Unfortunately, when it comes to questions like ruby vs. This clearly illustrates the problems created by overly narrow variety definitions. Stone 2 walks the line, a ruby to some, while a mere pink sapphire to others. Most gem dealers would classify stones 3 and 4 as rubies, while stone 1 would be a pink sapphire. The question is whether or not a variety name should encompass hue position alone, or segregate gems of the same hue into different groups based on often poorly understood tone and saturation ranges – factors that often have a direct bearing on quality.įour corundums of the same hue (red), but showing a variation in saturation and tone. The crux of what I’m about to discuss is a desire – most human I admit – for a simple word to separate something that has stymied the best minds of my generation. Do I really want to continue reading? Straight out of the gate this man is three sheets into a gale-force Beat ramble.īut follow me here, people. If the gem isn’t buff enough to make the centerfold of Gem & Gemology, it is sniffed at as a “lesser being” unworthy of the name.Īnd when it comes to the crimson corundums, despite a decade’s worth of McCarthyism we Yanks still cannot sort out the difference between a pinko and a true red.īy this point, I know what you’re thinking. I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked… Allen Ginsberg, HowlĮver notice how gemologists and dealers toss the term padparadscha around like some kinda überrock. An examination of the problem of separating pink sapphire and padparadscha from ruby.

Sapphire dark