Late last year President Obama signed an executive order lifting sanctions on the country of Myanmar. Because of this we’ve will start to see “more” Burmese (Myanmar) rubies and jade in the market place. Particularly the television shopping channels, they are are doing all sorts of promotions for Burmese Rubies.
Burmese (Myanmar) Rubies in the finest qualities are one of most expensive gemstone in the market, second perhaps to natural colored diamonds (Red, Blue, most typically) but there are many nuances that must be reached in order for this to be the case. Are rubies the rarest colored gems? No, but the finer Burmese rubies are record breakers at auction, and typically surpass diamonds, sapphires and emeralds (a long held belief to be the most expensive colored gem).
(Burmese Ruby & Diamond Bulgari ring via Sothebys)
Once upon a time not long ago Tiffany & Co all but stopped selling Ruby jewelry because of the sanctions on importing Ruby and Jade from Burma. They even put a little blurb up on their website explaining why they don’t sell Rubies. With the lifting of sanctions there will also be an increase in “commercial” grade gems with the provenance “Burma” attached to it. Why? Because the name Burma is a selling point. Rubies are found in many places around the world, and some are quite beautiful in their own rights, but Burmese Rubies have a market place history and culture all their own.
(Burmese Ruby & Diamond Ring by Tiffany & Co)
When a collector thinks of rubies, they are most likely dreaming about Burmese stones. As previously stated, Rubies are found in many locations around the world, and some even rival Burmese in color, but they won’t command fine quality Burmese prices. Perhaps to the discredit of other locations, Burmese Rubies are the the gold standard by which all other rubies are compared.
As a slight aside, for those of you that took the time to read this and might be interested in learning about industry treatments on Ruby gemstones and the Composite Ruby stones in most retails stores, I posted a link to an article by Antoinette Matlins (<---linked again here) which I highly recommend reading. Particularly if you are interested in purchasing Ruby jewelry this month, after all Ruby is the Birthstone for July.
(Happy Birthday Ruby babies)