The Ruby, seen by society predominantly as an adornment for the wealthy and a symbolic gesture designated to those born in July, obtains its name from the Latin word “Ruber” or “Rubrum” meaning red. There are only four minerals on earth that are considered “precious stones”- rubies being one of the quartet - thus making them extremely iconic and giving them utmost value. Benvenuto Cellini (1864) states, “Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, on the contrary, never grow old; these four are precious stones, and these it is quite right to purchase.” (The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, p.473). Cellini who was an Italian sixteenth century goldsmith and an expert on love, estimated the price on rubies to be eight times the worth of diamonds due to their deep symbolic attachments to devotion and passion. Rubies therefore have figurative connotations in love and birth, and also physically as ornaments and tools. Looking at the ruby as an object within fashion is something Valerie Steele (1998) suggested has a large impact on the world and ‘…of all the methodologies used to study fashion history, one of the most valuable is the interpretation of objects.’
The specific ruby with which this composition is thematic of, originates from Sri Lanka and measures four millimetres in diameter. Due to the pleochroic nature of the stone, the ruby has been shaped into what is known as a “brilliant cut”. This cut is used to enhance the sometimes unevenly pigmented disposition of the stone, making a small patch of extreme colour; or red in a rubies instance, appear to permeate the entire jewel giving it the brightest colour possible and attaching it with a more precious worth and thus higher value. This technique was discovered by the Indians and is used frequently with rubies as the brighter red the ruby, the greater value it is given. Ned Seidler (1964) talks of “…Pure red rubies of more than 10 carat are extremely rare and enormously valuable. The most highly esteemed specimens of “pigeon-blood” red come from Burma.” (p.28). The Ruby (see figure 1) is pale vermilion in colour, as is common of rubies from Sri Lanka, and depending on the light it is looked upon can seem almost orange. It is not a perfect stone, as is a common blemish with all types of jewels, and contains a fracture within it that is visible when the ruby is looked at from certain angles. This imperfection would have a serious affect on the value of the stone, making it a great distance from the estimation in value of a quintessential ruby. It can be deduced that the owner has a volume of wealth but not enough to afford a flawless stone, which can be worth large amounts of money.
As the ruby in question has a cut of brilliance, the surface has a flat octagonal shape that spreads out into varying configurations of triangles and diamond shaped facets that all conclude to the overall birds-eye form of a circle. From the bottom side up the ruby comes to a point, as is how a brilliant cut is formed, and the cone side is fashioned into small-elongated hexagons. These all retract and reflect the light when the ruby is exposed to any form of illumination allowing the jewel to shine and express its true beauty. During the formation of rubies the more light they are exposed to, the brighter the colour they become. The ancients believed that rubies grew like plants and ripened. Siedler (1964) writes, “if a ruby was not the prized deep red colour, it was thought to have been picked too soon.” Little did they know that this was in fact the case, and if the rubies were mined too soon then they were deprived of the chance to form into more costly artefacts.
Rubies come from a variety known as corundum. They are the most valuable kind of corundum and have a significantly brighter luster than for example, a red tourmaline. When subject to strong light the rubies have an extreme and unique uplift in colour, which Ned Seidler (1964) states “when rubies are properly cut, a six pointed star is reflected from minute cavities parallel to the crystals six sides.” (p.29). The Ruby (figure 1) follows this ideal of a six pointed star suggesting that although it is not of the finest quality due to its minute flaw, uppermost calibre has been aimed to achieve and it has been cut to a high standard to enhance the desirable ruby traits that it has.
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