Jennifer brought in a 2 carat ruby ring she had inherited from her grandmother. It was purchased in the forties and she wanted to know how much it was worth. The ring was in 14k white gold and the ruby was a beautiful red color.

We had explained to her that she may have a very valuable piece if it was genuine. She said she knew it was a ruby so she asked how much was it worth.

We told her that it could be a synthetic ruby  is a real ruby that is created in a laboratory. The technology to created synthetic gemstones was already known in the thirties and just because the ring was old did not mean that the ruby she had was genuine.

A genuine nature created ruby has straight striations, much like the rings of a tree when it is formed. A synthetic ruby is grown so quickly that the striations are curved.

All we had to do was examine the ruby under the microscope to determine whether it was genuine or synthetic. Unfortunately much to her disappointment curved striations were evident. She had a beautiful synthetic ruby, nice but not nearly as valuable as a genuine one.

Russell Oshita
The Diamond Specialists Inc.
Diamonds Hawaii