I adore beautiful Rubies.

Of course most Rubies on the market don't fit into that description.

So let's focus on the top 1%.

First, we want to see a stone that's a rich, deep red. Remember red is a very .....special color.

I say this as a photographer. Yellow is far easier to capture with a camera, than red.

Or at the very least, it's more difficult to capture the beauty of a Red Ruby as compared to most Yellow diamonds. This stone's pics are ok- but it's much nicer in person.

It's even difficult to describe a stone like this verbally. It's deep Red. I don't see pink.

There's an extremely slight purple tint when I examine the ruby with a jeweler's loupe. Pink and Purple are the two colors that influence the color of rubies.

In this case, the depth of color prevents the stone from being "Bright" yet, it's very lively so the deep red gives really nice scarlet flashes.

That's the second aspect we want to check out- brilliance, sparkle- life. In that category, this stone is remarkable.

Unlike diamonds, "imperfections" don't have as much- if any effect on the overall beauty of a stone. This Ruby has a few internal characteristics, only visible with the loupe- and my super close up photos.

The stone is not heated - we can guarantee that if and when the stone goes to a gem lab it will come back unheated. That's a desirable aspect for some buyers. Most rubies are heated before they are cut (polished).

The stone is African in origin.