Question....anyone know anything about star ruby sapphire?

[curious kat]

....we've had this for years now, was bought in Viet Nam by hubby for about 25.00. Don't really know much about them, is the color good? Is it worth more now?....anything? thanks

 

[Brian T. Booth]

Flouresced pink to red and I'm sure not all were perfect and probably had some iron in them. A friend from SC brought a light that had short & long wave and I don't remember which he used on the rubies, I had other rocks on the farm that flouresced also we went down to the creek area just after dark, was a lot of fun seeing them flouresce and he brought some that flouresce with him and gave me some. Not sure on where to get the lights, I know one is more expensive than the other, maybe someone else can help out here.

To get a short wave / long wave uv combo light will take some money. I have one. Use it many times. The ones from walmart or other stores are fine for in the house use. For the price the Raytech Versalume Portable Shortwave Longwave Combination UV Light is probably the best buy. It's fun going down to a creek and finding the minerals that flouesce. They light up in the dark like little lights in and around the creeks. One thing you have to remember. The Short wave uv will damage your eyes. Do not look at the uv lamp while it is on.

 

[loco oro]

yes one is more exspensive than the other, a black light is weak short wave,it is a flurescent that puts out all wave lenths, short being stronger than long in the black lights,so much so that it cant be utilized for long wave, but its useful in that it blocks most all other wave lengths,leaving a weak short wave, a metal halide uv light, which you can get at ace hardware, is around thirty bucks for a small bulb, but its strong around 3000 lumins, it is great. if you go the black light route ,get the biggest you find, like i said they are weak and have to be close up to get the effects.or an arangment of several work great for me.

 

[curious kat]

Great information you guys, thanks! Makes me think of what they use for finding scorpion's at night...is that a black light, maybe? Sorry off the subject here, just made me think of it...lol Thanks everyone for all the help..

 

[loco oro]

yep!

 

[curious kat]

...here's some "last" pictures of it, promise! Took these at night with flashlight so color is different, prettier though! Some "odd" things I didn't notice before...another star line and 2 colors...I tried to up load last night but it wasn't working right, let's see if it does now.......it's only letting me upload these, oh well... Guess I lied, will try to retake the "odd" ones later, sorry.

 

[Brian T. Booth]

...here's some "last" pictures of it, promise! Took these at night with flashlight so color is different, prettier though! Some "odd" things I didn't notice before...another star line and 2 colors...I tried to up load last night but it wasn't working right, let's see if it does now...<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=936309"/><img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=936310"/>....it's only letting me upload these, oh well... Guess I lied, will try to retake the "odd" ones later, sorry.

With a star ruby or sapphire one point of light will create one star. Two points of light will create 2 stars. Really neat.

 

[curious kat]

Brian, do you know what causes the other star like X ? I'm starting to think that it's some kind of flaw in the stone maybe? Here's some other pictures with flashlight only...hope their "zoom-able" so can be seen?

 

[curious kat]

...still not very good pictures. Forgot to ask...the stone looks not real "round" sort of odd, why? And what makes the "refection" around it like that?

 

[Brian T. Booth]

...still not very good pictures. Forgot to ask...the stone looks not real "round" sort of odd, why? And what makes the "refection" around it like that?

Ok. The "star" in a star ruby is caused by microcrystalline rutile crystals embedded within the corundum crystal structure. It's an optical property of the mineral. Your stone isn't flawed. The reflection is carried by the microcrystalline rutile crystals. The stone is cut in a cabochon. This is the best cut for this type stone. It's shows the "star" better. I hope this answers your questions. If not don't hesitate to ask. Thank you. Great specimen.

 

[curious kat]

Brian.......I mean why is the shape of the stone not perfectly "round", it seems a bit lopsided...optical illusion? And that "grey" looking ring around the stone, I guess that's a reflection? And...(sorry for all the questions here)...when you say "star" do you mean just "two" lines is considered a "star"? I'm asking this last part because when I used the flashlight (1 light), depending on where I pointed it there is a reg. star (3 crossing lines-bottom pics)...or on the side of the stone a star that is only 2 crossing lines (X or cross shape) top picture....do all star ruby's do this? Thank you for all your help! oh, one more if you please....do you think this is a natural stone?

 

[Cariboo5]

Great post as I am also learning about star rubies from this.. It is as Brian pointed out and here's a link which I found explained it very well:

Star Ruby... the eternal gemstone [Star Ruby Information]

 

[Eu_citzen]

The shape is not perfectly round because it wasn't cut perfectly round! LOL The cutter wanted to save weight, or wasn't a very good cutter.

As a curiosity, in rare cases the star can have 12 "arms".

 

[curious kat]

Ok...thank you Cariboo for the link, very good! And yes Eu, I saw a picture of a star with the 12 points, very interesting! Thank everyone again!