.

It is believed that it changes color with the approach of dangerous situations. This is a wonderful guard against damage, the evil eye and enemy intrigues. His magical qualities contribute to the strengthening of human characteristics. However, the mineral "prefers" people who are honest and strong.The magic power of the stone is used by magicians and sorcerers.

The healing properties of ruby ​​are used since ancient times. According to lithotherapists, the mineral is useful in curing:

• diseases of the digestive tract;
• spine;
• ENT diseases;
• paralysis;
• blood disorders;
• hypertension.

The stone is able to strengthen the immune system, eliminate insomnia and depressions, improve metabolism. Daily infusion of a stone on water stimulates the regeneration of the skin, cells of the body, normalizes the patient's condition for colds, relieves the body of toxins.

Ruby symbolizes the element of Fire, perfectly combining with the zodiac symbols of Leo, Aries and Sagittarius. Not compatible with signs of water elements (Cancers and Pisces). However, Scorpio is an exception, as the fiery Mars patronizes him. Do not wear it Taurus and Virgos. For Capricorns, this is a neutral symbol.

Esoterics believe that ruby talisman protects natural disasters, is able to protect the home from fires. His wearing matches with successes in work and in financial activities.

The strong energy of the mineral stimulates the desire of man to learn new and unknown, expanding the horizons of the possible. Especially talisman useful for creative people working in the field of intellectual work, people of science and art.

In ancient times, all the stones of red color were called rubies. However, most of them turned out to be either excellent spinel or grenades and tourmalines. Natural ruby ​​is found in nature infrequently. The trade nomenclature of minerals still often contains the term "ruby", as a rule, with extensions such as "Ceylon", "Arizon" and others. However, garnet, topaz, spinel or fluorite are often hidden behind these names. Such a “replacement” of names is used in order to significantly increase the level of demand for corresponding products.

Strongly reminiscent of the famous Burmese rubies, red spinel, often found on the same deposits. The color of the spinel is also determined by chrome impurities, but it has a different shade of brick color. A significant difference from ruby ​​is the absence of dichroism (the dependence of color on the direction of light) - in rubies, this quality is pronounced. And also in terms of the refractive index (1.72 versus 1.76 in ruby) and in the quality of inclusions.

It is easy to mistake almandine as a ruby, which also differs from ruby ​​in its refractive index (checked using a sodium lamp). The red garnet has a specific structure of the absorption spectrum with three stripes in the yellow, green and blue regions. Topaz saturated pinkish color, often mistaken for pale Ceylon corundum. In fact, it is sapphire, which differs from rubies in refractive index.

Today, various materials are used in jewelry:

• real minerals;
• imitations of natural stones (fake), differing from them in composition and properties;
• synthetic minerals, which are almost complete analogues of these.

You can check the authenticity of a mineral both at home and visually in the process of buying a stone.

• To determine the naturalness of the mineral, you can use a glass of water, dropping a stone into it. If the reddish radiation emanating from the mineral is clearly noticeable, then you see a real ruby.
• Under normal lighting, the natural mineral has a special burgundy color on the sunny side, and on the other hand, it is dull-pale.
• Recognize the authenticity of the mineral by using cow's milk. If a real mineral is placed in a small transparent container, the milk will become pinkish. Natural stone intensely emits light.
• It will help to know the true origin of the mineral ultraviolet. Synthetic specimens differ from natural ones in that when they are x-rayed with rays, they have a red glow, and natural ones have bright orange.
• It is possible to distinguish a mineral from imitation by the quality of bubble inclusions. When counterfeiting such blotches are empty, white, and in natural specimens they are filled with reddish gas.
• Unlike the natural, on the surface of an artificial mineral the scratches are straight and glossy, and on the natural surface - distorted, zigzag.
• A ruby ​​heats up extremely slowly and if it is applied to the body (on the eyelid) and it heats up in a few minutes, then it is synthetic or fake.
• Spend a mineral on the glass, and if there is a scratch on it, then this is a natural stone.
• Counterfeit alloys are significantly lighter in weight than a heavy synthetic mineral.
• If the cost of the crystal is extremely low, then most likely the mineral in front of you is not of natural origin.

You will learn more about ruby ​​in the following video.