If you like rich red rubies, it may in your best interest to
learn how to tell a ruby apart from a garnet, a similarly colored yet much less
expensive stone. Most jewelers can be counted on to be honest and provide you
with a certificate of authenticity for your purchase. If you opt to purchase
the gem online or from a private individual, however, you are more likely to
fall victim to a scam. A ruby is a valuable stone, and ruby jewelry that can be
passed down from generation to generation is well worth the added time and
effort it takes to ensure authenticity.
Instructions
1. Garnets are typically darker and more dense than rubies.
Examine the coloring of the stone. A genuine ruby typically
has a light red to medium red hue, whereas a garnet will be darker and have a
burgundy or mahogany cast. In some cases, a ruby may also be mahogany, but it
will always have a clarity that the dense, less refractive garnet does not.
2. Rubies are often found in exotic cuts.
Check the cut of the stone. Rubies most frequently have
exotic cuts, such as a cushion or pear cut. The larger the ruby, the more
unlikely it is to find it in a standard cut. So if you are examining a
two-carat stone in a brilliant cut, the stone may be a garnet.
3. Hold the stone directly in front of your eye. The stone
should be as close to your eye as possible without actually touching your eye.
4. Look for a rainbow pattern within the stone.
Move the stone toward the light. Roll the stone around
slowly between your fingers. Examine the light patterns that result within the
stone. If you are holding a true ruby, you should see a rainbow pattern emerge
in various shades of red and blue. A garnet, however, will display a rainbow
pattern that contains greens and yellows.
5. Look for double rainbows. A ruby is a doubly refractive
stone, so it refracts light in a much different way than a garnet, which is
singly refractive. If you are holding a ruby, the rainbow image you see will be
blurred and appear almost as one rainbow on top of another. The rainbow image
you see within a garnet will be much more clear due to its singly refractive
property.