Vietnam, Kenya, Tanzania and Sri Lanka are some of the other providers of this truly enchanting gemstone. Thailand, with large deposits near the Cambodian border, was previously the world s largest provider of rubies, but due to environmental regulations, the mining of gemstones has been greatly reduced. Rubies and sapphires are closely related, having corundum as their base mineral. The difference in color occurs because of the different trace minerals contained within each gemstone. African rubies tend to have heavy inclusions, but beautiful stones with fine clarity can be found, usually in the higher price range.
Rubies come in many different shapes and sizes, providing great variety to gemstone lovers.
With hardness just below that of diamonds, rubies are one of the toughest gemstones, and with no cleavage, breakage rarely occurs. This makes ruby perfect for all kinds of jewelry including ruby rings, ruby necklaces and ruby earrings. Another popular form of ruby jewelry is with the rarer yet equally magnificent star rubies. Today online star rubies have helped increase the popularity of jewelry with rubies. Microscopic inclusions, sometimes called silk , are a normal characteristic of rubies.